History Main / SettingUpdate

* Usually, adaptations of comic book heroes, no matter how many decades after the character's debut, appear as contemporary stories. For example, the 2008 ''Film/IronMan1'' took place in contemporary times, even though it arrived 45 years after ComicBook/IronMan's debut. (Exceptions, where the World War II roots of a property did appear in a TV or movie adaptation include Lynda Carter's ''Series/WonderWoman'', which initially took place in World War II, and the Salinger ''CaptainAmerica'' film, whose early scenes took place during World War II.)

** Ditto for ''Series/{{Elementary}}'', which one-ups ''Sherlock'' by moving the action to [[TheBigApplesauce New York]] and making Watson a woman (with no military background). To be fair, the creators originally wanted to make an American version of ''Sherlock'', but the creators of ''Sherlock'' refused. They still maintain that ''Elementary'' is not a true adaptation of the novels.

* Each {{Tintin}} book is set in the year it was first published, despite the title character not ageing much, if at all. The result is that Tintin himself looks just about the same from 1931's ''The Blue Lotus'' right through to 1976's ''Tintin and the Picaros''. Other recurring characters take it even further - most notably General Alcazar, who resembles a formal-style 1930s military dictator in 'The Broken Ear'', but in ''Tintin and the Picaros'' his dress sense resembles that of Fidel Castro or Che Guevara.

** The 2008 Royal Shakespearean Company's ''Hamlet'' is also set [-IN THE PRESENT DAY-] with lots of surveillance cameras around, adding to the sense of oppression and claustrophobia. And featuring [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] as Hamlet and [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Captain Picard]] as Claudius! [[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/hamlet/watch-the-film/980/ See it here courtesy of those nice people over at PBS.]]

** The 2002 movie ''KingOfTexas'' was ''King Lear'' [-IN TEXAS!-] Starring PatrickStewart, no less.

* Usually, adaptations of comic book heroes, no matter how many decades after the character's debut, appear as contemporary stories. For example, the 2008 ''Film/IronMan1'' took place in contemporary times, even though it arrived 45 years after IronMan's debut. (Exceptions, where the World War II roots of a property did appear in a TV or movie adaptation include Lynda Carter's ''Series/WonderWoman'', which initially took place in World War II, and the Salinger ''CaptainAmerica'' film, whose early scenes took place during World War II.)

* This used to be commonplace for SherlockHolmes movies. For instance, only the first two of the Rathbone/Bruce series in the 1930's-1940's took place in the Victorian era. Nowadays the world is different enough that setting them in the present day would drastically affect the concept, which is probably why it's no longer done as often. (That said, guess what StevenMoffat's latest project is...)

** Actually, a lot of people think it's more like "SherlockHolmes [-AS A DOCTOR!-]" (lampshaded slightly when House is shot by Jack Moriarty)

* ''Series/ChoujinkiMetalder'' is ''[[Series/{{Kikaider}} Android Kikaider]]'' [-SET IN THE TheEighties WITH A WorldWarII BACKDROP!-]

* Long before ''ShakepeareReTold'' TheBBC did a version of ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'' [-IN THE MID 20TH CENTURY! WITH SEBASTIAN AND VIOLA AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!-]
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' is ''SherlockHolmes'' [-IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY!-]

* TheBBC Radio 4 series of Afternoon Plays ''New Metamorphoses'' was Ovid's ''Literature/{{Metamorphoses}}'' [-IN MODERN BRITAIN!-]
* TheBBC Radio 4 ''Woman's Hour'' drama ''The Way We Live Right Now'', was Creator/AnthonyTrollope's ''The Way We Live Now'' [-[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin RIGHT NOW!]]-]

* TheBBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play ''The Patience of Mr Job'' was the [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] story of Job [-IN MODERN AFRICA! WITH "FAITH" IN FREE-MARKET ECONOMICS INSTEAD OF GOD!-]
* TheBBC Radio 4 comedy series ''Brian Gulliver's Travels'' is ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' [-WITH THE SATIRE UPDATED TO BE ABOUT MODERN BRITAIN!-]
* TheBBC Radio 4 series of Afternoon Plays (they like this trope) ''Arabian Afternoons'' is '' Literature/ArabianNights'' [-IN THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST!-]
* TheBBC Radio 4 serial ''The Mumbai Chuzzlewits'' is ''Martin Chuzzlewit'' by Creator/CharlesDickens [-IN MODERN INDIA!-]

** PatrickStewart starred in ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' [-IN AN AFRICAN STATE! WITH THE RACES REVERSED!-] because he wanted to play the role, but wasn't blacking up.

* ''MissSaigon'' is the Opera ''MadameButterfly'' [-IN TheVietnamWar, WITH A MORE SYMPATHETIC MALE LEAD!-]

** ''Schwejk im Zweiten Weltkrieg'' (The Good Soldier Shvejk in World War 2) transports Jaroslav Hasek's ''Good Soldier Svejk'' from WorldWarOne to WorldWarTwo.

* Blatantly inverted by the ''[[http://tattuinardoelasaga.wordpress.com/ Tattúínárdœla]]'' saga, which is ''StarWars'' [[AC:as an [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Old Norse Saga]]!]]

* ''Film/CasinoRoyale'' (Notably, the 2006 movie had TEXAS HOLD-EM! in place of the 1953 book's baccarat.) In fact, most of the JamesBond series qualifies, as each film is set during roughly the time period in which it was made.

* The 2005 ''CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' is [-MODERN!-].
** Mike Teavee's addiction is changed from gangster movies and westerns to violent video games! There are animatronic puppets that malfunction comically!
*** Strangely enough, when Teavee is confronted with a video game setting inside the factory, he claims that it is "lame".

->''"TheNineties saw a wave of middle-brow adaptations of [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare The Bard's plays]], often taking them to new and interesting territory. There was Theatre/HenryIV [[Film/MyOwnPrivateIdaho with rent boys]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_%281995_film%29 a Fascist]] Theatre/RichardIII, Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew [[Film/TenThingsIHateAboutYou in High School]], Theatre/{{Hamlet}} [[Disney/TheLionKing with lions]], Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet [[WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet with seizures]]..."''

* ''WeirdScience'' was adapted from a 1950s comic book story and updated for [-[[TheEighties THE 1980s]] HOME COMPUTER AGE!-]

* There was a movie called ''{{G}}'' that was ''TheGreatGatsby'' [-WITH RAP STARS!-] "Black" versions of old stuff has become curiously common in recent years.

* ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}: Bloodlines'' is ''Castlevania'' [-IN THE 20TH CENTURY!-]

* ''Manga/BlackJack'' is ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' [-AS A DOCTOR-], because of the chronology.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' is ''{{Seinfeld}}'' [-IN A JAPANESE HIGH SCHOOL! WITH {{MOE}}!-]
** ''LuckyStar'' is ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' [-WITH EVEN ''MORE'' {{MOE}} AND OTAKU!-]
* ''{{Grenadier}}'' is ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' [-IN [[JidaiGeki FEUDAL JAPAN]], WITH [[{{Fanservice}} FANSERVICE]], [[TwelveEpisodeAnime SHORTER]] AND WITH LESS CerebusSyndrome!-]
* The Dark Captital Arc of ''New GetterRobo'' is ''[[Franchise/EvilDead Army of Darkness]]'' [-IN FEUDAL JAPAN! WITH [[HumongousMecha GIANT ROBOTS]]!-]
* ''{{Gankutsuou}}'' is ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' [-IN THE FAR FUTURE-] (and partly [-IN SPACE-]).

* ''Anime/StarDriver'' is ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' [-WITH GIANT ROBOTS AND GENDERSWAPPING!-]

* Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion is EndersGame [-IN POST-APOCALYPTIC JAPAN!-]

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' is Journey to the West [-IN THE PRESENT-]! [-MAYBE-]!

* ''{{Literature/Dune}}'' is ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' [-IN SPACE!-]

* Creator/StephenKing's ''TheStand'' is ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' [-IN POST-APOCALYPTIC AMERICA!-]
** As is Creator/VernorVinge's ''Literature/ThePeaceWar''.

* DavidDrake's ''CrossTheStars'' is ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' [-IN SPACE WITH ALIENS INSTEAD OF MONSTERS AND A ManipulativeBastard TRYING TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE HERO'S WORLD INSTEAD OF SUITORS TRYING TO MARRY PENELOPE.-]
* James Patterson's ''[[Literature/TheDangerousDaysOfDanielX Daniel X]]'' series is JamesBond [-WITH A TEENAGE [[HumanAliens ALIEN]]!-]
* ''Literature/TheStarsMyDestination'' is ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' [-IN THE FAR FUTURE-] (and partly [-IN SPACE-]).

* The 2000 unaired pilot ''M.3.K'' is ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers]'' [-IN MODERN AMERICA! ONLY THERE'S A KING AND GUNS ARE ILLEGAL SO EVERYONE FIGHTS WITH SWORDS! WITH A GENDERFLIPPED D'ARTAGNAN!-]

* The 2000 unaired pilot ''M.3.K'' is ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers]'' [-IN MODERN AMERICA! ONLY THERE'S A KING AND GUNS ARE ILLEGAL! WITH A GENDERFLIPPED D'ARTAGNAN!-]

Distinct from RecycledINSPACE in that the purpose is to make the story more familiar and accessible, whereas that trope is often based around transplanting a story into a ''less'' familiar setting. Also, by its nature, a Setting Update is typically made long after the original, whereas a RecycledPremise is usually a MeToo made to cash in on hot demand. Sometimes, especially with the more radical changes, it can be a genuinely clever analogy.

* In MarvelComics or DCComics superhero lines, almost any retelling of a character's origin will fall into this category, especially as regards technology, the status of minorities and who the President is. The only exceptions are characters whose origins are fixed in history, e.g. CaptainAmerica. (That said, compare the versions of Cap's awakening in the modern day from the original in ''Avengers'' #4-10, and the more recent ''Captain America: Man Out of Time'' miniseries for a perfect example of this trope.)

* The LiveActionAdaptation of ''DudleyDoRight'' was [-IN THE NINETIES!-]

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' is ''MurderSheWrote'' [-WITH A [[HotShoujoDad HOT SINGLE FATHER]]!-]

** ''Film/MyOwnPrivateIdaho'' is ''Theatre/HenryVIPart1'' [-IN PORTLAND OREGON WITH MALE PROSTITUTES, ONE OF WHOM IS NARCOLEPTIC-]. No really, it is: Scott is Prince Hal, and Bob Pigeon is Falstaff.

* ''Phantom of the Paradise'' was PhantomOfTheOpera and Faust [-IN THE HAIR-ROCK '70S!-]
** While ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_UUf0KsvYo The Phantom Lover]]'' was PhantomOfTheOpera [-IN CHINA!-] (Bit of trivia here: the Chinese title for it roughly translates into "Music of the Night")

-->-- ''[[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Oancitizen]]''', while reviewing another Shakespeare update, ''Film/TromeoAndJuliet''