Like any other major media industry, Hollywood film and television have always had their own trends and bandwagons circulating every few years in order to stay on top of what’s popular with the general public. And one of these latest trends has been reboots, remakes, and revivals- and almost overwhelmingly so.
In the last decade in particular, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in this specific genre; ranging from the several Disney remakes of their golden-age animations, to the recent reboot of one of the 2010s most popular teen shows, Gossip Girl. It’s clear that reboots, remakes, and revivals are the ‘meta’ for TV/film right now, and their viewership/popularity are proof of that. But first, you might be asking:
“What’s the difference between a reboot, a remake, and a revival?”
Reboot: a new production of a film/TV series, usually with its own premises and a new cast
(Image credit: Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin)
Remake: a recreation of a film/TV series, with a new cast
(Image credit: Disney)
Revival: a direct continuity of an film/TV series, with at least some of the original cast
(Image credit: Neil Jacobs/Netflix)
“Why have they been so successful?”
Even despite the excess amount of reboots, remakes and revivals that have been produced these last few years, most of them still manage to be very successful. Why is that?
Oftentimes, they have pre-existing fans that will be already interested. This saves a lot of marketing efforts that original films/shows have to go through in order to be recognized. “This is a risk-averse strategy. You bank on content where people already have a sense of the characters, they have a sense of what the plot is, what the story is," says Walt Hickey, a pop culture expert at FiveThirtyEight. “It’s like saying, ‘Hey, remember that thing you liked? This new project incorporates some elements in that thing you liked.'” This also shows how these new productions bank a lot on the nostalgia factor. Nostalgia is a universal feeling, and media companies definitely know how to exploit it in order to gain potential audiences. And with good casting and intriguing premises, these new films/shows give an opportunity for the franchise to attract new demographics as well.
Reboots, remakes, and revivals are also a safe and profitable business move for companies, since they’re utilizing their existing intellectual property. Disney’s live-action remakes are a good example of this; they, alone, have made more than $7 billion globally since 2010.
“So… what’s the issue?”
As popular as they are, these movies and TV series still suffer from a lot of similar and valid criticisms.
For reboots and remakes in particular, filmmakers can struggle with revamping the original cast/plot lines. It’s a tough balance between keeping some of the original, while also making enough changes to keep it unique on its own.
An example of where this balance was lost is Netflix's Winx Club adaptation named ‘Fate: The Winx Saga’: a live-action TV series remake of the original children’s cartoon. It was criticized by fans for white-washing two of the main characters, whom in the cartoons, were characterized to be East-Asian and Latina respectively. “The original Winx show was one of few cartoons that made fans of color feel seen in media as kids, making the casting choices especially disappointing,” writes Kristen Abernathy, a journalist for Screen Rant.
(Image credit left: Jonathan Heission/Netflix)
Another common critique is the potential lack of creativity put into these productions. Because remakes of famous franchises are practically guaranteed money-makers, it can lead to lazy/uninspired films. “By encouraging filmmakers to prioritise profitability over storytelling, Hollywood is encouraging – and rewarding – a death of creativity,” says Simran Hans, a writer for Dazed Digital. Filmmakers can fall victim to merely just following the current trend, instead of producing art.
But it’s also important to remember that not all reboots, remakes, reimaginings, are “inherently bad”, nor “necessarily connote creative bankruptcy” (Koski). There have been some very well-made productions in this genre: one example being Greta Gerwigs’s ‘Little Women’ remake, which was very well-received by audiences and critics alike for “moderniz[ing] the book’s timeless story in unexpected ways” (Erbland).
(Image credit right: CTMG)
So despite the criticisms, reboots, remakes, and revivals have made waves in the film industry, and it doesn’t look like they’re going away just yet. So keep an eye out for the ones coming out soon!