Chris Pratt as Indiana Jones? Why Disney loves remakes
Remakes, revivals, and reboots: They鈥檙e all the rage in Hollywood these days, and it seems even dependable old Disney is no exception.
Just a day after 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� star Emma Watson that she will be playing Belle in the live-action remake of the Disney animated classic, 鈥淏eauty and the Beast,鈥� that the company is eyeing actor Chris Pratt to star in a reboot of the action-adventure movie series 鈥�Indiana Jones.鈥�
鈥淭hings are very early,鈥� according to the report. But even the rumor that Pratt 鈥� who jumped to star status after landing the lead for the summer blockbuster 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥� 鈥� might be donning Harrison Ford鈥檚 famous fedora raises the question: Why?
The answer, , has to do with money 鈥� but not entirely.
Over the last few years, Disney has been going the way of live-action remakes of its animated films. In 2010, the company released a Tim Burton-directed 鈥淎lice and Wonderland鈥� film starring (who else?) Johnny Depp, and last year they had Angelina Jolie retell the story of 鈥淪leeping Beauty鈥� villain Maleficent.
Neither did well by critics, Mr. Sims noted, but both were box-office gold.
At the same time, Disney has been picking up movie licenses left and right. It bought Marvel Entertainment聽in 2009 for $4 billion, then shelled out roughly an equal amount for Lucasfilm, the studio behind 鈥�Star Wars,鈥� in 2012. It 聽from Paramount the following year.
To say the Marvel movies have been a success is an understatement, and the 7th 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� film is poised to break box office records when it comes out in late 2015.
But Sims pointed out that these movies do more than make money for Disney: By reviving familiar stories and well-loved characters, the company touches both the imagination of children and the nostalgia of adults, broadening the age range of the company鈥檚 audience.
And they can do it without the pressure of creating something of the caliber of 鈥淲reck-It Ralph鈥� or 鈥淯p," both produced by Disney and its subsidiary, Pixar, from scratch.聽
鈥淒isney鈥檚 live-action approach is more than easy money 鈥� it's a way to expand demographics without having to worry too much about quality,鈥� Sims noted.
So even if we moviegoers don't need another Indiana Jones 鈥撀爋r, as it happens,聽 starring Cate Blanchett as the Wicked Stepmother, or directed by Jon Favreau 鈥撀爓e鈥檒l likely watch them all anyway.
