  Michael Caine. |
HOLLYWOOD -- Walk long enough and eventually you'll meet yourself.
Just ask Michael Caine, who finds himself seeing his old movies remade for generations unborn when he starred in the originals.
Raising Caine? More like resurrecting Caine.
Not that the two-time Oscar winner is critical of Hollywood regurgitating past glories. Except for this:
"I think you should remake flops. But what they do with me is they remake flops out of my successes, says Caine, 73, speaking to the Sun about his latest film, The Prestige.
Cases in point: Get Carter with Sylvester Stallone and Alfie with Jude Law.
Not to be outdone, Caine is remaking one of his classics, rehashing 1972's Sleuth, starring Caine and Sir Laurence Olivier.
The 2008 incarnation will see Caine take over for Olivier, while Law (again) follows in Caine's footsteps.
"But we've got backup," Caine says. "Kenneth Branagh is directing and (playwright) Harold Pinter is writing it, so touching wood here, we should be alright."
Not that this is the first time Caine thought things should be alright.
Alongside The Cider House Rules, Hannah and her Sisters and The Quiet American, there are lesser-regarded works as The Swarm and Jaws: The Revenge.
"Every movie you sign on, you don't read the script and go, 'Oh, here's a piece of (crap).' If you do a special effects picture and the special effects don't work, you're in trouble because there's nothing you can do it."
In The Prestige, which concerns a feud between 19th century magicians (Bale and Hugh Jackman), Caine portrays an ingeneur -- a shadowy designer of illusions.
"I used to be the leading man. I got the girl, lost the girl and got her back. But as you become older, you can't play those anymore, so then you get the real interesting parts, which is what I do now."
Caine will next be seen in December's Children of Men opposite Clive Owen.
And it's not like his old films are going away, thanks to endless DVD editions.
"What happened with the old-time actors is, they made a flop and no one ever saw it again. Now they're bringing them back over and over again," he says.
"But there's always a plus side. A whole younger generation knows me now ... So what happens is, although your failures are never going to die, neither are you."
More Artists
