I recently stumbled across a video on my TikTok For You Page that showed all the new movies that would be coming out the following year. As a girl who absolutely loved going to movie theaters, I eagerly looked through the titles, hoping to find something worth watching on the big screen.
However, I was disappointed to find that almost every movie on the list was a sequel or remake of something that has already been done before. I was hoping to see something original and different, a concept that now seems to be lost in Hollywood.
I’ll be honest, I’m a big consumer of televised entertainment. Witty teen shows, fun cartoons, and imaginative movies defined my early childhood. I always loved watching TV whether it’s by being surprised by unsuspecting plots, guessing what will happen next, or relating to my favorite iconic characters.
But recently, I’ve noticed that movies and shows today don’t hit as hard as the ones I grew up watching. Am I biased because I spent my whole life watching these films? Maybe. Or could it be that modern Hollywood films are losing their spark?
According to Rotten Tomatoes, some of the most exciting movies set to come out in 2024 include “Kung Fu Panda 4” (Mitchell, 2024), “A Quiet Place: Day One” (Sarnoski, 2024), “Dune: Part 2” (Villeneuve, 2024), “Snow White” (Webb, 2024), “Inside out 2 ” (Mann, 2024), “Despicable Me 4”(Renaude, Delage, 2024), and “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Jenkins, 2024), according to Rotten Tomatoes.
While there are some new original movies coming out, one can’t help but notice a majority of the new films follow a specific trend. They are all remakes, sequels, or spinoffs of movies and stories that have already been made. Why is that?
Can it be that Hollywood is capitalizing on nostalgia and playing it safe? Has greed taken over creativity and originality? Sixty-five percent of new network television series will be canceled within their first season, according to Screenrant.
Also, films study lecturer and 20th-century British cinema and audiences specialist Dr Matthew Jones has said that the most secure option for studios is “a ‘pre-sold property’, which means a film that has a built-in audience that one can all but guarantee will go and see the film,” Cosmopolitan reported. In other words, it’s a safe bet pretty much guaranteed to make money.
Why risk creating something new people will hate when there’s already an existing fan base of an already popular film? Jones also said that big production companies “need to be sure they can secure a profit during turbulent economic times, so they are hedging their bets by banking on familiar stories and franchises.”
Interestingly enough, the era of remakes and sequels has been happening for a while, and they’ve all occurred after times of huge economic loss such as the Dot-com bubble crash in 2000 the global financial crisis in 2008, 9/11, and the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation rates.
What about streaming? With the rising popularity of Netflix, Max, Disney Plus, and more it’s becoming increasingly easier to watch all one’s favorite shows in one setting. There’s no need to try something new when the show you already like is at your fingertips.
Once again Hollywood greed and an overwhelming desire for constant success has overpowered the idea of risking it all for something new and exciting. Instead, the more secure option that’s already been done gets picked because of its profitable expectancy.
In all honestly, it’s not easy to predict when this remake period will end. In the past, it seems times of economic prosperity have negated the avoidance of risk and have allowed for more investment in new ideas. However, I believe it’s also important that we as an audience learn not to run to the first thing we find familiar, but instead take a chance on something new that hasn’t been done before.