In recent years a new trend seems to have been happening in Hollywood. It looks like the writers of the dream factory are lacking creativity. Each year we hit a new high in terms of prequels, sequels, remakes and spin-offs, or in other words: Hollywood film-makers seem to have forgotten how to make good, successful single movies. In 2012 the website www.denofgeek.com compiled a list of 105 movie sequels that were currently in works at the time. In view of such a high number it should be considered if a new trend away from too many sequels and remakes wouldn't be advisable.
One of the reasons for this is that many of the movie franchises are already completely oversaturated. After a trilogy in the 1970s/1980s the Star Wars saga experienced a revival in the 1990s/2000s with a prequel trilogy and on top of that both a Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and TV series. Nonetheless, two more Star Wars movies were announced in 2013 with the first one being scheduled for release in 2016. Another example would be the constant flow of new superhero movies. DC and Marvel have been making it really hard for the viewers to count how many times Superman and Batman (both with constant reboots throughout the decades) or Iron Man and Spiderman (of which the second trilogy within twelve years is now being made) or others have been appearing on the big screen. To be fair, it has to be said that also the film market is being regulated by both demand and supply and there seems to be enough demand, i.e. viewers of the specific movies, so that the film-makers provide enough supply.
An argument that can be heard many times is that sequels or remakes 'destroy the original'. Is this really true? Star Wars fans keep saying that the new trilogy is not nearly as good as the first one. Some Indiana Jones think that the fourth film should have never happened and the series should have ended with the three 1980s movies. It can be neither said that this is right or wrong because everybody has his own taste. There are also many cases in which remakes have received much praise and are regarded as much better than the original. It will probably never be possible to prove or to disprove this argument, however, it is definitely something to keep in mind.
Another point that might play into this is the role of Hollywood as one big, commercial industry.
Like all other industries Hollywood and all the people working for them want to make money. They know that those movie franchises are hugely popular and successful with the cinema audience so they decide to make more of them. On top of that, the box office figures prove the film-makers right in the majority of cases. Many sequels and remakes make even more money than the original. It is clear that many movies only exist because film-makers have seen the opportunity to use a franchise's success in order to make even more money with the next movie. However, as long as vast crowds still flood cinemas in order to see these movies the situation is unlikely to change in the near future nor do movie fans seem to be bothered by it.
All in all, there doesn't seem to be much reason to believe that the flood of sequels and remakes will stop any time soon. Movie viewers will continue to see them and as long as this happens film- makers won't stop making them. And to be honest, in the majority of cases they are very enjoyable. After all, this is what counts in the end because we want to feel entertained when we dive into the fantastic world of movies
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