“Reboots and Remakes”: Why are There So Many?

Remember when you discovered the mighty morphin “Power Rangers” in your morning pajamas for the first time? How about learning the true meaning of love and hardship in “Beauty and the Beast”? What about going on “a normal field trip” with Ms. Frizzle on “The Magic School Bus?”

Well, get ready to get “Go Go Power Rangers” stuck in your head, sing timeless classics from a tale as old as time and get baked into a pie all over again, because all of these classics and more are returning to a whole new generation of fans. This is all thanks to Hollywood bringing them back in the forms of remakes and reboots.

Remakes and reboots aren’t anything new to Hollywood, as both can be dated as far back as the 1900s.

According to The Los Angeles Times, a “reboot” is taking a franchise back to its origins and beginning again with a different take and cast, while a “remake” is telling the same exact story as the original, just with some modest changes to the story with a new cast.

2017 alone will see a whopping 70 reboots, remakes and sequels on both the small and silver screen according to entertainment website Tvline.com.

Either way, the general public seems to be excited for all these oldies to return.

Sophomore Aditya Sayal said he loves Netflix’s 2017 remake of “One Day at a Time” starting EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner Rita Moreno as Abuela Riera. It premiered on Jan 6, 2017. The series is about mother Penelope Alvarez, a separated military veteran raising her socially inept tween son, and her strong-headed feminist daughter.

“I love the show a lot, because it’s able to remain hilarious while also being informative about different issues like immigration and veteran affairs,” said Sayal. “The cast does a phenomenal job, especially the actress who plays the over-the-top grandmom.”            

These remakes and reboots are being produced at a faster rate than ever with 2017 expected to see movies like “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Jumanji,” “Baywatch” and many others.

With all these re-imaginings coming out so soon, you may wonder why they’re all the rage in Hollywood.

Well, it’s simple, really. Reboots and remakes are more profitable than your wildest dreams.

According to digital media site Mashable.com, established movies that were hits in the past are bound to be big again, as there’s a guaranteed built-in audience and better publicity. More than ever, Hollywood studios are becoming dependent on these past franchises to keep them alive.

One past franchise that had all this and more in its favor was the “Jurassic Park” franchise, with its 2015 reboot-sequel, “Jurassic World”.

It was not only able to show that reboots still have legs, but it was also able to show that reboots can top the original with a record-breaking $208.8 million U.S debut, according to entertainment magazine Variety. The movie was also able to please both critics and audience members, as Rotten Tomatoes gave it a decent 71 percent rating.  

“Jurassic World” also has the record for second biggest opening in history behind “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” which made $247 million in its U.S debut, according to Variety’s website.

TV will also see its fair share of remakes and reboots this year.

The “Taken” tv show and the reboot of “Ducktales” are just some of the few that will be premiering soon on the silver screen. Many are also facing some type of heat, with NBC’s “Emerald City” being one of them.

Sophomore Zaria Manson said that “Emerald City”, a dark “Game of Thrones” inspired remake of “The Wizard of Oz,” isn’t able to translate the original source material well enough into a darker storyline.

“It almost seems as if “Emerald City” is trying to mess up the entire legacy of The Wizard of Oz on purpose,” said Manson.

Another show that’s facing criticism is the remake of “Teen Titans” called “Teen Titans Go!”. Freshman Alex King said he doesn’t like it as much as the original due to the style change.  

“I think “Teen Titans Go!” distorted the original for me as it doesn’t have the same feel as the original. The original was such a classic for me, but now I’m not so sure if it still is,” said King.

Whenever a studio decides to bring back these classics to a new generation, they have an extra sense of wariness of what could happen to that classic, as was the case with the all-female reboot of “Ghostbusters”, tilted “Ghostbusters: Answer the Call.”

“Ghostbusters: Answer the Call” was infamously attacked before it was even released to theaters for many controversial reasons, but none faced more backlash than the all-female cast.

The initial trailer for the movie became the most disliked movie trailer on Youtube within hours of its’ upload, and it’s comments section became nothing but hate messages like “Instant flop” to “This has officially ruined my childhood.”

However, the film did have positive side effects, with many praising the film for being the first 100 million dollar budget film to be fronted by an all-female cast. Because of that accomplishment, more studios are taking risks with more all-female cast movies and female-directed movies.

One example is Warner Bros Studios’ “Ocean’s Eleven’s” 2018 spin-off-remake called “Ocean’s Eight”, starring Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling and many other popular actresses. That movie set to be released June 8, 2018.

Another example is with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures’ “A Wrinkle in Time” reboot. Ava DuVernay,(“Selma”), is set to become the first woman of color to direct a live-action film with a production budget over $100 million, once the movie is released on April 6, 2018.  

As human beings, we tend to react to things differently than the last person, since some things may or may not have a sentimental value to us. Many of these classics that are being remade or rebooted hold that specific sentimental value for certain groups, so it makes sense that reactions will be swift and varied.

In the end, we live in an age where reboots and remakes have become the new norm for the world. Whether you like them or not, reboots and remakes are here to stay as long as we have our cherished classics.