Films such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “Power Rangers” are just some of the successes of the reboot and remake trend in Hollywood. A big factor that is making directors and companies go for the remakes and reboots is the amount of money they are making at the box office.
According to Box Office Mojo, the “Beauty and the Beast” remake made $910,827,783 worldwide, beating out “Cinderella” with $543,514,353, and “The Jungle Book” with $966,550,600.
“The adaption starring Emma Watson is a major indicator of more live-action magic to come,” said Jennifer Kline, a reporter for AOL. “Disney is developing a ridiculous number of remakes–some expected, and others totally out of left field.”
Films such as “Mulan” and “The Lion King” are in the line up as well, including spin-offs of original movies, such as a Cruella de Vil film, who is a character from “101 Dalmatians.” Another spin-off in the works is based on Prince Charming from “Cinderella.”
Disney is not the only company to produce remakes and reboots. “Ghost in the Shell” and “Jumanji” are other movies that have been remakes and reboots of past films. Even horror movies are getting remakes, such as “It,” which will be coming out later this year. The super hero market has also jumped in, rebooting Spiderman for the third time now.
“Studios make back-to-back remakes for a laundry list of reasons, chief among them security and bankability, movies that were past hits are easy financial wins for the future,” said Gitesh Pandya, editor of Box Office Guru for Mashable. “There’s also a guaranteed built-in audience and a better chance for publicity when it comes to familiar films.”
According to the blog “Droid You’re Looking For,” there have been 122 remakes and reboots from the years 2003 to 2012, making this number increase as movies continue to get remade.
Aaron Hitch, a writer for The Artifice, said “Films based on other properties do admittedly overshadow original films, but it’s not because Hollywood is anti-originality.” “Keep in mind that the average filmgoer sees three to five films a year, and they are most likely going to watch movies set in a pre-established series.”
According to Hitch, Hollywood is not necessarily running out of ideas, they are simply releasing remakes because it is a safe way to make money. Thus, people would want to see something they are familiar with than with something new.
