Ok first things first. A reboot is a
remade movie that is based on material like a novel or comic book,
whereas a remake is, well, a remake of an older film.
When I was at the movies to watch Ice
Age 4, I saw the trailer for Total Recall. Initially I was wondering
why the Schwarzenegger movie was making a comeback; when the trailer
began I realized this was yet another remake of a popular film.
Arni’s fans may groan at the thought of another hero in the same
role; just as I was not too happy with Tobey Maguire being replaced
as Spidey. Hate them or love them, Hollywood reboots are here to
stay, AND help studios laugh all the way to the bank. Just take a
look at the latest releases: The Bourne Legacy, The Dark Knight
Rises, Amazing Spiderman, and Total Recall: Hollywood studio bosses
seem to have taken Recycling to their hearts.
One might wonder, of course, whether
the creativity has started to ebb. Are they so bereft of ideas that
all they can do is resort to rehashing old hits?
One of the reasons for the reboots is
that these movies seem to be safe bets for the studios. Comic book
Superheroes seem to fare the best at the box office, so remaking
superhero movies is like a guaranteed paycheck for Studios. Marc
Webb’s Amazing Spiderman raked in almost as much as the Raimi
original ($140 million in the first weekend). Though I personally
didn’t care so much for it, my kids were more than thrilled. So
maybe it’s a generation thing. The younger generation is able to
identify with the movie, its plot and characters with all the extra
effects and the stunts, and of course the present culture that is
portrayed in the films. Of course Sony had another reason for the
remake. After Disney acquired Marvel Comics (Spidey also is a Marvel
product), Sony had to come out with another movie starring the web
crawler, or they would have lost the rights to him. And after Raimi
had popularized the arachnoid hero across generations, they knew that
they had a sure shot blockbuster.
The Batman trilogy also earned big
bucks for Warner Brothers. At first nobody expected Jack Nicholson’s
Joker to be outperformed. But the box office says otherwise. A spew
of Batman movies have been made since the 1990s, and we have seen
Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and now Christian Bale as
the millionaire recluse cum crime fighter. The latest flick has
grossed almost $900 million across the world. So perhaps that’s the
best argument in favor of reboots.
The Bourne Legacy is not a remake of
the original Bourne movies; it sort of picks up the story after
Bourne jumps into the water to escape being shot by his former boss,
and tells the story of another agent on the run and exposing another
black op. The huge success of the movie adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s
books was definitely the reason for another Bourne movie.
But of course the gamble does not
always pay off. Superman Returns was a box office dud; and going by
the initial reports Total Recall hasn’t justified the advertising
bill yet. Though there’s a lot of futuristic stuff and some great
action sequences, it has not connected with audiences.
But for the most part, remakes and
reboots seem to be the ‘it’ thing for Hollywood. For now.
This article has been brought to you by
AT&T – The number one when it comes to quality home
entertainment.u verse.
Originally posted at Popgive.com.![]()
