Why Hollywood Shouldn’t Ruin Timeless Movies With Sequels

Why+Hollywood+Shouldn%E2%80%99t+Ruin+Timeless+Movies+With+Sequels

For a lot of us, going to the movies is the ultimate way to relax. It can put you in someone else’s shoes, and help you envision a world not your own. Or maybe you like comedy, and movies will help you hold onto the fun qualities in life. One way or another there are some movies that we can relate to and really hit home to become the perfect cinematic masterpiece and Hollywood has a tendency to ruin them to make money.

A fairly recent, and very prominent example of Hollywood’s disappointing trend is the newly released Ghostbusters sequel, featuring a nearly all women cast. The original Ghostbusters has been considered a masterpiece for decades now, scoring a whopping 88% on the fan scale on the website Rotten Tomatoes. This new reboot/sequel has scored a 55%, showing a 33% drop in fans.

Another more impressive, perhaps more impactful example of Hollywood’s lack of creativity is the latest movie in the Indiana Jones series, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The original scored an even more impressive score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the newest scored only 54%, showing a 42% drop in fans. This one was so bad one of the actors actually apologized for it! Shia Labeouf in an interview with LA times said,”I think the audience is pretty intelligent. I think they know when you’ve made (slop). And I think if you don’t acknowledge it, then why do they trust you the next time you’re promoting a movie.”

There are many decent examples of people that fight this trend though. The 1980’s classic Back to the Future, which depicts the horror that could come with the invention of time travel, became one of the most positively received movies of all time; fortunately enough the writers confirmed they wouldn’t touch it. Robert Zemeckis (the co writer himself) said, “People love them the way they are, we think they’re really good. Let’s not mess with it.” This is a perfect example of how studios can accept that they’ve created a masterpiece and don’t need to make more for easy money. Instead, Hollywood should focus on creating new and exciting originals, providing something new for the audience, and sending a message that they have plenty more to give.

Movies have been a staple in our society for decades, and it makes me sad to think studios have lost the care for their viewers and now only care about the money. Moviegoers are starting to get sick of the same cliche plot lines and regurgitated franchises over and over again. Hopefully soon we’ll have faith in Hollywood again for a better, more creative era of movies.