Rise of the Remakes in Hollywood

When it comes to remakes, movie studios are no strangers to reviving old properties with new changes. However, remakes are a risky gambit that can either be huge successes or downright disasters. Most remakes tend to fail and only a handful have ever been either commercial or critically triumphant.

But the real question to be asked is what are the advantages or disadvantages of rebooting or remaking old properties for a new generation? Here are some pros and cons to making remakes.

Pro: Exposing A New Generation

One advantage is the potential to expose a new generation of audiences to an old property but with significant changes from the original. Old Hollywood properties are ripe for modernization in today’s movie climate; audiences may be interested in seeing films that are based on classics.

One example of a perfect remake that is considered by certain parties better than the original is True Grit. The Coen Brothers’ remake of the 1960’s classic Western film was praised by audiences and critics alike with some claiming that it was a much better than the original classic that inspired it.

According to the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, the film was successful because of the actors’ performances and how the Coen Brothers directed the film. Sometimes in order for a remake to be a success is for there to be genius filmmakers and actors at work.

Sometimes old ideas can be revived with the potential to garner a new generation of fans.

Con: Judged By The Originals

But introducing a new iteration of a classic movie can draw intense criticism, especially from fans of the original. This is a disadvantage for remakes because it can affect their overall box office success.

A majority of rebooted Hollywood franchises often face criticism for qualities that differentiate them from their original counterparts. This can be anything from how the characters are portrayed to how the new iterations’ tone is rendered.

The 1998 Godzilla was heavily criticized for diverging greatly from the original classic. One of the criticisms of the film was how the new version of the King of Monsters was designed. Fans and critics were infuriated that the titular monster strayed greatly from his original design. Thankfully, the 2014 reboot managed to keep the original design of Godzilla intact.

Part of the problem with remakes is that they will always be judged by fans of their original counterparts no matter the circumstances. A majority of remakes have had to deal with criticism for how they differ from their original source material.

Remakes will escape the judgment of how they compare to the original cinema masterpieces that inspired them.

Pro: A New Interpretation

Despite remakes being critiqued for how they compare to the original film pieces, remakes open the door for reinventing the franchise as a whole by creating interpretations that are potentially pleasing to audiences. Certain films have either been critically acclaimed and/or commercially successful as a result.

One film that managed to reinvent a classic was John Carpenter’s The Thing. Based on the 1950’s film The Thing From Another World, Carpenter’s version re-imagined the titular alien as a shape-shifting alien that can turn into beings it has assimilated. Panic among the crew of an Antarctic research station ensues as they are not only forced to do battle with the monster but with each other as they try to deduce the monster’s identity.

While the film was not a box office hit, it did gain critical praise for its atmospheric terror by exploring what happens when one never knows who to trust and has gained a cult following since then. This is a perfect example of how new interpretations of old properties can garner success either critically or commercially.

New directions for classic film properties have the chance to become very successful.

Con: New Directions Are Not Always A Good Idea

But new directions when adapting old film properties for the modern cinematic industry does not always succeed. These new directions can deviate greatly either from the original film or from what it intended to be.

One recent example is The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. The film is intended to be the start of Universal Studios’ Dark Universe, a cinematic film universe comprised of Universal’s classic film monsters such as the Invisible Man and the Wolfman.

The film upon its release was criticized by both audiences and critics alike, with one of the critiques being that the film’s focus on introducing the Dark Universe as being a flaw the film displays easily; the film failed to tell its own unique story by greatly hinting at what the Dark Universe would be bringing in future films. But another problem that plagued the film was that Cruise had too much creative control over the project and his creative oversight prevented the film from being better than it could have been.

A similar case would be The Amazing Spiderman 2, Sony’s second installment in their Amazing Spiderman reboot series. The film was criticized for having too much in it; there were too many subplots that prevented the film from telling a singular story. The film was too focused on preparing for the franchise’s planned spin-offs such as the now-canceled Sinister Six film.

Both The Mummy and The Amazing Spiderman 2 are cases of what happens when a rebooted film series takes the new direction and fails to execute it properly.

But while both examples mentioned above were based on older film and comic book film franchises, respectively, adaptions of old TV shows can fail as well, with the recent Baywatch film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron.

Pro: They Can Be Box Office Successes

Making a remake of a classic film has the chance to be a financial success at the box office. Audiences may become interested in seeing a remake of an old film in order to see what filmmakers have done to modernize it for today’s audience.

Hollywood is not always willing to take risks with new creative endeavors. Remakes of old franchises are used to because certain franchises are popular among moviegoers today who may or may not have seen the original material.

Filmmakers opportunity to re-envision an old film property can appeal to audiences depending on the film property. In recent years, Hollywood has been releasing remakes and reboots with certain properties proving to be successful.

A perfect example would be the rebooted Planet of the Apes film series beginning with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011. The new take on the series is set in a much more grounded reality rather than a decimated Earth from nuclear fallout. Instead, the series follows the journey of its lead ape character Caesar, from his early childhood to adulthood as he tries to ensure his kind’s survival in a world nearly devoid of human life.

Remakes that get it right have the potential to be financially prosperous for film studios.

Con: They Can Be Box Office Bombs

While remakes have the potential to be financially successful, they also have the chance to be complete misses. Sadly, this is the case for the majority of remakes that have come out over the years.

There are numerous examples of rebooted franchises that failed to live to up to expectations, no matter if the remakes are decent or if they are flat out disastrous from start to finish.

John Carpenter’s The Thing is a perfect example of a remake that was good but failed to make revenue for a film studio. What prevented the film from becoming a hit was that it was released the same weekend as Steven Spielberg’s E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

But this year was also a bad time for remakes as well. One example being the Baywatch reboot, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron, which is a perfect example demonstrating that star power alone will not save a movie from financial ruin.

In Baywatch‘s case, a big reason it bombed massively is that it was universally panned by critics, wherein an age where more and more moviegoers are relying more and more on reviews to decide what to see is a huge deal, and was also released during Memorial Day, which was one of the worst box office weekends in recent years. Like The Thing, the film also faced more aggressive competition during opening weekend, competing against the likes of Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

In this age of remakes and reboots, box office bombs are bound to occur.

Remakes or reboots are Hollywood’s attempt to make revenue using old franchises. While they have been shown to be helpful in making studios money, most remakes or reboots have been failures at the box office.

The reasons are many and only time will tell if Hollywood continues this trend.

What do you think? Leave a comment.