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Hollywood may be enjoying a successful box office this year, but there is a worry that their reliance of late on sequels, remakes, book and comic adaptations and other licensing brands (self-help memoirs, toys and computer games) to turn into films is harming them in the long run.
Next year's Oscars could be an interesting one in the original screenplay category – with insiders noting that it could be a vey thin year indeed.
The Coen brothers will surely be grabbing a nomination once more for 'A Serious Man' and Quentin Tarantino is another definite for 'Inglourious Basterds' but after that it all looks a bit thin on the ground.
A Hollywood agent told Reuters, "I think you can look at the state of the category as a direct result of studios' reliance of known brands and the death of the spec market (original story pitches)."
The writers of quirky comedy '(500) Days of Summer' revealed that they were turned down by nearly every studio going, and when they finally got their foot in the door it was only to be asked if they would want to write the sequel to 'The Pink Panther' instead.
It never used to be like that. There was a time when most films that came out of Hollywood were original stories – ones that came from the minds of screenwriters desperate to get their story up on the big screen.
Now though, Hollywood prefers to give original content a wide berth in favour of sequels, and it's something that isn't going away.
After a year of huge box office takings from sequels such as 'Ice Age 3', 'Harry Potter', 'Night at the Museum 2' and 'Angels & Demons', we still have new versions of 'A Christmas Carol', 'Sherlock Holmes' and the follow-up to 'Twilight' to look forward to. 'Iron Man 2', 'Robin Hood', LOTR prequel 'The Hobbit' and 'Spider-Man 4' are all being worked on at the moment too.
It's not hard to understand why Hollywood is going down this particular road. Films cost a lot of money, so any kind of advantage is an appealing one. Household name brands like superheroes and famous books are a distinct advantage. Why risk your job green lighting a film that will no doubt be competing at the box office with a rival studio picture that has an in-built audience?
But there is a feeling that audiences are underwhelmed and becoming bored with countless sequels and rushed adaptations of their favourite books.
What do you think of the industry's obsession with remakes and sequels? Are you bored of them and crave more original content, or do you prefer seeing a film that you have some prior knowledge of?
- More on Y! Movies: Latest film reviews
Robert Pattinson has become Britain's biggest star of late with 'Twilight' a huge hit, and 'New Moon' set to be even bigger.
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I agree. I love reading graphic novels, books and playing games for their in depth and gripping stories, more so in the graphic novels and books the story is a huge factor in it's appeal to the audience. But seeing these get turned into cheap versions on the big screen makes me feel a bit sad. I miss the days of having films in that list above and I hope one day there will be producers who will take on those writers that want to kick ass with their brilliant scripts again.
Posted by: fallen_nyx on Tue Nov 03 06:17PM | Report abuseI think that all these copy cat movies do not live up to the original version & can be very dissapointing. Yes the graphics are impressive but the plot of the film or lack of it spoils everything, e.g Hulk, superman the new series, the Italian Job (that's just to name a few). What is needed is some original fresh ideas that can keep us wanting more. Quickly making a film from a book version can ruin a film if rushed i.e the Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince (What a let down). Please if you're gonna make a film from a book DO IT RIGHT OR NOT AT ALL. After all we have great imaginations which can be ruined by the producers not honouring the book & doing it justice. I would rather use my imagination any day then see a film ruin that.
Posted by: sweetbubblysam on Tue Nov 03 06:41PM | Report abuseSequels aren't bad just because they are sequels. The majority of sequels are bad because not as much thought goes into them. It is possible to make a sequel without making it a bad clone of the original, but not many people seem to bother doing it. However, original content is still necessary, and all series have to finished somewhere. Better to do it early when they're doing well than wait until they run out of steam.
Posted by: chakat_shadowsand on Tue Nov 03 06:56PM | Report abuseThese days, Hollywood is all about money and not the art of film. Producers and execs don't care if their Studio produces remakes, sequel #15, etc as long as it takes a buck at the box office. Gone are the artistic days of John Ford, Capra, Hitch@#$% et al. It is a sad sign of the times. And I for one long for the golden days to return.
Posted by: ajepisode13 on Tue Nov 03 07:11PM | Report abuseI find it quite amusing that game writers have always gotten so much stick for copying films, now look where we are. Mafia II, due out next year, is probably one of the best written games of all time. Granted it's not a direct storyline sequel to the first game but everyone from the Lost Heaven classic died. Can't run a successful family with corpses, no matter how good they are at keeping secrets.
Posted by: michaelfield001 on Tue Nov 03 08:13PM | Report abusePlease please please no more Hollywood remakes, im so tired of watching movies i've seen before, why remake a film that was perfectly good in the first place, HOLLYWOOD HAVE A NEW IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!
Posted by: terry.howard8 on Tue Nov 03 08:16PM | Report abusewell, with series like Harry Potter they made the first one much before all this started and they aren't going to just stop making the films because people believe in 'the industry's obsession with remakes and sequels'
Posted by: mclennan.hannah on Tue Nov 03 08:37PM | Report abuseNew movies are @#$%.
Posted by: aaren.edwards on Tue Nov 03 08:53PM | Report abuseThe issue isn't that original scripts are drying up its that studios aren't willing to risk the huge money on an unknown storys/scripts/ideas. Sequels and remakes are a 'safe bet' for the studios. Thats why theres so many.
Posted by: caitlin.ashford on Tue Nov 03 08:57PM | Report abuseRemakes and sequels ain't so bad if you have the right actors and actresses and the right directors but i gotta say these's days they do suck Harry potter and the half blood prince was so disapointing for me (the ending just sucked) I wish hollywood would make more anime's and manga's into films that would be great. I would love to see Osamu Tezuka's Alabaster, Vampires, Phoenix future or black jack being made into films that would be absolutely fantastic!
Posted by: wrightjulieanne on Tue Nov 03 09:01PM | Report abuse