Remakes. Sequels. Prequels. Screen adaptations of books, cartoons, comics, and TV shows. It can’t be denied that the film industry is starting to run rampant with movies based on something that has already been done. What’s shocking, though, is just how few original ideas Hollywood is really seeing.
Wikipedia recently posted a list of the highest grossing films of the past decade. In the top 20, only one film wasn’t based off of any other previous idea. One.
Think it gets better looking at a larger sample size? Think again. In the top 30, only two films were based on original ideas, and in the top 50 a total of nine were considered original.
The interesting thing about the nine original concepts is that all but two were animated films, and of those seven animated films five were from Pixar, with Finding Nemo being the only one in the top 20.
Joining Finding Nemo in the ‘original concept’ category were Kung Fu Panda, The Incredibles, Hancock, Ratatouille, The Day After Tomorrow, Madagascar, Monsters, Inc., and Wall-E.
Now, I know it’s easy to fall into the mindset that ‘if it worked once, why not make it work again and capitalize on it?’, but it’s sad to see how few movies aren’t based on something else.
The fact that the majority of ‘original’ movies were animated films targeted for a young audience seems to say that writers and studios are more willing to go out on a limb to create something unique for kids, and willing to be complacent with what they release for adults.
It makes sense if you think about it: Kids are young, curious, and have short attention spans that are always looking for something new to entertain them. If you give them the same thing over and over, they get bored. Thus, it proves to be profitable to make something original for them.
If the list of top grossing films is any indicator, older audiences seem to favor the familiar, so reworking the same ideas over and over appears to be the way to go.
However, as Hollywood continues to move forward with franchises, sequels, and films based off pretty much anything, the film industry runs the risk of losing originality completely. If presented with both a new idea and a takeoff on something that’s been done before, why pick the new when the old is almost guaranteed to see success?
2010 already has numerous sequels, adaptations, and remakes on the horizon, but hopefully a move will be made back to original stories taking the forefront in Hollywood.
