By Fiona Meagher, Year 12
One of the most popular critiques against the current film industry is volume of sequels and remakes when compared to the amount of “original” movies, to the point that many argue (perhaps hyperbolically) that Hollywood has become incapable of producing films not belonging to extended series or so-called cinematic universes. The claim isn’t without basis. All of us can probably agree that we have seen an excessive barrage of unnecessary remakes and sequels. For example, a Legally Blonde (2001) prequel series focusing on Reese Witherspoon’s character’s backstory has recently been greenlit. For those who haven’t seen it, all the relevant character backstory is concisely covered in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. There is nothing else to say. Why create a show focusing on a beloved character before she’s forced to confront all the things that make her grow as a person? The question isn’t rhetorical and has a simple answer: money. In the landscape of piracy sites and the wide range of streaming services available to viewers, there’s more interest on the part of executives to create derivatives of old beloved movies than take risks on new, innovative projects. Whether Untitled Elle Woods Prequel Series is good or bad is irrelevant, because regardless it will at very least cause curiosity and hate-watch viewership numbers anyway. Can you see the dollar signs in Jeff Bezoz’s eyes? If not, just look below:
There is a whopping ONE (1) film on the list of highest grossing films of 2024 that isn’t a sequel, remake or adaptation of any kind. That one, unique, standout film is the Chinese comedy-drama Successor (2024), telling the story of a wealthy couple moving to a poor neighbourhood and hiding their wealth so as to prevent their son from growing up spoiled and therefore become a more capable successor. That’s the only one.
Sequels dominating box office categories is nothing surprising and–most importantly– nothing new. What era critics perceived as the time of higher creative output in film varies wildly, but upon examination, data from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s is littered with sequels and series like the Star Wars, Rocky, Indiana Jones, Lethal Weapon and Terminator movies. The change in quality is up to the reader’s opinion, but the change in target audience is undeniable: there has been a massive expansion in the production and success of child-geared animated films. An unignorable factor in this is the impact of COVID-19 and the explosion of secret services. When adults can easily pick from literal millions of movies from the comfort of their homes (and got used to doing so) the price and effort of going to a different big, dark room and staring at a different big, bright screen is futile. Cinemas are, in theory, obsolete. Hence, kids movies take over the box office: kids still need to be taken on outings while adults have the autonomy to stay indoors as much as they please.
The counterargument I offer is that only looking at box office numbers is – at most – only looking at half the picture. The Oscars Best Picture of 2024, Anora, directed by Sean Baker, was an independent film with a 6 million budget. Granted, its marketing budget was triple that, which could cynically be viewed as the driving force behind Anora’s awards sweep, but the point stands. The Brutalist, A Real Pain, Sing Sing, The Substance, The Apprentice, Nickel Boys, A Different Man, Conclave, I’m Still Here– the list goes on. Unique and original films that have been awarded for their excellence in the past year. Moreover, independent animated film Flow beat out a succession of blockbuster cartoons and sequels in the Oscars’ Animated Feature category like Inside Out 2 (as you’ll recall, the highest grossing film of the year) as well as Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Point being, creativity lives on and is still being hugely appreciated by some of the most prestigious bodies in the film industry. The fact is, for better or worse, even the most prestigious and critically acclaimed sequels or remakes rarely see any recognition from major film award institutions. Most recently, the first of Villenueve’s Dune adaptations took home six out of ten noms in 2022 while Dune Part Two (2024) took home only two (Best Sound and Best Visual) out of its five nominations, despite having received better general reception. When anonymous statements by Oscar voters were coming out before the actual ceremony, four confessed to having not even seen Dune Part Two and having abstained from ranking it amongst Best Picture noms, with a director among them saying “The first Dune, I couldn’t get through; I’m not rushing for another three hours of Dune.” While this may highlight a greater issue in the Academy’s member selection process and two Academy Awards is still nothing to laugh at, the movie’s status as a sequel seems to have held it back from further recognition.
Not to mention the mass of worthwhile and original films perhaps perceived as too “fluffy” to get any Oscar nods, the list of which in its totality could fill oceans, power cities, longer even than Adrien Brody’s Best Actor acceptance speech : Kneecap, Civil War, Dìdi, Challengers, Queer, I Saw The TV Glow, The Last Showgirl, Heretic, Lisa Frankenstein, Lee, Woman of the Hour, Maria, The Room Next Door, Juror #2, We Live in Time, It’s What’s Inside, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, Your Monster, The Outrun, My Old Ass, The Blitz, Babygirl, Hard Truths, All We Imagine As Light, The Room Next Door, Saturday Night, among many others.
More than a shortage of original movies, it seems there’s a shortage of original and non-terrible blockbusters, lighter films that enough people can be bothered to see and that can become of any semblance of cultural significance. Barring the more successful end of the remake spectrum (Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Twisters (2024)) and MCU movies of years past, the new Star Wars-ses and Indiana Jones-ses and Top Guns have yet to reveal themselves. Bottom line, if everyone who complained about the lack of originality got up right away and went to see some fantastic original movies in their local cinemas now, maybe box office figures would look a little different next year. Just go to the movies, okay? It’ll be fun, I promise.
