Movie Remakes: They Hurt Me in the Childhood

There have been a lot of remakes and reboots happening in the film industry lately. Between children's shows like Jem and the Holograms & The Power Rangers, traditional movie reboots like Godzilla & Spider-Man, or more controversial titles like The Crow and (the recently announced) The Craft remakes, it can certainly feel like nothing is "safe" from being given another go on the big screen (do not even get me started on the $200million Navy reruitment abomination that was Battleship). In 2014 there were 47 remakes and sequels released*, not counting stage or novel adaptations. As of May 2015, we've already had 15 with at least another 30 scheduled to be released. 

The pervasiveness of remakes and sequels is undeniable. Some stories and characters are so popular on film that it's difficult to get an accurate count of how many have been produced. The story of the Greek demi-god, Hercules in particular has been made into at least 37 films (though not all of those graced the big screen), and no less than 4 television series. In 2014 alone we saw the release of not one, but two Hercules movies:

Both of which apparently involved some serious shit happening to Hercules' left.

Now, chances are the sheer number of remakes, reboots, and even sequels would be better received if more of them were, well, good. If you're going to produce a remake or sequel, it should either accurately portray its source material, or actually manage to improve upon it. More often than not, however, what we end up getting is either a dumbed-down version of a story with about as much substance as an episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, an unnecessarily "gritty" version of a story, or something that resembles the original in name only. As an example, the trailer for the upcoming Jem and the Holograms movie (or as I like to call it, Josie and the Pussycats 2: All of the Cliches, None of the Fun!) was met with a tidal wave of criticism for how far removed from the original it appears to be. (I could go on for hours about all the reasons the trailer caused such an internet stir, but Cat Conway already summed it up brilliantly for The Mary Sue, so save us both some time and go check out her piece.)

Zero fun is being had by the Holograms.

So, why are we seeing so many remakes and sequels, and why do they so often stray from their source material? These are questions that plague me every time a new remake is announced, so I decided to turn to an insider for some answers by reaching out to writer/director/general badass Lexi Alexander. In addition to a reputation for openly speaking her mind, with titles like Green Street Hooligans and Punisher: War Zone on her resume, Alexander has personal experience with original stories and remakes alike, so I reached out to her for some answers:

She-Geeks: Why do you think reboots and remakes are so popular in the film industry, especially in the last decade or so?

Alexander: Because the studios have lost their ability to market to the masses. This is not necessarily their fault, people have simply evolved from looking in the newspaper to see what movie is playing to having 500 million choices of sources for movie times and locations. Technology has provides us with an information jungle. There are lot of advantages because of it, but the fact that we don’t know how to make sure everybody knows a certain movie is playing is a disadvantage. You can’t even buy enough time on TV to air trailers, because there are 500 TV channels and 500 ways to watch TV, so that too has become a jungle. To successfully market a movie to America for example, you have to spend at least 100 Million dollars to make the country semi aware that there’s a movie out there. So studios won’t pick up a great 2 Million dollar  original movie and give it a wide theatrical release if it costs them 100 Million to market it. Even on a high budget level they don’t want to take the risk unless it’s a “recognizable” name. So remakes are popular because they provide brand awareness.

SG: From a film making stand-point, is it easier to retell/reboot an established story than to try and tell a new one?

Alexander: No, creative people function better when they can create freely. I think every writer/director would prefer to tell an original story, something that can surprise people and something that can’t be measured up against a predecessor. 

SG: The recent trailer for Jem and the Holograms garnered instant backlash for having little in common with the original cartoon except the character names and the use of music. Why do you feel some reboots stray wildly from their source material?

Alexander: Because they don’t want to be reboots. Somebody probably told the writer or director “okay, we’ll finance you a (add genre) movie, but it has to somewhat relate to Jem and the Holograms.  

SG: In your opinion as a movie-goer (not as a director), are remakes fun or cringe-worthy? 

Alexander: There are very, very few movies that called for a remake or were made better with a reboot. The fact that we’re producing them en masse right now kills the appetitive for those few. 

The logic is strong with this one. It's not exactly shocking that this all comes down to money, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating to those of us who crave original content. 


 

*Criteria: Not an original story/title/character - Based on a game or TV show - National release

A New Year is Coming; Time to Hate Yourself!

Calvin and Hobbes shaped the majority of my childhood.

Now that the holidays are coming to an end, and the New Year is fast approaching, the yearly onslaught is upon us. Every year, around this time, we are subjected to more and more ads telling us just how unhappy we are and promising that their products will make us complete and healthy members of society. I'm referring, of course, to the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions and the insane amounts of adverts aimed at subtly nudging us into making them by promising to help us actually keep them.

While spending less money, eating better, exercising more, and falling in love (because deciding you're going to fall in love with someone at some point in the next 365 days is a super healthy goal, and not at all one of the fastest ways to prematurely jump into a bad relationship) were among the Top 10 list of resolutions, according to a study by the University of Scranton on Statistics Brain, the #1 New Year's Resolution for 2014 was to lose weight. That's about as disheartening as it is unsurprising. We have been conditioned to hate ourselves, and that is super sad. Here's the thing: You wanna be more healthy? Great! Be more healthy. There, done. You don't need the pressure of media and adverts to make you hate yourself as motivation to change how you look. No one needs that. It's not inspirational, it's cruel. If you really feel like you need to make a New Year's Resolution, resolve to learn to love yourself for who you are, to be more kind, donate more of your time to those in need, to learn something new, or to simply be more thankful for what you have instead of focusing on what you want. This may all sound like a bit of New Age, hippy, after-school special rubbish, but I'm of the opinion that if you're going to bother to make resolutions then you may as well make them count. Personally, I don't think you need to make any resolutions. You can certainly chose to change something about yourself that you're not 100% proud of, but you can do that at any time of year. So, despite all the adverts subtly telling you all of the ways you're not perfect, and how much you should change to meet the standards of other people you'll likely never meet, I leave you with one of the greatest memes ever created. Any time you begin to feel down about yourself, take a look at this fantastic piece of motivational support, crack a smile, and go on about your day, you brilliant, sexy beast, you!

Super Great

Clever Marketing is Clever!

This was too good to just retweet! NBC tweeted this photo this morning via their @NBCConstantine account, and won me over just a little bit more:

Go ahead, call the number. This clever, little tease/marketing scheme says quite a lot about the feel of the show and it made me oh so very hopeful! (Now, if I can just get a better run down of how they're going to get around the smoking-on-network-television thing, I'll be fangirling all over this show.)

P.S. These tidbits are usually not going to make it into an official blog post, but if you follow She Geeks on Twitter @SheGeeksBlog, you can get all sorts of juicy funness (like Zach Snyder calling into a radio station to defend Aquaman's honor)!