Jake Gyllenhaal’s 2024 Road House remake improves upon a surprising trend among Patrick Swayze movie remakes dating back to 2015. Following in Swayze’s footsteps, Gyllenhaal had some big shoes to fill as the tough yet stoic Dalton in the Road House remake. While the original Road House was not widely considered one of Patrick Swayze’s best movies upon its release in 1989, the campy action flick has gained a cult following over the years. Swayze’s legacy and the original’s cult classic status put pressure on the 2024 remake to deliver, but Road House turned out to be a great remake.
Overall, the 2024 Road House remake’s reviews have been positive, with many critics highlighting that the remake was distinct enough from the original to stand on its own while maintaining the same appeal. In this vein, Gyllenhaal has been praised for making Dalton his own while honoring this character that Swayze originated. This success led Road House to end the bad ’80s action remake trend of recent years by proving to be a solid remake of a film from that era and genre, while also continuing a positive trend among Patrick Swayze movie remakes.
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12 Biggest Things Road House’s Remake Leaves Out From The 1989 Movie
From minor plot points to whole entire characters, the 2024 Road House remake leaves out quite a few details from the original 1989 movie.
Patrick Swayze Movie Remakes Have Been Getting Better Since 2015
2015’s Point Break Was A Low Point For Swayze Remakes
As a result of Road House‘s success, remakes of Swayze’s movies have only been getting better over the last nine years. The first Swayze film to get the remake treatment was his 1984 action war movie, Red Dawn. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, and Josh Hutcherson, 2012’s Red Dawn was panned by critics, earning a 15% score on the Tomatometer. It was more well-liked by fans, though it still only has a 50% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Red Dawn (2012) was also a commercial flop, grossing only $50.9 million worldwide on a $65 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).
The next Swayze remake arrived three years later and was disliked by critics and audiences alike even more. The 2015 action-thriller Point Break, a remake of Swayze’s 1991 action-thriller with Keanu Reeves, holds an abysmal 11% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes accompanied by a 29% audience score. Point Break (2015) did better at the box office than Red Dawn, grossing $133.7 million worldwide on a $105 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), but in terms of critical reception, it was looking pretty bleak for Swayze remakes.
The 2017 Dirty Dancing remake started to reverse this unfortunate trend, though only by a slim margin. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1987 romance movie that served as Swayze’s breakout role, a Dirty Dancing TV special starring Abigail Breslin was aired on ABC. Critics only gave 2017’s Dirty Dancing a 19% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but this is still better than Point Break two years prior. Now, 2024’s Road House has continued this trend with a 60% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, showing significant improvement among Swayze remakes.
Patrick Swayze Movie Remakes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Title | Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score | Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score | Box Office |
Red Dawn (2012) | 15% | 50% | $50.9 million |
Point Break (2015) | 11% | 29% | $133.7 million |
Dirty Dancing (2017) | 19% | 35% | N/A |
Road House (2024) | 60% | 53% | N/A |
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Upcoming Sequel To $214 Million Patrick Swayze Movie Can Finally Redeem 1 Trend Broken By Road House
One Patrick Swayze movie trend is missing from the 2024 remake of Road House, but an upcoming sequel to another one of his movies can bring it back.
Patrick Swayze’s Remake Trend Has Us More Excited For Ghost
A Remake Of Patrick Swayze’s Ghost (1990) Is In The Works
This established Swayze remake trend bodes well for the upcoming remake of 1990’s Ghost, which starred Swayze as Sam Wheat, the titular ghost who sets out to save his girlfriend (Demi Moore) from his murderer with the help of a psychic (Whoopi Goldberg). Ghost earned an astounding $505 million worldwide at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1990 and third-highest-grossing film in history at the time (via Deadline). Ghost also won two Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actress for Goldberg and Best Original Screenplay for Bruce Joel Rubin) and earned Swayze his second Golden Globe nomination after Dirty Dancing.
Now, a remake of Ghost is in the works starring Channing Tatum as Swayze’s character Sam. Tatum is expected to produce the film under his production company, Free Association, in addition to starring. Though few details have been shared, Tatum ensured that they’re “going to do something different” with the Ghost remake (via Vanity Fair). Since much of what made the Road House remake work was that it was different enough from the original, resulting in the continuation of this positive Swayze remake trend, Road House‘s success is a good sign for the upcoming Ghost remake.
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, Rotten Tomatoes Deadline, Vanity Fair
Road House (2024)
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Road House is a remake of the original 1989 film, which followed protagonist Dalton, a Ph.D. educated bouncer at the roughest bar in the south known as the Double Deuce. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Dalton, with two major changes including Dalton being a retired UFC fighter and the bar locale being in the Florida Keys.
Road House
Where to Watch*Availability in US
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- rent
- buy
Not available
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With a story and screenplay by David Lee Henry and direction from Rowdy Herrington, Road House is a 1989 Action release starring Patrick Swayze in the lead role. Swayze steps into the shoes of James Dalton, a bouncer that is hired by a club owner to provide security for the establishment.
