Where Have All The Ideas Gone?, part 2

Last Thursday, I proposed the idea that perhaps Hollywood needs to be a bit more original when coming up with ideas for movies. Today, I will explore further why that is the case.

The Remake
Remakes are often started by the following conversation:

  Studio Executive 1: "You know, _______ did extraordinarily well at the box office."
  Studio Executive 2: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's greenlight _______ 2!"
  Studio Executive 1: "_______ 2? But [the main character [or bad guy] died/ there is no more conflict/ the world has been saved]!
  Studio Executive 2: "Hmmm... Well, let's get a new actor in there and tell the story again!"

The concept behind a remake is pretty cut-and-dry. They are often used on movies that are old (that they want to introduce to a new audience), low-budget (that they want to make with more money), or good (that they want to completely mess up). Oft-times they will change the name of the film slightly, in an attempt to either admit that what they're doing is wrong, or to trick people into seeing a film with a name that will strike a eerily-familiar cord with viewers.

I'm betting it's the latter.

Remakes are usually made to be a flash-in-the-pan; that is, make a lot of money the first few opening weekends, then be quickly forgotten. Gone is any caring for the original or any hopes to make an actually good film, and present are the hopes of making truckloads of cash before word gets out that it's not a good movie.

I mean, come on!

  Most grievous offenses—
Psycho, Alfie, The Pink Panther, The Italian Job
  Ones I'm glad they haven't made... yet—
Once Upon a Time in the West, To Kill a Mockingbird, It Happened One Night

This summer, Peter and Ellie's lives will change in one night.

The Reboot
The reboot is a fairly new invention, emerging in the past decade or so. The idea behind a reboot stems in its terminology: to take something already in existence and restart it.

Because calling it a "ctrl + alt + del" wasn't as catchy.

By doing this, studios have the freedom of choosing new actors, settings, storylines, themes, and pretty much anything else they want for their movies, but also have the luxury of the populace already knowing the gist of and liking the series. A reboot differs from a remake in that remakes often stick to original ideas that are just revamped, whereas a reboot is a complete mulligan of an entire series. In a reboot, all bets are off regarding anything from previous installments (usually referred to as the "canon"). For an example, take the following conversation:

  Studio Executive 1: "You know, _______ did extraordinarily well at the box office."
  Studio Executive 2: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's greenlight _______ 2!"
  Studio Executive 1: "_______ 2? But [the main character [or bad guy] died/ there is no more conflict/ the world has been saved]!
  Studio Executive 2: "Hmmm... Well, let's get a new actor in there and tell the story again! But this time, we'll make it edgy!"

When dealing with reboots, one often hears the word "gritty". This (I guess) stems from the frat-boy inspired philosophy that as long as you are redoing something, you might as well make it more hardcore this time around. While gritty reboots can work—making Batman dark and serious is one of the best moves the franchise ever made—it really makes me wonder at what point they will stop.

See how the man became the legend.

Reboots are usually not explained in the context of the movie itself. Why are we seeing James Bond acquiring his 007 title after 20 films of him already having it? Because we're starting over, that's why. In the most recent Star Trek installment, they actually did attempt to explain it—and did a rather nice job. (Granted, they had to use the "time warp" theory, which only works in something like Star Trek, but still.)

  Most grievous offenses—
Superman Returns, Hulk, Halloween
  Ones I'm glad they haven't made... yet—
Adventures in Babysitting, Song of the South, Spider-man 4

Oh, wait.

Coming up Thursday: when ideas are still copied, but not from movies...