'9 to 5' and other movies I'd like to see remade

There is a long-held Hollywood adage that great films shouldn't be remade and I somewhat agree with the logic. For instance, I hope to never live to see the day The Godfather films are 'rebooted' and good intentions aside, in retrospect, Ghostbusters didn't need to be re-imagined either.

And yet, there are a lot of films I really like and admire that I do think could be updated for a modern audience and really have an impact.

I thought of this in particular when I was watching the classic 1980 feminist comedy 9 to 5. With perhaps the exception of some of the fashion and hairstyles, the movie has really held up and that's because in no small part the themes it touches on of women in duress in the workplace are just as relevant now, maybe more-so. I'd love to see Kirsten Wiig in the Fonda role, Maya Rudolph in the Tomlin role and maybe Janelle Monae in the Dolly Parton part. As the boss, maybe Will Ferrell?

I feel like there's talk of a 9 to 5 remake for a while now, and even a sequel with the original stars -- I sort of don't care which way they choose to go, I just want to see this story updated for a new audience. There are a handful of other films I love that I want to see revisited...

Blue Collar - This surprisingly dark heist film meets labor satire gave Richard Pryor the best dramatic role of his career (in my opinion) and I believe it would be the perfect vehicle for another black comic actor (I've always pictured Dave Chappelle) to show their range, while also providing a window into the pitfalls of modern labor movements.

In the Heat of the Night - I believe this is the best, least dated Sidney Poitier film and its look at a culture clash between a black police officer and bigoted southern cops/society feels like it could be incredibly powerful today. It could be both an opportunity to delve into policing issues but also the discrimination that upwardly mobile African-Americans still face on a daily basis.

The Parallax View - This 1974 is one of the great paranoid thrillers of the decade -- Warren Beatty plays a sleuthing journalist who stumbles onto a very elaborate assassination plot conspiracy theory and pays a devastating price for it. With Russian hacking and government corruption making daily headlines, the time is right for another film that tackles the mistrust and potential evil lurking in the shadows of the corridors of power.

The Color Purple - I actually quite like the 1985 Steven Spielberg version of this story -- it's very well acted and gorgeous to look at, but the source material was considerably more graphic and harder edged, probably too intense for audiences over 30 years ago. But since then this material has been reinvigorated with a Broadway musical and I believe actresses like Viola Davis or even an outside the box choice like an against-type Tiffany Haddish could do wonders with it.

Mississippi Burning - This 1988 film is a powerful re-telling of a crucial Civil Rights-era case from a totally white perspective. It's a terrific film, but a movie that reads as problematic 30 years later. The case of the murders of Goodwin, Cheney and Schwermer is one of the most infamous in American history and it deserves a revisit, but this time the black and brown people who directly involved and impacted should be front and center.

They Live - John Carpenter's action satire of consumerism run amok has endured as one of the most beloved B-movies of all time, but what it it had a bigger budget and a more capable lead actor (with all due respect to Roddy Piper)? Just like how HBO has propelled Westworld to even greater heights than the cult '70s horror film that inspired it, this world could be even bigger and bolder with modern special effects and sensibilities.