In recent years, audiences noticed a growing trend in the film industry toward reboots and remakes. Studios like Warner Bros. and Disney increasingly chose to revisit and reimagine their past works rather than creating entirely new stories from the ground up.
Reboots like “Superman” and “Lilo & Stitch,” which came out during the summer, collected over a billion dollars at the global box office.
Remakes also gained space within the industry, with examples of “Dune” (2021) remaking its original movie of the same name from 1984. “The Wizard of Oz” also served as an example of a remake, especially with “Wicked: For Good” set to release by the end of the year, giving the audience a different perspective of Dorothy’s adventure in Oz.
Elviřa Martefleac, junior film major with a production concentration, shared her thoughts on why remakes and reboots became so popular within the industry.
“In recent years, remakes and reboots have become increasingly common, particularly among The Big Five studios. These decisions reflect the risks of pursuing original content. For example, a remake of ‘The Lion King’ is already secure, because multiple generations are familiar with it,” Martefleac said. “Besides, as part of large media conglomerates, film studios rely on remakes to ensure financial stability and protect or enhance stock value.”
However, directors and storytellers recently used their access to power to reproduce previously told stories. Because of this, originality and creativity faced heavy impacts in the film industry.
Noah Head, junior film major with a post-production concentration, shared his opinion on whether storytellers were becoming less creative.
“I think at times you can tell that in certain remakes, it seems that they don’t want to add anything out that is fresh or new in the story because they don’t have anything to compete with other studios,” Head said. “So I can totally see that there is like a lack of effort. I wouldn’t say they lack creativity because they are still creating something even though it’s not completely new.”
The film industry also became more critical and strict when it came to the quality of movies and TV series, making storytellers choose the safest option by creating a new version of existing stories.
Michael Eaton, professor of film studies/production and program coordinator of film, explained whether moviemakers were scared of creating an original story.
“Yes and no, I think when the ideas come, they will sometimes just go for it because there’s a difference between a spec script and a script sale. So, somebody who’s trying to break in will write a screenplay on spec, which means that they are not getting paid to write it, and they will write it and hope to sell it,” Eaton said.
Even influential artists were dependent on the studios. It often came down to power and luck to get their ideas approved, Eaton explained.
“But more established writers or directors will pitch an original story idea to the studio, hoping that they’ll buy the idea and pay them to write the screenplay. So a lot of screenwriters will get to a point in their career where they don’t want to write for free anymore. Even if they have a good idea for an original screenplay, they may wait to get the right pitch meeting with the right people,” Eaton said. “It depends on how much power a person has in the studio for the story to get approved and find the best crew.”
In a battle between originality and financial stability, the film industry faces a dilemma on whether original stories are worth telling. Despite the audience sharing controversial opinions on the popularity of remakes and reboots, studio executives had final say.
