The modern climate of Hollywood is filled with reboots and remakes of popular movies and TV series that aim to bring fan-favorite characters to a new audience or even capitalize on advancements in technology that might result in a better take on the original concept.
Movie remakes almost always recast the main characters of an established movie or series so as to put a big name actor in the role which can sometimes rub the original actors the wrong way, though there are quite a few examples of original actors who are on board and even return for a cameo role in the remake which we'll explore further today.
10 The Stars Of 1953's War Of The Worlds Adaptation Appeared In 2005's Remake
H.G. Wells' iconic 1898 novel The War of the Worlds has been adapted a number of times over the years, though it didn't hit theaters until 1953's adaptation that starred Gene Barry and Ann Robinson as the scientist leads dealing with the Martian invasion.
Barry and Robinson returned for a cameo in Steven Spielberg's 2005 remake War of the Worlds as the grandparents of the big-budget adaptation's young leads, played by Justin Chatwin and Dakota Fanning.
9 Original Actors Robert Mitchum And Gregory Peck Returned For 1991's Cape Fear
Martic Scorcese directed 1991's remake of Cape Fear, which saw Robert De Niro's violent rapist Max Cady stalk the lawyer who helped put him away, forcing Nick Nolte's Sam Bowden to protect his family. The original 1962 movie starred Robert Mitchum as Cady and Gregory Peck as Bowden, and both actors appeared in the 1991 remake though in very different roles.
Mitchum now starred as a police lieutenant attempting to help Bowden while Peck appeared as the shady defense lawyer representing Cady, somewhat reversing their original roles. Martin Balsam also appeared as police chief Mark Dutton in the original before later appearing as a judge in the remake.
8 The Original Stars Of Starsky & Hutch Briefly Appeared In 2004's Movie Adaptation
While 2004's Starsky & Hutch was technically an adaptation of the hit 70s TV series, it definitely introduced the characters to a new generation of fans thanks to the comedy duo of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as the titular Bay City cops.
Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul starred respectively as Starsky & Hutch in the original TV series, and they reappeared as older versions of themselves who figuratively handed the reins of their iconic Ford Gran Torino and "Zebra Three" radio call sign to the new cops on the block.
7 Charlton Heston Appeared As A "Damn Dirty Ape" In 2001's Planet Of The Apes Remake
One of Charlton Heston's most iconic film roles comes from the original Planet of the Apes movie in 1968 that launched the hit franchise that received both a remake as well as a modern reboot franchise that further explored the unique premise.
Tim Burton directed the 2001 remake of the original movie that featured Charlton Heston in full makeup as Zaius, the elderly father of Tim Roth's General Thade. Linda Harrison also starred in the first two movies in the original series alongside Heston, and she appeared in a quick cameo as a captive human.
6 Lou Ferrigno Appeared In Both Hulk And The Incredible Hulk To Homage His TV Role
Another TV series that was re-imagined on the big screen was The Incredible Hulk, which adapted the popular Marvel Comics character decades ahead of his big-screen debut and later role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Lou Ferrigno starred as the titular transformed Hulk in the TV series, though he appeared first as a security guard alongside Stan Lee in 2003's Hulk before appearing as yet another security guard in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, where he also voiced the transformed version of the character.
5 2004's Dawn Of The Dead Brought Back Original Star Ken Foree As A Televangelist
Zack Snyder directed the 2004 remake of George A. Romero's classic 1978 horror Dawn of the Dead, which saw a group of survivors find a safe haven in a shopping mall during the beginning stages of a zombie apocalypse.
Ken Foree starred as one of the original mall survivors in 1978's original as well as a number of other movies in the horror genre before he returned for a brief cameo as a doomsaying televangelist in Snyder's Dawn of the Dead.
4 2012's 21 Jump Street Perfectly Added The Undercover Cast From The TV Series
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill starred in 2012's 21 Jump Street as rookie police officers tasked with going undercover in a high school to track down a new drug supplier that was based on the hit TV series from the late 80s and early 90s.
The new stars of the Jump Street program interrupted another undercover operation during the climax of the movie that revealed original TV stars Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise before they were violently gunned down in the shoot-out that followed.
3 Chris Sarandon Faced Off With The New Jerry Dandridge In 2011's Fright Night Remake
1985's Fright Night saw young Charlie team up with a celebrity vampire hunter to take on the evil new threat that moved in next door. Chris Sarandon starred as the neighborhood vampire Jerry Dandridge on a horrifying feeding frenzy.
While Colin Farrell took over the role of Jerry Dandridge in 2011's Fright Night remake, Sarandon made a brief cameo as a helpful driver on the road who becomes one of the neighborhood vampire's bloody victims.
2 Leonard Nimoy Appeared As The Original Spock In J.J. Abram's Star Trek Reboot
Director J.J. Abrams rebooted the long-running Star Trek franchise of characters in 2009 with an updated and modernized ship and a storyline that used time travel to move forward in a new direction while still retaining the continuity of the original franchise.
This allowed for Leonard Nimoy to return to his original role of Spock alongside Zachary Quinto's younger version that appeared in the new "Kelvin Timeline," with a final appearance marking Nimoy's final cinematic role before his passing in Star Trek Into Darkness.
1 Nearly The Entire Original Cast Appeared In The 2016 Ghostbusters Remake
While Ghostbusters: Afterlife serves to continue the original franchise storyline, 2016's Ghostbusters from director Paul Feig attempted to reboot the series with a new team that saw almost the entire main cast from the original movie make cameo appearances in different roles.
Bill Murray appeared as celebrity occult-debunker Martin Heiss, Dan Ackroyd played a catchphrase-dropping cab driver, and Ernie Hudson was revealed as new Ghostbuster Patty Tolan's uncle. Sigourney Weaver also appeared as the mentor of new Ghostbuster Dr. Jillian Holtzmann with Annie Potts returning as a receptionist in the cameo-heavy remake.