Steven Soderbergh is no stranger to the remake. After the triumphant success of Ocean’s Eleven – his stylish reworking of a 60s Rat Pack comedy that set a new gold standard for the modern heist movie – the world eagerly awaited the director’s follow-up; yet another remake of an already iconic film, this time a sci-fi classic by a legendary Russian film-maker.
But a year later, when Solaris finally seeped its way into theatres, audiences were greeted with a sombre romantic drama instead of the next 2001. Despite positive reviews, the film fizzled at the box office and quickly faded out of the public consciousness; its contents too esoteric to attract casual viewers, and too deviant from the source material to satiate worshippers of the original film.
