Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris remake puzzled audiences 20 years ago – but it deserves a second chance

Starring George Clooney and Natasha McElhone, Soderbergh reimagines a three-hour sci-fi classic as a brisk romantic drama – and it works

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.

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