So there is a new trend in Hollywood and that's complaining about all the movies being the same. It seems that everyone is whining about remakes, reboots, sequels and prequels. These ideas are not new. Now granted Reboots and Prequels are newer than the sequels and remakes but they didn't show up last week. This newest wave of these types of movies really started in 1999 with the release of Star Wars 1, which went on to be the 5th highest grossing movie of all time (At that time).
The fact of the matter is Hollywood goes in waves and trends. I've been listening to a lot of people groan about how Hollywood doesn't have any original ideas any more. This thought is laughable at best. Seriously though. There are plenty of great original ideas in Hollywood, RIGHT NOW! Seriously.
The problem is that movie making is a huge gamble. If I make a new Star Wars movie I am probably guaranteed $250 million and that's only domestic, but if I make something new and original who knows what I'll be able to make. See there are examples of insane gambles in the industry all the time. Take 300 for example. A cast of no bodies, a budget of $65 Million, a director hot off the success of a Dawn of the Dead remake and a little known graphic novel. What do you have? A juggernaut! $210 Million later everyone involved is sitting there wondering what just happened. On the flip side look at Catwoman, the budget was $100 million and it managed to only gross $40 million and frankly it was luck to make that.
Now why is it such a gamble. How can a small movie like 300 kill, but a movie with brand recognition and a big star fail so badly? Most of it is quality, but it can't all be that. To almost completely kill that theory look no further than Transformers 2. One of the worst movies I've seen in ages and here it is grossing $402 million. Another part of it is escapism, people want to get away, especially in this economy. Movies like Transformers and G.I. Joe are about as escapism as possible.
But see we don't have to give in to seeing the same crap. Don't go see or rent something because "You've have already seen everything." Save your money. Re watch something that you've seen that's the same as the garbage Hollywood is feeding us. You want escapism fun go back and watch the first two Matrix movies. You want a great comedy go re watch The 'Burbs. Just don't see the sequel or remake if you don't want there to be another. Frankly don't see the original if you don't want to see another.
You have to realize that when you buy ANYTHING you are voting with your dollar. By buying an item or event you are telling the makers that you want more of that. You are supporting that. See Hollywood has original ideas, but you aren't seeing them. When Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain hit theatres in November of 06 where were you? I know I saw it twice in the same weekend. When Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World came out where were you?
See if you don't want to see sequels and remakes. Don't see them. Don't go watch them. Encourage others not to see them. Push your friends to stay away. Have your friends push their friends not to see them. If we want new and original ideas in movies we have to come together as a society and demand it. Now if it's of quality give it money because sequels aren't evil, but bad one's are. We have to show them that new and original is good and lucrative. The good news is we've already started doing that. With the $282 million that Inception has already grossed we have helped show Hollywood that this is what we want to see in the future.
