Why, in this decade, are so many remakes being created?

[Oliverlogan263]

I’m serious. Why are movies being remade so much? Movies are being remade, and while it's not really a new thing happening, it’s happening so often. It makes me wonder: as a society today, in what headspace are we? Is society so unhappy with this decade that they prefer to go back? Or are we less optimistic about the future, so we can’t pull creatively from it?

We have gone backwards, and so have our creativity and the need to be original in the film and television industry. Few in the industry come up with original material that represents the current decade. It’s almost as if no one wants to really accept this decade for what it is, so they reach back in time and recycle material with slightly updated spins.

Where is the creativity? Where is our originality?

You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times - Nina Simone

We aren’t reflecting the times if we are remaking the past. Or are we still in the past, so we can’t move forward creatively?

[NamerOfStars]

Production costs have risen, and the general wealth of the populace has fallen (especially in the past four years), so people are reluctant to part with their money. This means original ideas are far more of a risk than they used to be. Also, most writers nowadays are trained as writers, first and foremost, and lack the breadth of perspective and philosophy that comes from living more varied lives. Babylon 5 was already unique in the degree to which it was the product of one mind; that that mind was a trained psychologist gave it insights into human behavior and reasoning that nobody straight out of college with a degree in screenwriting can match. The third big factor is the push for more international markets; deep character dramas often don't translate well, and neither does complex humor. Add it all up, and you've got a recipe for mediocrity.

Reboots let you avoid part of the risk by taking a property people are already familiar with. For years, I said that they should avoid remaking beloved franchises and remake bad ones instead; no risk of destroying what somebody loves that way- and Hollywood couldn't even get THAT right! Death Race 2000 was not a good movie (to give you an idea, the tagline was "In the year 2000, hit and run driving is no longer a felony; it's the national sport!"), but it was charmingly campy and stupid. The remake was dark and gritty, completely missing the point. The Planet of the Apes franchise started out good, then just got stupider, with the second movie being an awful retread of the first, the third being a radical shift in tone (which actually wasn't bad, but was a lighthearted and fun, almost Mary Tyler Moore-styled "superintelligent chimp in 1970's New York" way, very unlike the earlier films), the fourth was actually good again, and the fifth was a debacle that killed the franchise. The remake was just bad, but the reboot franchise actually didn't suck, proving that they didn't really understand the idea (that each movie is worse than what went before).

[Chazmatazz269]

Movies are a profitable industry. Not everyone enjoys gambling, least of all with millions of dollars. Sequels, remakes and reboots of successful franchises repeatedly proves a safer bet than brand new content. Most investors would prefer a guaranteed lesser profit to a lesser chance at greater profit.

[SallyTho87]

I agree with what @NamerOfStars has informed, and @FunkyMonkee has stated.

My opinion was incredibly similar to these both.

Also Commenting because LOL at the use of "Flex Tape" reference xD That was perfect.

[PBandJ_Nerd]

Because people are lost on creativity or run out of it. So, the easiest way is by trying to revive and reboot something that's already been done and made.

[DarkLegacy]

I have wondered this and it is because they have run out of ideas. I hate remakes, they are never as good as the original in most circumstances. it does depend on the type of film they are remaking but in general no. The film and TV industry has exhausted themselves, we are not getting any new good films or TV programmes. This problem is not unique to the USA, we have the same problem here in the UK.

They are bringing back old TV shows also because they cannot think up new ideas.

[Anonymous]

I think the entertainment industry has some serious problems of it's own making. And it starts with recruitment policy and ends at the door of those in charge. It's unclear sometimes who they think they are making this stuff for but failure after failure suggests it's not the paying public.

[exitseven]

the studios do not want to gamble on an unknown concept. A remake of an old movie that made money will also make money. Same thing about sequels. They keep making more sequels until they stop making money.

[FunkyMonkee]

Because they HAVE no original ideas and think people will actually like their bullshit woke remakes of the really good stuff that we came up with 50-60 years ago.

[TommyMountainFigure]

The older movies are generally not deemed to be inclusive enough!
I prefer the older ones though!

[Fireguy17]

it's cheaper and easier to do than having a fresh idea.
One does it and they all have to do it. All hoping for success and money.

[DrPepper12]

Cuz Hollywood is COMPLETELY out of ideas. It's really sad. Originality is becoming very hard to find.

[HawkPerception]

Because no one has originality anymore. It truly is sad.

[LiamJHayden]

For the same reason most modern popular music sounds similar. If a formula sells, people are reluctant to try something different.

[handsomelad70]

Because Hollywood caters to fourteen-year-old lads and grown men with a fourteen-year-old lad's mindset.

[AngryCarl]

If people paid to see a movie once they will be pay again to see the remake. So goes the thinking in Hollywood. How's that working out?

[RedInnocent69]

Because the corporate film industry has no sense of creativity or originality.

[NathanDavis]

simple...

people keep buying it