With all of the remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels and adaptations being released or in production, should Hollywood just accept the fact that they've run out of ideas?
With all of these films being made, Hollywood is already admitting that they've run out of ideas. Of course, this is where indie films come in and save the day.
I hate to sound like the hipster-type who thinks that independent films are inherently better than films produced by studios with big budgets because such thinking is simply not true. A film isn't as good as the money put into or not put into it. However, the world of film is slowly but surely coming to a point where studios aren't thinking for themselves and have no problem revamping something from the past, whereas indie films more often than not take fresh - or at least not completely worn-out - ideas and bring them to the silver screen.
The thing is, there are plenty of good ideas out there. So it isn't that they are out of ideas, it is just that they just don't want to take risks with new ideas. They have a formula, the formula makes them a shit load of money. So, why change the formula?
I work part time at an Independent Movie theater so I see just how many people want to see movies that are different then the typical Hollywood stuff. I mean, We have been showing Black Swan since mid-December and it has just recently stopped selling out shows. Same with King's Speech. We had that one in two auditoriums at are theater for the last month. I just recently moved down to one. People really want to see these movies, Hollywood just ignores that.
They completely ignore when a movie like Inception does really well because it doesn't fit into their formula. They attribute its success to the fact that fan's of the Batman series are going to come see it because it is the same Director. It doesn't ever occur to them that people actually want to see different things.
I am sure that there are plenty of great, original scripts floating around Hollywood right now. In fact every once in awhile you'll see a list of great scripts that haven't yet been made into movies. Hollywood just has not clue what to do with original ideas. It doesn't know how to market them. They would rather just stick to what they know because it makes them a crap load of money.
The only way Hollywood will start making more original movies is if people stop going to see the remakes, sequels, reboots and prequels. As long as the audience is going to these movies, Hollywood is going to keep cranking them out.
So, blame the people that keep paying to see these movies. Hollywood is just people what it thinks they want. Money talks.
It's not about running out of ideas. It's about making money and reducing risk exposure. All of those dumb blockbusters are much safer bets than movies like Inception for example. By reducing it to the most common denominator, they are assured that no matter how terrible the movie may be, the foreign box office is going to be strong.
I'm with Castor on this one. It's more about settling for what's safe and familiar rather than taking risks with daring, original material -- because there are surely plenty of screenplays in the latter categories that studio heads aren't willing to take a chance on.
I, for one, think that studios need to broaden their horizons because so often it is the original material that captivates audiences more than anything else. A sequel or a remake will bring in a solid opening weekend, sure, but it's really only the work of profound originality and inventiveness that will keep the audiences coming back to the theater a second or third time, or buying the film on DVD, Blu-ray, etc.
I don't think they've run out of idea, there will always be talented writers and great scripts just begging to be adapted, I think they've run out of daring, they make films that are safe sources of profit, thus the number of remakes sequels prequels and reboots is high because they are a reliable source of profit. If teh producers were willing to take more risks instead of playing it safe, we would have more original and different films.
Remakes are easy because the concept is already there and no one has think Still the notion is not a success because box office revenue continue to drop
With all of these films being made, Hollywood is already admitting that they've run out of ideas. Of course, this is where indie films come in and save the day.
ReplyDeleteI hate to sound like the hipster-type who thinks that independent films are inherently better than films produced by studios with big budgets because such thinking is simply not true. A film isn't as good as the money put into or not put into it. However, the world of film is slowly but surely coming to a point where studios aren't thinking for themselves and have no problem revamping something from the past, whereas indie films more often than not take fresh - or at least not completely worn-out - ideas and bring them to the silver screen.
The thing is, there are plenty of good ideas out there. So it isn't that they are out of ideas, it is just that they just don't want to take risks with new ideas. They have a formula, the formula makes them a shit load of money. So, why change the formula?
ReplyDeleteI work part time at an Independent Movie theater so I see just how many people want to see movies that are different then the typical Hollywood stuff. I mean, We have been showing Black Swan since mid-December and it has just recently stopped selling out shows. Same with King's Speech. We had that one in two auditoriums at are theater for the last month. I just recently moved down to one. People really want to see these movies, Hollywood just ignores that.
They completely ignore when a movie like Inception does really well because it doesn't fit into their formula. They attribute its success to the fact that fan's of the Batman series are going to come see it because it is the same Director. It doesn't ever occur to them that people actually want to see different things.
I am sure that there are plenty of great, original scripts floating around Hollywood right now. In fact every once in awhile you'll see a list of great scripts that haven't yet been made into movies. Hollywood just has not clue what to do with original ideas. It doesn't know how to market them. They would rather just stick to what they know because it makes them a crap load of money.
The only way Hollywood will start making more original movies is if people stop going to see the remakes, sequels, reboots and prequels. As long as the audience is going to these movies, Hollywood is going to keep cranking them out.
So, blame the people that keep paying to see these movies. Hollywood is just people what it thinks they want. Money talks.
It's not about running out of ideas. It's about making money and reducing risk exposure. All of those dumb blockbusters are much safer bets than movies like Inception for example. By reducing it to the most common denominator, they are assured that no matter how terrible the movie may be, the foreign box office is going to be strong.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Castor on this one. It's more about settling for what's safe and familiar rather than taking risks with daring, original material -- because there are surely plenty of screenplays in the latter categories that studio heads aren't willing to take a chance on.
ReplyDeleteI, for one, think that studios need to broaden their horizons because so often it is the original material that captivates audiences more than anything else. A sequel or a remake will bring in a solid opening weekend, sure, but it's really only the work of profound originality and inventiveness that will keep the audiences coming back to the theater a second or third time, or buying the film on DVD, Blu-ray, etc.
I don't think they've run out of idea, there will always be talented writers and great scripts just begging to be adapted, I think they've run out of daring, they make films that are safe sources of profit, thus the number of remakes sequels prequels and reboots is high because they are a reliable source of profit.
ReplyDeleteIf teh producers were willing to take more risks instead of playing it safe, we would have more original and different films.
i think it's more the fact that they've gotten so lazy that they've lost their focus.
ReplyDeleteRemakes are easy because the concept is already there and no one has think Still the notion is not a success because box office revenue continue to drop
ReplyDelete