There were nearly ten Hollywood film remakes last year. Now, that may not seem like a lot—and it may not be—but those remakes did however make up the bulk of the bigger budget features films that were released. Just think how many smaller budget films with original stories could have been made instead of just one of those big budget remakes.
Clearly, Hollywood has taken a stance: they feel more confident in remakes. As a result, film studios are more willing to spend millions of dollars on another big production of a remake rather than spend money on a film with original material. Should moviegoers be concerned? Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean things will change anytime soon.
High Risk, Even Higher Reward
There’s a saying in finance: high risk, high reward. Since film studios are in business to make money, you can bet that any gamble they make is highly calculated. Movies, in general, are a huge gamble for Hollywood studios and remakes are a proven way to mitigate such risks. There’s also a higher propensity for a huge payoff given the success of prior efforts; not only in the short run, but potentially in the long run as well. Take the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise for example.
The original 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was a huge success, grossing over $200 million. No wonder film studios went back for more in 2014 with a reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise; and it paid off. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remake grossed nearly $500 million at the box office. Even if you consider the fact that the remake cost Paramount Pictures over $100 million to make, the studio was still left with $400 million; making the reward worth the risk. Of course they won’t stop there. Paramount Pictures has agreed to two more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies as a result. This leaves little funding left for original projects.
The Others
While film studios are being preoccupied with remakes, there are “others” whose talent continues to go unnoticed. As a result, aspiring talent with fresh ideas are being forced to hustle to fund their own projects in addition to pitching their work to independent film festivals, with the hopes that they’ll receive a good reception. A good reception at an independent film festival, of course, could then lead to a big studio finally picking up their project. Otherwise, the “others” really have their work cut out as they attempt to get noticed by the big Hollywood film studios.
On the other hand, even after a successful run at Tribeca Film Festival, for example, and obtaining the backing of a major Hollywood studio, the “others” still aren’t necessarily guaranteed great box office success; thus the justified conundrum for the Hollywood film studios. This is true whether the “others” are of Hollywood royalty or not. Look no further than Chris Rock’s latest movie “Top Five,” which cost $12 million to make, but has only grossed $25 million thus far; despite winning over audiences at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and critics since then.
No End in Sight
While many moviegoers may complain about the lack of creativity in Hollywood at present, it certainly looks as if there is no end in sight for remakes; at least for the foreseeable future. Just this week alone, reports have surfaced that there will be both a Beetlejuice 2 and a reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise. We also saw the release of the trailer for the reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise this week in entertainment news, and the year is still young. Brace yourself, all signs indicate that we haven’t heard the last announcement about a remake this year…so much for originality!