Arthur (1981 film) followed by a sequel in 1988, "". Lead players Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, and John Gielgud, reprised their roles, as well as many supporting players such as Geraldine Fitzgerald, Barney Martin, and Ted Ross. It was first reported in 2008 that "Arthur" was to be remade by Warner Bros., with British actor/comedian Russell Brand in the lead role. Brand confirmed this during his March 10, 2009 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show". The remake was a critical and financial failure. This film had three Indian remakes. One was the 1984 Bollywood Hindi language film "Sharaabi" starring Amitabh Bachchan in the
John Gielgud his own reputation. He told an interviewer, "They pay me very well for two or three days' work a month, so why not? It's nice at my age to be able to travel all over the world at other people's expense." Gielgud's most successful film performance of the decade was Steve Gordon's comedy "Arthur" (1981), which starred Dudley Moore as a self-indulgent playboy. Gielgud played Hobson, Moore's butler. He turned the part down twice before finally accepting it, nervous, after the "Caligula" débâcle, of the strong language used by the acerbic Hobson. He won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor