There's been a lot of criticism lately about how there just aren't original movies any more that are coming out. "They're all sequels, prequels, reboots, based off of tv shows, based off of games, or remakes" are just some of the criticism I hear repeatedly.
Yes it's true there are a lot of them, but then I was thinking back to 1985, not even 30 years ago....
According to boxofficemojo.com, 180 major movies were released that year. Out of the top 100 movies of 1985, 25 of the movies were either sequels/prequels, remakes, based off of a tv show or board game, or re-issues (films that were rereleased in theaters.. keep in mind, home video viewing was still in its infancy).
Here is the list:
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rocky IV
Jewel of the Nile
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
A View to a Kill
European Vacation
Brewster's Millions
ET (re-issue)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
101 Dalmatians (re-issue)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
Care Bears Movie
Friday the 13th - Part V
Porky's Revenge (Part III)
Young Sherlock Holmes
Death Wish 3
King Solomon's Mines
Clue
Return of the Living Dead
Sesame Street's Follow that Bird
Return of the Jedi (re-issue)
Return to Oz
Missing in Action II: The Beginning
Ghostbusters (re-issue)
Fantasia (re-issue)
So 1/4 of the top 100, out of a 180 film year, were unoriginal movies! That's a huge number!
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, released in 1985, and the remake of the original, released in 2010
If you look to 25 years later, 2010, there were 33 films out of the top 100 that were either sequels/prequels, remakes, based off of a tv show or game (video games have been more prevalent). There weren't any re-issues in the top 100, since most people don't go to a theater any more to see a movie rereleased, thanks to home video. In that year, 536 movies were released.
Here is the list:
Toy Story 3
Alice in Wonderland
Iron Man 2
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Shrek Forever After
Karate Kid
Tron Legacy
True Grit
Clash of the Titans
Little Fockers
Last Airbender
Jackass 3-D
Robin Hood
Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Yogi Bear
Sex and the City 2
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Paranormal Activity 2
A-Team
Sorcerer's Apprentice (*Loosely based off of the Mickey segment in Fantasia)
Nightmare on Elm Street
The Wolfman
Get Him to the Greek (*Loose sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Predators
Saw 3D
Cats and Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore
Death at a Funeral
Step Up 3-D
Nanny McPhee Returns
I know you might be saying to yourself, "yes but that's 33 movies out of 536 movies. How many more were sequels or remakes?" Well if you look at the next 100 of that year, there are only 8 more sequels or remakes and included in that number actually are a couple of re-issues (Avatar, a hugely successful original movie, even if there is some criticism that it wasn't, and a Twilight movie combo)
In both of my lists, I did not include new movies that were based off of books or plays that have never been adapted to the silver screen before, because since the dawn of cinema, this has been a standard.
What is my conclusion to all of this? Well just the simple fact that it isn't new for Hollywood to be "unoriginal". It's easy for them to look at the safe bet, but also what the general public demands. Can you imagine if Marvel/Paramount/Disney decided to NOT make a sequel to Iron Man, even if it was popular? There wouldn't be Avengers, one of the top grossing and loved action movies over the last few years.
Or what if George Lucas said, "You know what, I think I said everything I wanted to say with Star Wars, no need for a sequel". We would never have found out that Darth Vader was in fact Luke's father, never would have seen a creature named Yoda, or a bounty hunter named Boba Fett, or simply quote the movie like crazy, even if you've never seen it!
There are still original movies out there and Hollywood will continue to make them if the demand is there! So go out and see "Edge of Tomorrow" or "Neighbors" or "Chef", all original and all showing that critics and the public alike want to see them.
