What's this? An interesting blog post? No way! XD
This morning on Twitter there is buzz (of the horrified variety) of a possible Back to the Future remake with...dare I say it?....Justin Bieber as Marty Mcfly. Now, I'm not a particular fan of the films - I've only ever seen the first one. But even I know that this is wrong wrong wrong. a) It's Justin Bieber. b) Back to the Future does not need to be remade.
Hollywood has an obsession with remaking films - and usually the remake is about 100 times worse than the original. Let's face it, the only reason Hollywood thinks they need to even do a remake is because they want to cash in on the franchise, which I can understand to an extent. Hollywood is a business. They need to make money. But I am getting more and more frustrated with their Malfoy-like ways. How worth it is it to destroy what was a perfectly good film just to get some more cash from the franchise? I guess what I want to say is that it would be best to just leave the good films alone. They're already good, why remake them? If there is a real need to remake a film, find one that didn't do so well and make it better. Improve the quality of the film.
Maybe the obsession with remakes has to do with lack of original stories to tell. At least, that sounds like an excuse someone might give. But I don't think that's true. As a story teller myself, I'm finding new stories all the time. Okay, they may not be completely original - because a totally original story isn't possible at this point - but the way they are told are original. Take The Hunger Games - it isn't just another story about a hero, not at all. It's not even a revolution story. It's got about a million layers to it and every one of them could be labelled. If Suzanne Collins can do it, the screenwriters in Hollywood can too.
In a lot of ways, the obsession with remakes in Hollywood is a lot like the obsession with sequels. Look at the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Curse of the Black Pearl was obviously the best, and the franchise just went down from there. Yet they're making another one. Never mind that the franchise is going to be destroyed by the time that they're done, nothing more than drivel (Free Willy anyone?), all for the sake of getting some more cash in their pocket. True, some sequels are worth it. Like Toy Story 3. But it is a rarity.
This is so frustrating for me - I want to enter this industry. This industry who thrives on remake after sequel after remake, slowly destroying the films they make until the quality is nothing more than shit. At least independent filmmakers are still making good films.
Listening To: Werewolf Love - Tonks and the Aurors
Reading: Dracula (it's taking me way too long to get through this book...)
Writing: Once Upon an Earth. Yes, that's right! My NaNoWriMo from last year! Le gasp!
Thankful for: Independent creativity. (There is a reason I only listen to YouTube musicians, after all)
If Back to the Future is ever remade, I will cry. Even if Justin Bieber isn't in it. They can't possibly find people who would live up to the original George and Lorraine, and especially Biff. I'm a big Back to the Future nerd. I've probably seen each one a hundred times.
ReplyDeleteThe one remake I really liked recently was The Karate Kid with Jackie Chan and Will Smith's kid. I saw it twice. But it didn't really try to tell the same story as the original per se. The characters had different names, and the circumstances were different. It was a very similar story.
As much as I love The Hunger Games, I question its originality. Stephen King wrote two stories early in his career about contests that end in the death of the contestants, and one was VERY similar to The Hunger Games. (I'm also a HUGE Stephen King nerd). Still, even Stephen himself is a big Hunger Games fan, so I guess he doesn't mind.