Did you know that Hollywood is rebooting The Wizard of Oz?
If you didn't know then you were lucky. Sorry to put a thorn in your thigh, but someone had to be the bearer of bad news.
Let's face it. Movies are becoming increasingly unoriginal. This weekend is no exception, as there happens to be two remakes premiering today: Footloose and The Thing, although the latter is more of a reboot and I will be going for my weekly appointment at Regal. But with two reruns in one weekend, do theaters expect to profit in the box office?
I still go to Regal once a week, but are other people that dedicated? With a continuous series of derivative ideas via sequels, remakes, and reboots, my $10 (minimum) might feel more welcomed elsewhere.
Sure, sometimes there are heroes like James Cameron, who opened our eyes to glorifying worlds in Avatar, or Quentin Tarantino, who was the mastermind of the astonishing battle in Inglorious Basterds. However, not everyone is quite so inventive.
Hollywood filmmakers somehow need to be persuaded to think of their own ideas. Even if Cameron and Tarantino have to team up and teach at a filmmaking university, something needs to happen, and fast.
Newer masterpieces are nearly impossible to find. By this, I'm referring to the awesome creations from filmmakers who develop their own, original story, while keeping it interesting, and make a film out of it. Who, besides me, really wants to pay to see seven Saw movies?
But in no way do I imply that all sequels are worthless. I will continue to watch each Fast and the Furious installment, because that franchise has yet to even slightly plummet. Even middle-aged Vin Diesel still has about three-quarters of a tank.
But a sequel to Top Gun? Really? That movie's overrated enough (but that's another article for another time). This kind of sequel is purely created to gain excess coin for production companies, and not adding anything refreshing to the original film. The same plot is reiterated, only with some new characters and scenarios, and that's your sequel.
Within the next couple years, additional sequels to other dead franchises are entering pre-production. Just yesterday, 20th Century Fox titled, plotted, and dated a fifth installment to the Die Hard franchise. The series – which began in 1988 – will further explore John McClane's butt-kicking while he enters his senior years in 2013.
I bring all of this to your attention because I have terrible thoughts of what could potentially happen when every film is a do-over. Eventually, at the pace Hollywood is going, there will be nothing in the cinema except remakes, which are certainly not worth another ticket purchase.
Is it really that difficult to generate a new idea? One, simplistic thought can be expanded into a feature film. In The Hangover's case, the basic idea worked. Herd a bunch of morons together, get them completely wasted, and have funny things happen to them. Incredibly generic plotline, but it worked to perfection.
Aren't Hollywood writers being paid enough to conduct decent material? It scares me to even fathom that all a writer has to do to "earn" a paycheck is to find a previously made movie and reword it.
Maybe I should quit my day job. Sorry, Tops.
Email: jacobkno@buffalo.edu
