The Remake and Reboot Game

If you follow movie news closely or even somewhat closely, then you’ve probably heard a great deal lately about remakes and reboots. Remakes are common and exactly what they sound like; in this case, it’s a movie that is made again with essentially the same story line but updated with a different cast, effects, or something in that vein. Remakes often reignite an old property or in some cases bring an unknown property to light; they also open up the possibility for further sequels. A more recent example of this would be what Disney has been doing with their live-action adaptations in Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Beauty and the Beast. A reboot, though, is essentially turning an entire idea or franchise on it’s head. It’s starting over with no acknowledgement to what came before. It’s the same world but typically a brand new story. We have seen this happen twice within the past fifteen years already with the Spider-Man franchise.

In our podcast this week, we learned about two film franchises that are in talks of being rebooted, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Matrix. If you listened to our podcast at all, then you heard Jonathan, Ian, and myself complain for an extended period of time about rebooting these particular franchises. Some of you may agree with us, but some of you may not understand why we balked at the idea. 

For the record, I personally don’t despise all reboots or all remakes. I purely enjoyed the remake of The Magnificent Seven and am anxiously awaiting Murder on the Orient Express, which will debut later this year. I am loving The Planet of The Apes reboot trilogy thus far, and I truly don’t have a problem with the various Batman reboots I’ve seen over the years. This is not an exhaustive list of films I’ve enjoyed that are remakes or reboots, but it gives you an idea of what I’m talking about. 

I even understand how it happens. I dislike the idea of them rebooting The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but I also understand that there was supposed to be a sequel under David Fincher’s direction that never came to fruition. It was a wildly popular book series; the Swedish films were well received in their home country, and there is a fan base out there that wants to see those books brought back to the big screen. From a studio standpoint, I completely get it; there is money to be made there. 

However, can we all agree that there are some movies that should just be left alone? 

In my opinion, The Matrix is one of those trilogies… at least at this point in time. The last Matrix film, while admittedly not as good as the rest, was released in 2003. It’s only been fourteen years, and this is a beloved film franchise. To this day, people know the reference if you make an offhand comment about a red or blue pill. There’s no point in even remaking them, much less rebooting them. Even if Michael P. Jordan decides to come on board, I don’t think even he can redeem a less than stellar idea. 

However, this is Hollywood. If there is money to be made, they are going to seek it out. They’ll continue to make Transformers movies until they literally bring in no income. They’ll continue to remake movies that you liked but didn’t necessarily need a remake of like Overboard and Ghostbusters. They’ll reboot the characters of Spider-Man and Batman a hundred times. It’s not a perfect system. However, they’ll also bring us the Inside Outs, the Arrivals, the Hidden Figures, and the dozens of other original films that make us laugh and cry and inevitably keep coming back for more. 

So, how are all of you feeling about some of these recent remakes and the upcoming reboots? 

Is anyone else dreading a reboot of The Matrix? 

Will anyone else riot with me when Warner Brothers dares to remake the Harry Potter franchise one day? 

Comment below and let us know.