No, I'm not doing Windows updates, I am talking about movies.
Why is Hollywood afraid of trying new things? I have no clue but I can only guess that it has something to do with shareholders and profits.
What got me going on this topic? Another reboot.
This is not about the seemingly never ending sequels, that might just be a different post someday.
This time for the movie Firestarter.
I can see the possible reason to remake a movie or TV series, time has passed and the not so special effects of years gone by and a story that is many decades old will reach a new generation of viewers, this time in color.
As an example, lets take Casino Royale.
The first movie was made in 1967, in color but the driving scenes were a joke. Overall a pretty good movie for it's day.
The reboot was done in 2006, also in color but much better overall so I can see why it was remade.
Next, The Mummy, first made in 1959 was remade first in 1999 and I would say that it was a good remake but did we really need another remake in 2017? No.
Then you have the whole Star Trek movie(s) reboot thing, are they better? Sure, it doesn't take much to beat 1979 special effects these days.
I think the biggest fear Hollywood has is failure. They will only do things that they are 99% sure will make money because that is the only reason they make things. Forget a compelling story that should be told, lets remake a movie with a few big name people and through "Hollywood Accounting" make ton's of money while showing a loss for overall costs. Not going to dig into that one but they are as bad if not worse than the music industry.
I don't think there is a lack of new ideas, just a lack of faith that it will generate the requisite profits. I have been reading a number of books, most of them SciFi, and they would make incredible movies or TV series, one of the series of books is being written this way and would make an awesome TV series. But will anyone take the chance?
Lastly, there is one remake/reboot that I am looking forward to, Babylon 5, in part because of a few things.
1) J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) who wrote the original series will be in charge of the reboot. 2) It will still be the same basic idea, a space station at the center of the story. 3) Everything else is subject to change.
As JMS wrote in a series of tweets about this subject:
Thread by @straczynski on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App
The network understands the uniqueness of Babylon 5 and is giving me a great deal of latitude with the storytelling.As noted in the announcement, this is a reboot from the ground up rather than a continuation, for several reasons. Heraclitus wrote -- -- “You cannot step in the same river twice, for the river has changed, and you have changed.” In the years since B5, I’ve done a ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on one singular question: if I were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, knowing what I now know as a writer, what would it look like? How would it use all the storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that were not on hand then? How can it be used to reflect the world in which we live, and the questions we are asking and confronting every day? Fans regularly point out how prescient the show was and is of our current world; it would be fun to take a shot at looking further down the road. So we will not be retelling the same story in the same way because of what Heraclitus said about the river. There would be no fun and no surprises. Better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica where you take the original elements that are evergreens and -- -- put them in a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something fresh yet familiar. To those asking why not just do a continuation, for a network series like this, it can’t be done because over half our cast are still stubbornly on the other side of the Rim.
While I look forward to this reboot, there are still too many reboots and not enough new things being made.
Old Hollywood had a idea, R-E-B-O-O-T!
And on his idea he had a old story, R-E-B-O-O-T!
With a reboot-reboot here and a reboot-reboot there,
Here a reboot, there a reboot,
Everywhere a reboot-reboot,
Old Hollywood had a idea, R-E-B-O-O-T!