It seems that every other day there’s an announcement coming from the various entertainment “news” outlets, that a pre-existing film, television show, or some other form of Intellectual Property (IP) is being remade or rebooted into a new, updated version. Some of these announcements generate excitement, but mostly they garner responses of anger or frustration from the public at large.
One of the more recent announcements came by way of an article in Variety of an interview with the legendary Norman Leer. In which, was brought up the idea of remaking the beloved, “The Princess Bride”. The mere notion of this remake left many wondering ‘why’, ‘what are they thinking?’, and a wide variety of responses containing a creative breath of explicatives. While I
certainly don’t have all the answers (and no one does) I do have a few thoughts on this topic that attempts to view this state of affairs from both sides. As with most things there are pros and cons, and plenty of grey area to go around. There are multiple facets to this situation, so buckle in… Fear.
The entire entertainment business, and especially film and television, is run on fear. Most studios are a flop or two from going bankrupt- and many have. Cannon Films after “Superman IV”, Zoetrope Productions after “One From the Heart”, Carolco Pictures after “Cutthroat Island”, Franchise Pictures after “Battlefield Earth”, Fox Animation Studios after “Titan A.E.”, and most famously- United Artists after “Heaven’s Gate”. It’s so much more forgivable in Hollywood to “pass” on a film that ends up making good money, than to say “yes” to a project that costs the studio millions in lost revenue.
This has led to the mentality that every film needs to swing for the fences. If it’s not a home run, then you’re finished. It’s gotten to the ridiculous point where a $300 million opening weekend can be considered “underperforming” for certain films. Obviously, the cost of producing films is enormous. And with marketing and promotion budgets almost equaling those of the production itself, every film is a huge financial risk. So, in order to mitigate that risk, Hollywood continues to practice the time-honored tradition of mining other IP’s.
The value of basing a film or television series on another “thing” is a way to estimate how successful a production might be. Built in audiences and fan bases that are already passionate and already spending money provides needed security to these massive cinematic investments. Remakes, or reboots of well-known IP’s, or ongoing sequels in a successful franchise, are the comfort foods to a terrified group of business people. One might fault them for working in fear…. However, they ain’t stupid.
Fishing.
It’s highly unadvisable to throw millions of dollars at a project that no one wants. It’s not out of the question for a studio, producer, director, or some other hopeful creative, to float out the idea of a particular project. You can somewhat judge the marketability of that concept based on the flurry of feedback that may come. It’s certainly not an exact science, and many times a project will get green-lit despite negative public pre-conceptions, but it’s definitely a thing.
We Have a History.
In psychology, positive reinforcement is essentially defined as rewarding a subject with desirable stimulus when they perform a particular action, thus making it more likely that they will repeat the action. In the film world, money is of course, the “desirable stimulus”. The history of Hollywood has shown that this formula of repackaging IP’s and relying on sequels produces A LOT of “desirable stimuli”.
Going all the way back to the very early days of the film business, this was going on. Hollywood is not doing anything they haven’t been doing for decades. Back in the day, monster movies were the equivalent to today’s obsession with superhero films. Starting at 1910, there have been over 60 movies about Frankenstein’s monster, with 15 produced before 1950, several being the famous Universal sequels. Dracula brings even bigger numbers with at least 90 films depicting the famous vampire, going all the way back to 1920.
So it’s really business as usual in the studio system. However, they aren’t the only ones. Classic IP’s, especially tales that now exist in the Public Domain have not only been a target for studio films and shows, but fertile ground for independent filmmakers as well. Often times, royalty free titles are a great way for a project with a smaller budget to tap into a “marketable name or brand” without actually paying for it. So it’s not just a “Hollywood” thing.
One of the reasons why it might seem so prevalent now is that we are absolutely saturated with content. We as a human race have never had so much access, to so much media, at such a low cost, in the history of our existence. There is an estimated 500+ scripted shows on TV right now. Not to mention “reality” based shows, game/contest shows, and other content. It’s estimated that there are about 400-500 “Hollywood” films are produced every year. Who knows how many more hundreds of independent films and shows are created yearly as well? With the battle of streaming networks scrambling to scoop up content by the truckloads and the accessibility of more people to cinematic quality gear, the industry has produced a dearth of media from which to choose. So with more products, naturally comes more of everything, including sequels and remakes.
“Sequels/Prequels/Remakes/Reboots Suck!” And other Hasty Generalizations.
I can’t tell you how many times in a week I hear or read some variation of this statement. People crying out with the entertainment equivalent of virtue signaling- letting all within the range of their social media footprint know that they are far too enlightened for such base things as sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots. Obviously this statement is ridiculous. First, as all entertainment is subjective, who can really determine whether something is universally “good” or not? Certainly not the mercenaries over at Rotten Tomatoes, censoring reviews for a price. Sure, some of the spinoffs and various IP iterations are considered to be bad. No argument there. But without remakes, we would only ever be stuck with the single version of a property.
Without remakes, we would only have the 1943 “The Batman” staring Lewis Wilson. Without remakes or reboots there would never have been the Adam West 1960’s Batman, or the 1989 Michael Keaton Batman, or arguably the best superhero film of all time, “Dark Knight” with Christian Bale donning the famous cowl. Take a look at any list of the “best films of all time”, or a list of Oscar winners- virtually all of them are adaptations of some piece of IP. Virtually every film or show has its origins in something else. And if it was good once, it can probably be good again.
They don’t all suck. Many are great. Besides, do you want to know the really dirty secret about sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots? Are you ready?...
You Actually LOVE Them!
Now it’s my turn for a Hasty Generalization. I’m sure there really are people out there somewhere that genuinely hate everything new and refuse to watch anything current. But I’m guessing they’re a wild minority. The truth is, the reason why we have so many sequels and remakes, is that people keep paying MONEY! Remember that “desirable stimulus”? People are hemorrhaging cash into these franchises over and over. The narrative that “people” are sick of sequels and remakes simply isn’t true. If it were, all these films and TV shows that follow this formula would be complete flops.
People are breaking records every year by pouring into the theatres to gleefully support the latest 20-some odd sequel in the latest superhero franchise. Which is fine- if you like it, you should enjoy it. But don’t clutch your cinematic pearls when another film or franchise tries to do the exact same thing.
Film is one thing, but we all know that right now, Television is king. And you know what? TV is even worse than film at this! Every single new season is essentially a sequel. In the case of the wildly popular police, crime and law procedurals, every episode is a reboot. So if you have a favorite show in it’s 5th, 6th, 7thseason or more, guess what? You’re into sequels. Did you like “Breaking Bad”? Did you like “Better Call Saul”? That’s a prequel. The juggernaut that is “Supernatural” is finally coming to a close after 14 incredible seasons. That will be 307 episodes that run an approximate of 45 minutes, per episode. That equals about 230.25 hours, or the equivalent of about 115, 2-hour movies. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN MOVIES! Face it- we all love sequels, prequels, reboots and remakes.
Everything Old is New Again.
So maybe we’re at peace with the idea that we really do like some of these remakes. But we’d really like to see some original content too, right? Part of the problem comes back on the laps of the audiences. More and more these days, people do NOT want to pay for their entertainment. Audiences are becoming more and more entitled as the content level reaches the saturation point. I’ve even heard people try to rationalize pirating because there are too many streaming services and they shouldn’t have to buy them all to watch all the shows! Across the board TVOD (Transactional Video On Demand, aka Pay Per View) is plummeting. Even with the convenience of digital streaming, fewer people are willing to pay for individual movie rentals and purchases. Pirating is as bad as ever with people not only viewing illegal downloads, but sharing subscription codes with others that don’t pay for the service.
One of the few places where audiences can actually see new, and original voices is in the independent film space. As these filmmakers are working outside of the studio system, their budgets are woefully small when compared to their SoCal cousins. Many of these small budget indies end up being space fillers on streaming services. These films are also notoriously preyed upon by slimy, dubious distribution companies and aggregators that cleverly work contracts in such a way that filmmakers never make one- single- cent, on their films. It doesn’t matter because as soon as it hits iTunes or Amazon it gets pirated anyway. So very quickly, these new and original voices become silenced because you can’t sustain a second film, much less a career, when no money is being made. Even the monstrous Netflix, which used to be a bit of a golden ticket for indie filmmakers has recently become as bad as all the others and has turned very low paying, very quickly.
But one doesn’t need to mourn if you just want interesting content. Just a few weeks ago Amazon Prime released the first season of a truly original series in “Carnival Row”. It’s not based on any previously exiting IP and explores a new “world” that isn’t exactly like anything else. It may not be your tastes, but there are things out there that are original. You just might have to look a little harder to find them.
I like that old timey rock and roll.
Despite everything, I completely understand if a remake or reboot of a beloved show is upsetting, or is simply something you want no part of. In fact, the best form or protest you can do when it comes to entertainment, is don’t watch it! Vote with your wallet. What I don’t understand is when people get angry, sometimes to the point of rage, when it comes to some of these remakes. How in the world, does the existence of another film or series, in anyway, take away your enjoyment of an earlier version? I really like Die Hard. I’m even a fan of Die Hard 3 and 4! However, the 5thinstallment, in my opinion, was terrible. So how do I respond? Easy, I watch the ones I like over and over, and don’t watch the one I don’t like. Simple.
I’m a huge fan of the “Shannara” fantasy novel series, by Terry Brooks. In my opinion, the “Shannara Chronicles” television series was an absolute train wreck. What do I do? I don’t watch it. The existence of a horrible TV adaptation in no way affects me when I re-read the novels. There isn’t some creepy cinematic incarnation of Beto O’Rourke out there threatening to take away your originals, when a new version of something is released. You can still enjoy your things.
As someone who tries to make a few coins every now and then in this industry, I know a little bit of how hard it is to get work and to get paid for it. I have a hard time not supporting anyone who has the opportunity to make something they want and to try it in the market. Does that mean I’m enthusiastic about a “Princess Bride” remake? Certainly not. But if someone feels they have an opportunity and if the project can pay the bills for a few more filmmakers and crew people- go for it.
Tough Love.
At the end of the day, audiences have to realize one important thing about films, television shows and the franchises they love…
IT DOESN’T BELONG TO YOU.
It’s not up to you what an artist wants to make. If a person or the company owns or has purchased the rights to an IP, they have every right in the world to try and make something of it. A smart company will certainly try to appeal to their target audience- it’s only good business sense. But there’s nothing anywhere that suggests that the general public can or should dictate what filmmakers choose to create. What you can do is decide whether to support them or not.
Oh, and by the way, a film coming out in your 30’s or 40’s absolutely, in no way, has the capability to “ruin your childhood”. Just saying….