The allure of remaking any piece of art is to be allowed the chance to view it from wholly refreshing lenses and be able to contribute to the art’s importance or fail to redefine what was known of it.

In the Nigerian movie industry, there are only a few completely great movies that don’t fail in delivering a good story, dynamic characters, excellent cinematic prowess, and overall topnotch production. But honestly, the major failing has been in coming up with and telling multilayered, honest and nuanced stories regardless of the genre.

Various mediums have been mined for stories though, that would be given. A few books have been adapted into movies, some popular trends and historic events have also been given some screen time and for a while, that was about it. The successful remake of 1992 classic Living in Bondage has trained the light on the rich stories lying in old Nollywood movies and how they can come to be appealing and even urgent to modern audiences.

So it is exciting that Charles Okpaleke has acquired and announced a remake of Gilmore Girls, Nollywood’s 1994 classic starring iconic thespians like Liz Benson, Ngozi Ezeonu, Eucharia Anuobi, Pat Attah, Ernest Obi, Zack Orji,  and many others. The movie follows a village girl trying to make her way in Lagos along with already accomplished women, who lead their lives through a wholesomeness and fascinating independence, at least for their time.

Glamour Girls is an iconic movie, not just because its subjects matters remain relevant or progressive and the acting utterly breathtaking but because this could be a great opportunity for a literal modern-classic to be birthed. Now we just hope this new project is executed with dexterity; we wouldn’t mind a tighter storyline, more exciting casts, and a richer production.

This seems like the start of a new trend and because old Nollywood movies are currently resonating with the crowd this remake looks to be on its way to towing its predecessor’s path and seriously, we love to see it.

Nelson C.J

Nelson C.J is a culture writer with works in The New York Times, Xtra Magazine, OkayAfrica, Black Youth Project, AfroPunk, and a few other spaces. You can find him saving dog pictures on Twitter.