For all the complaints we’ve been hearing over the past few years about unnecessary U.S. remakes of cool foreign films, there hasn’t been much discussion about remakes that go in the opposite direction: that is, foreign remakes of popular Hollywood films. We’ve seen some weird ones as of late, including a Japanese redo of Alexander Payne’s Sideways and Zhang Yimou’s wild reinvention of The Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple, but somehow this next one makes complete sense to me. The 2000 Mel Gibson comedy What Women Want, about a male chauvinist who gains the ability to hear women’s thoughts, will be the next American film to be remade for Chinese audiences.

The remake will star Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs, House of Flying Daggers) in the lead role, with Gong Li (2046, Miami Vice) taking on the character that Helen Hunt played in the original. Director Chen Daming (One Foot Off the Ground) had this to say:

“I wanted to bring more strength out in the woman character to reflect what’s happening in China… Chinese women are leading giant businesses today and winning most of our Olympic gold. Gong Li has the presence to convey this strength.”

It’s interesting that they chose to cast an actor and actress who are both familiar to North American audiences, and it makes me wonder if they will plan to release it here eventually as well. It’s actually a brilliant idea, since the film snobs who probably avoided the original will probably be interested in it as long as it has subtitles. At the very least, I know one North American who will probably see it eventually, and his name rhymes with Leed Garrington. The remake of What Women Want is planned for release on Valentine’s Day of 2011.