Failed once? Hollywood bets on second go-rounds
Remakes aren't new, but recently, studios and networks seem to be returning to properties that didn't perform well the first time. Does it work?
Remakes aren't new, but recently, studios and networks seem to be returning to properties that didn't perform well the first time. Does it work?
If at first you don鈥檛 succeed, Hollywood seems to be all in favor of trying again.
Remakes aren鈥檛 new, but these days studios and networks are returning to panned properties and bringing them back. Marvel superhero Daredevil was the subject of a poorly reviewed 2003 movie but returned for a positively received Netflix series. Cassandra Clare鈥檚 bestselling young adult series 鈥淭he Mortal Instruments鈥� was adapted as the low-grossing 2013 movie 鈥淭he Mortal Instruments: City of Bones鈥�; it鈥檚 now also the basis for the Freeform TV series 鈥淪hadowhunters.鈥� And a 2011 movie about superhero Green Lantern did poorly at the box office and received negative reviews, but Warner Bros. is planning a new film with the DC Comics character.
Mark Evan Schwartz, associate professor of screenwriting at the School of Film & Television at Loyola Marymount University, attributes this trend partly to Hollywood鈥檚 aversion to risk-taking. Some of these characters and stories, such as Daredevil or Ms. Clare鈥檚 series, were already popular on the page. Bringing failed movie properties to TV makes more sense to Mr. Schwartz. He says of the success of 鈥淒aredevil鈥� on TV, 鈥淸There was] the advantage of really having the time to develop the character and develop the story lines in a much more sort of epic fashion.鈥�
The 鈥淪pider-Man鈥� movies are raising some eyebrows now that the franchise is being restarted a second time with the July movie 鈥淪pider-Man: Homecoming.鈥� While 2012鈥檚 鈥淭he Amazing Spider-Man鈥� was a financial hit, domestic box-office grosses for the series have declined ever since the first 鈥淪pider-Man鈥� movie in 2002. Now Sony is trying again with a third Spider-Man, Tom Holland. 鈥淚 look at this as a middle-aged man who鈥檚 not the market that [Hollywood is] targeting,鈥� Schwartz says. 鈥淏ut then I talk to my students and I talk to my children, who are the market that they鈥檙e targeting, and I hear from them ... been there, done that. They really don鈥檛 want to see it.鈥�