I’m Sick of These Goddamn Sequels!
Marvel. Jurassic Park. What Transformer are we at now?
I don’t care that I’ve lost count. The film industry is at its worst point in decades and it all has to do with sequels.
Let’s look at Summer 2018’s list of top movies:
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Avengers: Infinity War
Oceans 8
Deadpool 2
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
It’s infuriating!
Why This is Important
In an objective sense, the less original creativity that exists in society, the more we lose our creative self expression. In other words, being creative is part of being human.
Therefore, it kinda sucks when a major artistic medium (film) is on the decline.
At least there’s a logical explanation and it has to do with economics.
The Declining Economics of Movies
Movies are expensive and risky ventures that require millions to produce and market. Most of that money can be returned in a single day if people rush to the box office on opening night which was often the case!
To put it simply: movies were a goldmine.
But this all changed in recent years due to technology. Specifically live streaming. People are not rushing to box offices like they used to because watching movies at home is as easy as ever.
Furthermore, going to the movies is expensive regardless of how many people show up! That’s because theaters have huge operating expenses needed to keep locations up and running.
Don’t get me wrong; there are still plenty of people who love going to the movies - including myself. There are also still plenty of people willing to make them.
Therefore, the question is not whether movies will go extinct but rather ”Who’s going to invest in movies?” and ”What kind of movies are they willing to make?”.
The answer is simple: Investors are only willing to invest in movies that are pleasing to everyone, no matter how pandering or superficial, as it’s the only way to ensure enough people will go to the theater to pay and see it.
Studios have even turned to desperate means of attracting audiences. Investing in star studded casts while leaving behind shallow plots and weak scripts is an increasingly common practice (e.g. Oceans 8 and Collateral Beauty).
But regardless of its poor artistic quality, it seems that the path of least resistance is tried and true franchises.
Marvel - Check!
Jurassic Park - Check!
Transformers - Check!
In other words, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
If movie theaters were more popular, then investors would be taking chances on riskier ventures such as Pan’s Labyrinth or Black Swan, but at least for now, that’s not the case.
The industry is simply not convinced that a cult or indie film can entice fans to leave the Hulu behind. Unless, of course, it’s an Oscar nominated film like The Shape of Water, which is the exception and not the rule.
Why TV is Suffering Too
The problem doesn’t affect just film. Apparently, TV is also suffering.
What Full House, Roseanne, and Will & Grace have in common is that they were all notably popular shows at a time when watching TV at home was one of the primary ways Americans spent time together.
It’s no wonder why we now have remakes of all three.
People have even called for remakes of Seinfeld and Friends but producers have thankfully refused, rightly choosing to leave their iconic legacies as-is rather than spoiling them in some cheesy remake.
So How Do I Fight This?
So why not just tear down theaters and TV stations and have a 100% streaming media landscape?
That may very well happen in the near future but for now there’s still a lot of easy money to be made in mindless recycled material that exists in today’s sequels.
It sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes you shouldn’t ask people what they want. You should tell them!
Henry Ford once famously said that if he had given people what they wanted, he would have built a better horse and buggy - effectively leaving people in the past.
Telling people what they want is particularly important in art, TV, and movies because, if not, we’ll be stuck on a cultural repeat.
When the next Avengers is released. Stay home and watch Netflix in protest. Maybe Marvel’s producers will get the hint that it's time to move on.
Real Deal Productions Worldwide, Inc.