Remakes don't sell well... why do they keep making them?

[UniSol GR77]

I'm more and more confused.


2011's The Thing (kinda of sequel/remake)
RoboCop
Evil Dead (critically panned, despite it was a commercial hit)
21 Jump Street
Hazzard
Starsky & Hutch
A-Team
Nightmare on Elm Street
Conan

They are all flops. WHY ?????? Why do they keep making them then? It doesn't matter if they are good or bad films, audience don't want remakes. As simple as that.

[jscoggins]

21 Jump Street was a financial success.

Remakes are made because studio execs have seen the originals, and it's easier for writers to pitch a familiar idea than it is to convince someone to spend money on a new idea.

Having said that, new ideas are hard to come by anyway. Even Christopher Nolan cribs from other people.

TDKR = The World Is Not Enough
Interstellar = Armageddon

[Midnight Rambler]

Lack of creative talent.

Samo for today's "music" industry, though it's even more pathetic.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

huh? You're out of your mind!

Do you even know the meaning of the word flop? Sure some don't do well. But to say all don't is crazy.

There are the ones who actually made money and was a hit.

Evil Dead Domestic Total Gross: $54,239,856 - Worldwide: $97,542,952
21 Jump Street - Domestic Total Gross: $138,447,667 - Worldwide:$201,585,328
The Dukes of Hazzard - Domestic Total Gross: $80,270,227 - Worldwide: $111,069,515
Starsky and Hutch Domestic Total Gross: $88,237,754 - Worldwide: $170,268,750
A Nightmare on Elm Street Domestic Total Gross: $63,075,011 - Worldwide: $115,664,037

Let's not forget other such hit remakes as
The Ring Domestic Total Gross: $129,128,133 - Worldwide: $249,348,933
The Grudge Domestic Total Gross: $110,359,362 - Worldwide: $187,281,115
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Domestic Total Gross: $80,571,655 Worldwide: $107,071,655
The Amityville Horror Domestic Total Gross: $65,233,369 Worldwide: $108,047,131
The Haunting Domestic Total Gross: $91,411,151 - Worldwide: $177,311,151
The Departed Domestic Total Gross: $132,384,315 - Worldwide: $289,847,354

But Yeah, you're right. What a bunch of pathetic failures that no one went and saw.

[Pounder]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

21 Jump Street was a financial success.

Remakes are made because studio execs have seen the originals, and it's easier for writers to pitch a familiar idea than it is to convince someone to spend money on a new idea.

Having said that, new ideas are hard to come by anyway. Even Christopher Nolan cribs from other people.

TDKR = The World Is Not Enough
Interstellar = Armageddon

What an Idiot - YouTube

[Doctor Jack]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Having said that, new ideas are hard to come by anyway. Even Christopher Nolan cribs from other people.

TDKR = The World Is Not Enough
Interstellar = Armageddon

[MikeScott]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

I'm more and more confused.


2011's The Thing (kinda of sequel/remake)
RoboCop
Evil Dead (critically panned, despite it was a commercial hit)
21 Jump Street
Hazzard
Starsky & Hutch
A-Team
Nightmare on Elm Street
Conan

They are all flops. WHY ?????? Why do they keep making them then? It doesn't matter if they are good or bad films, audience don't want remakes. As simple as that.

You're kidding? 21 Jump Street was big and the sequel even bigger. A lot of those did really well. Not Conan but Evil Dead, Elm Street, and Jump Street sure did. Most of the others weren't exactly flops.

And Evil Dead wasn't critically panned. For being a hardcore violent splatter flick reviews were pretty good.

[toddly6666]

stupid topic if we go by statistics. There have been plenty of successful remakes.

[jscoggins]

Also, look at each year's box office lists. When was the last time an "original" movie cracked the Top Ten? It's gotten to the point where the first Transformers back in 2007 was considered an "original" movie.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

I'm more and more confused.


2011's The Thing (kinda of sequel/remake)
RoboCop
Evil Dead (critically panned, despite it was a commercial hit)
21 Jump Street
Hazzard
Starsky & Hutch
A-Team
Nightmare on Elm Street
Conan

They are all flops. WHY ?????? Why do they keep making them then? It doesn't matter if they are good or bad films, audience don't want remakes. As simple as that.

Maybe check your facts first before posting.

Most remakes have made a healthy profit. The horror remakes in particular are cheap to make, so they almost always rake in cash on a familiar title.

The Evil Dead remake was critically far better received than most of the other remakes you listed (it's got a "fresh" rating on Rottentomatoes), so not sure why you had to make that claim. The studios who make remakes generally don't care about reviews, they care about the bottom line, so that's besides the point anyway.

[Buscemi]

Did someone just compare Interstellar to Armageddon?

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Also, look at each year's box office lists. When was the last time an "original" movie cracked the Top Ten? It's gotten to the point where the first Transformers back in 2007 was considered an "original" movie.

#10 of 2014: Interstellar

#9 of 2013: Gravity

[Tronald Dump]

I prefer ripoffs to remakes.

[Adam_ME]

Some are hits. Many of them are box office disasters. But when you have no original ideas or are afraid to take a chance financially on something that hasn't been done before, what other choice do you have? It's either comic books, regular books(mostly young adult these days), remakes, or reboots.

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by Buscemi

Did someone just compare Interstellar to Armageddon?

2001 would be a better comparison, even then it's original enough.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Adam_ME

Some are hits. Many of them are box office disasters. But when you have no original ideas or are afraid to take a chance financially on something that hasn't been done before, what other choice do you have? It's either comic books, regular books(mostly young adult these days), remakes, or reboots.

Many more of them are hits than are disasters. They do have accountants in Hollywood and you don't really think they would stay with this business model for what's been a couple of decades now if only some were hits and many were disasters. Hollywood as an industry wouldn't exist anymore if that was the case.

The sad thing is that many creative people in Hollywood do have original ideas, they just don't get money to make those films. They either don't work for long or they get absorbed into the Hollywood grind of remakes/superhero films/etc

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by demonknight

#10 of 2014: Interstellar

#9 of 2013: Gravity

2012

#9 Brave
#10 Ted

And, yeah, sure it was Bond Film #97, but you could easily argue that Skyfall was original.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

And, yeah, sure it was Bond Film #97, but you could easily argue that Skyfall was original.

Skyfall = TDK

[octagon]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Skyfall = TDK

Star Wars = The Hidden Fortress

Who = Cares?

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Skyfall = TDK

Silly and wrong

TDK = Heat

and so on and so on