Seven ways to revive Crocodile Dundee

PRETTY much everyone agrees that Crocodile Dundee deserves a revival. But there are lots of different ways it could be done. Here are a bunch of ideas to get the ball rolling.

THERE’S more than one way to skin a buffalo.

Since Tourism Australia debuted its spoof Crocodile Dundee ad during the Super Bowl broadcast earlier this week, there have been fervent calls for the classic 1986 Paul Hogan film to be revived.

The NT News launched a petition, big-name Hollywood director Judd Apatow declared he’d like to work on it, and Magda Szubanski and Greg Norman are among the Aussie names who say they want to be part of it.

But classics get rebooted in all kinds of ways. Here are seven different ways Dundee could be redone.

THE REMAKE (WITH A TWIST)

Margot Robbie appeared in Tourism Australia’s Dundee trailer campaign, and has been suggested as a possible replacement for Paul Hogan’s character in a rebooted movie. Picture: Dundee Movie

HOLLYWOOD has been known to remake films that needed absolutely no remaking, because they were perfect in the first place: think of the totally redundant modern versions of Psycho, Carrie, or Point Break. Box office turkeys, all of them. But a remake with a twist opens up possibilities. Margot Robbie has already been suggested as a Dundee for a new generation, capitalising on the proven box office demand for kick-arse female action stars.

THE SEQUEL

Paul Hogan and Linda Koslowski in the so-so sequel Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles/ Picture: Paramount Pictures/Getty Images

Crocodile Dundee already spawned two sequels — the pretty ordinary Crocodile Dundee II in 1988 (5.5 out of ten on IMDB.com) and the very ordinary Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles in 2001 (4.8 out of ten on IMDB.com). The latter sequel lumbered Mick and Sue with a son, Mikey (played by George Negus’s son Serge Cockburn, trivia fans) — so a script for Crocodile Dundee IV could potentially track the adventures of Mikey Dundee, with cameos from Paul Hogan.

THE PREQUEL

Chris Hemsworth also appeared in the Tourism Australia Dundee campaign. Could he play a younger Mick Dundee in a prequel? Picture: Dundee Movie

REVIVE AND SURVIVE: The rules for a successful film reboot

WHEN movie franchises stagger into sequel after sequel, one way to reinvigorate them is with an origin story. This has worked for James Bond in Casino Royale, and the X-Men in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and a prequel could certainly work for Crocodile Dundee. A younger (and presumably sexier) Mick Dundee would presumably have gotten himself into all sorts of misadventures before the incidents in the first movie — though an origin story would not be able to utilise the American/Australian cultural differences that were a big part of the appeal of the original film. (Presumably Linda Kozlowski’s character was the first American Mick Dundee ever met.)

CROCODILE DUNDEE: THE MUSICAL

Maggie McKenna (l) as Muriel and Madeleine Jones as Rhonda in Muriel's Wedding The Musical, which got its world premiere in Sydney last year. A return season has already been announced. Picture: AAP Image/Daniel Munoz

Strictly Ballroom, Muriel’s Wedding and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert have all been transformed into successful stage musicals over the past few years, so why not Crocodile Dundee? The translation to the stage would obviously pose some logistical challenges, but if they can turn a road movie like Priscilla into a musical, anything’s possible. Hugh Jackman would make a terrific on-stage Mick, bringing the necessary alpha male attributes to the part, at the same time as having a decent set of pipes.

CROCODILE DUNDEE: THE SERIES

Picnic At Hanging Rock has been reimagined as a Foxtel series starring (l-r) Samara Weaving, Madeleine Madden, Natalie Dormer and Lily Sullivan. Picture: FremantleMedia Australia/Ben King

INCREASINGLY, Australian cinema classics are being reinterpreted as multi-part series for streaming services. Peter Weir’s 1975 masterpiece Picnic At Hanging Rock is coming to Foxtel as a six-part series in late April this year, while Wolf Creek and Romper Stomper have both been reimagined for the small screen. The Dundee story could conceivably be extended for a longer run, presumably with a few twists to keep viewers on their toes.

THE SPIN-OFF

David Gulpilil with Paul Hogan in the original Crocodile Dundee. Could a spin-off about Neville work for modern audiences?

Who were the other characters in the Walkabout Pub? Was Mick Dundee the only legendary croc wrangler in the Northern Territory? What about Mick’s mate Neville, played by David Gulpilil in the original film? What would have happened if he had made his way to New York City? Any number of spin-off ideas could be explored by inventive script writers.

CROCODILE DUNDEE: THE REALITY TV SHOW

Croc wrangling: an essential part of any Corcodile Dundee reality TV competition. Picture: Paramount/The Kobal Collection

Could the Crocodile Dundee brand be extended to a reality TV format? Contestants could be put through their paces in rounds such as disarming would-be muggers, wrangling crocs and inducing sleep in water buffalo. Okay, so it sounds a bit crazy, but then, what reality TV series doesn’t sound crazy?