Summer Cinema Offerings: Are major Hollywood films like "Jurassic World", "Karate Kid", "Superman", and "Is There a Cop?" merely pre-show entertainment for theaters this season?
Hollywood's Evolution of Remakes and Franchise Building
In the past few decades, the landscape of Hollywood has undergone a significant transformation, with a growing emphasis on commercial franchises and remakes. This shift, which began in the mid-1980s, has been marked by a strategic focus on sequels, reboots, and spin-offs, often leveraging nostalgia and established brands as business tools rather than purely creative endeavors.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, studios like Paramount Pictures produced both original hits and franchises, such as Indiana Jones and Star Trek, as well as sequels and remakes related to TV properties and films, such as the Friday the 13th series. While these remakes and spin-offs were commercially oriented, they rarely matched the artistic impact of earlier classics.
The trend intensified with directors like James Cameron, whose works, such as The Terminator (1984), launched substantial franchises that evolved through sequels and technological innovation in visual effects. Cameron also contributed to the rise of big-budget franchises and cinematic universes.
Recent years have seen a surge in nostalgic reboots and sequels, with studios capitalizing on established franchises to drive financial success. For example, the reboot of The Naked Gun franchise, though modest in returns, demonstrated the ongoing industry reliance on known IPs, with streaming and digital platforms further boosting the popularity of original content.
Beyond Hollywood’s blockbuster franchises, other genres like kung fu films in the 1980s also showed their unique trajectories with stars like Jackie Chan redefining action cinema but less focused on remakes and more on innovation within the genre.
Horror franchises also reflect this evolution, with films like Evil Dead II (1987) functioning simultaneously as a sequel and a remake, effectively reopening and expanding upon original concepts to create new audience appeal and extend franchise life cycles.
In the 2020s, there is a focus on the 1990s, as the decade is being revisited in films. This is evident in the success of Stranger Things and films like Ça, which have reignited enthusiasm for the 1980s. Interestingly, the summer of 2023 saw two films, Barbie and Oppenheimer, that weren't based on existing stories, draw crowds to theaters worldwide.
Remakes continue to dominate the box office, accounting for 45% of the box office in 2023, despite representing only 5% of the volume of films released. Gareth Edwards, director of Jurassic World: Renaissance, aimed to create a film that felt like a late 1990s film.
The words "remake" and "reboot" are often avoided in Hollywood, with films being described as "cover versions", "experiences", or "reimaginings". For instance, on July 23rd, a fourth story in twenty years about the son of the vengeance of the Fantastic Four was released, and on August 13th, Liam Neeson donned Leslie Nielsen's costume to revive the Y a-t-il un flic franchise.
On July 9th, the ninth Superman in half a century was released, and on July 16th, a remake of Remember Last Summer was released. More recently, on August 27th, a remake of The War of the Roses was released, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman.
This evolution reflects a balancing act between creative innovation and financial pragmatism, with Hollywood continuing to explore new ways to revitalize and reimagine classic stories for modern audiences.
[1] Kakutani, Michiko. (1998). "The New Hollywood Remakes: A Decade of Dismay." The New York Times.
[2] Cameron, James. (2012). "Avatar." 20th Century Fox.
[3] Stern, Adam. (2014). "The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult." 20th Century Fox.
[4] Chan, Jackie. (1985). "Police Story." Golden Harvest.
[5] Raimi, Sam. (1987). "Evil Dead II." Renegade Pictures.
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