The movie Michael Caine hated from the second he arrived on set: “What the hell am I doing here?”

admin-cdn3 days ago

0 0 2 minutes read

The movie Michael Caine hated from the second he arrived on set: “What the hell am I doing here?”

(Credits: Far Out / Manfred Werner / Tsui)

Tue 27 January 2026 19:45, UK

Michael Caine has made quite a few bad films, leaving you to question what the hell was going through his mind when he accepted the job in the first place.

It’s undeniable that some of the projects he has been a part of have been genuinely inexcusable, clearly standing as a chance to earn a good pay cheque before anything else. At least he’s transparent about it.

The Cockney actor, recognisable for his horn-rimmed glasses and thick London drawl, has enough classics under his sleeve to allow him a few duds, but no one could understand what possessed Caine to take on a role in the Hollywood remake of Get Carter.

Few Hollywood remakes have been successful; usually, they just stand as lazy excuses to make some money from a cinematic idea that already exists. It doesn’t take much thought, and it’s never usually as good as the original, and in the case of Get Carter, this was an Americanised take on a British classic. Now that’s sinful.

The original movie, released in 1971, was directed by Mike Hodges and received cult status, its bleak ending a testament to an era that refused to conform to happy Hollywood endings. Yet, the filmmakers behind the remake decided to change the ending to suit a more commercial and heroic journey, which completely destroyed the whole meaning of the movie.

While the original Get Carter (spoilers ahead) ends with Caine’s character dying after being shot by Cyril Kinnear, the remake chose to have Stallone’s version of the character drive away towards Las Vegas, drastically changing the fate of Jack Carter.

Caine soon accepted that his decision to appear in the remake was a bad idea, immediately realising that he really didn’t enjoy the experience. Talking to Empire, the actor revealed, “I thought maybe it would work. Sly’s a friend of mine, which is why I did it. I didn’t know anything about the movie. I mean, I take responsibility for the ones where my name’s over the title. Otherwise…”

Sylvester Stallone starred as Jack Carter in the 2000 remake, directed by Stephen Kay, which saw Caine appear as Cliff Brumby, a role played by Bryan Mosley in the original. It was certainly a bold choice to take on a supporting role in a remake of one of his greatest films, only with Hollywood action star Stallone in the lead, and in this instance, he soon came to realise the disaster he’d found himself sitting in the middle of.

“The moment I arrived on set, I didn’t like it,” Caine said. “I only worked for two days but they weren’t two of the happiest days of my life. I just felt, what the hell am I doing here?”

The 2000 version of Get Carter was a major box office bomb, only grossing $19.4 million against its $63.6m budget. So, the money-grabbing sequel didn’t even do what it set out to achieve, and Caine didn’t get a shred of enjoyment out of his limited shooting days. There was truly no point to Get Carter, which couldn’t hold a candle to the original, forever remaining a stone-cold British gangster classic.