Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them..

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Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:21:26 PM

Cool Breeze

Posts: 1625
Joined: 9/11/2011
From: The Internet

Conan The Barbarian.
Fright Night.
Total Recall.
The Thing ( 2011 ) -(Yes its a remake.)

These are just some of the remakes that have come and gone in the last year or so.All have flopped badly.With the bad buzz on the incoming Robocop remake and an unwanted Starship Troopers remake ( films that are just about perfect as they are ), there seems to be no stop to the remake craze despite how poorly they are received.

So why do the studios keep making them?

Post #: 1

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:23:18 PM

Happy Shrapnel

Posts: 17420
Joined: 19/1/2006
From: Wishing for the Clothes of Heaven

Money my friend.......its all about the green backs.

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Post #: 2

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:28:09 PM

Cool Breeze

Posts: 1625
Joined: 9/11/2011
From: The Internet

quote:

ORIGINAL: Happy Shrapnel

Money my friend.......its all about the green backs.

But thats the thing.They are LOSING money cos they are flopping.So why do they keep on making them?

(in reply to Happy Shrapnel)

Post #: 3

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:34:37 PM

Happy Shrapnel

Posts: 17420
Joined: 19/1/2006
From: Wishing for the Clothes of Heaven

I don't actualy think they are, are they ?
I know the Thing made quiet a bit, but most people go to see them, no matter how bad they are, its all in the hype.
I could be wrong though.

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Post #: 4

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:42:17 PM

ripperman

Posts: 134
Joined: 3/10/2007

No new ideas = Rummage through the back catalogue for something that made money in the past to find�
A known franchise which made money so that�
People of a certain age know it and may be curious to see what a remake would be like plus it will�
Bring in a new generation of viewers establishing a whole �new� franchise for younger viewers plus�
No real effort is needed as regards originality or setup so that ultimately�
Returns will be maximised $$$

In other words remakes are relatively low risk film making. Thats why horror movies are remade all the time. If it hits, great a new possible franchise. If not ah, what the hell, we didnt spend too much time, effort or money on it, its not mainstream. Lets try another one.

(in reply to Cool Breeze)

Post #: 5

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:50:41 PM

adambatman82

Posts: 11156
Joined: 15/12/2005
From: Sheffield

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
So why do the studios keep making them?

You win some, you lose some. For every The Thing that loses money on release, there's a Star Trek (2009). You could probably use a similar argument to ask why Hollywood is bothering making original content, when those films too sometimes flop really badly too.

PS. I note that you left Dredd off the list, which cost more than, and made less than The Thing.

< Message edited by adambatman82 -- 23/11/2012 12:51:16 PM >

(in reply to Cool Breeze)

Post #: 6

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:51:29 PM

homersimpson_esq

Posts: 19969
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Springfield

Ocean's Eleven

The Thing (1982) (it was already a remake)

The Fly (Cronenberg)

The Wizard of Oz (yes, the 1939 one)

These were all remakes that are either better than the originals, or the only ones people really remember.

Remakes don't have to be evil.

I am of course playing devil's advocate, because I'd much rather see original films, but it doesn't mean that one need apply a blanket policy on no remakes ever.

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Post #: 7

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:52:43 PM

Happy Shrapnel

Posts: 17420
Joined: 19/1/2006
From: Wishing for the Clothes of Heaven

quote:

ORIGINAL: adambatman82

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
So why do the studios keep making them?

You win some, you lose some. For every The Thing that loses money on release, there's a Star Trek (2009). You could probably use a similar argument to ask why Hollywood is bothering making original content, when those films too sometimes flop really badly too.

PS. I note that you left Dredd off the list, which cost more than, and made less than The Thing.

I wouldn't class Dredd as a remake, more a reboot, and its a shame it didn't make any money, cos its bloody good !

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Post #: 8

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 12:53:44 PM

Happy Shrapnel

Posts: 17420
Joined: 19/1/2006
From: Wishing for the Clothes of Heaven

Dawn of the Dead was the only decent one that springs to mind.

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Post #: 9

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 1:27:01 PM

NCC1701A

Posts: 3797
Joined: 12/3/2011
From: Space Dock

King Kong - 2005
101 Dalmatians - 1996
The Blob - 1988
Dawn of the Dead - 2004
Dark Water - 2005
The Fly - 1986
Friday the 13th - 2009
Fright Night - 2011
Little Shop of Horrors - 1986
The Nutty Professor - 1996
Piranha 3-D - 2010
Poseidon - 2006 - LOVED THAT FILM.
Ransom - 1996
The Wolfman - 2010
House on Haunted Hill - 1999
Godzills - 1998 - I know it not that well liked but I like it.
The Thing - 1982

Just a few Remakes that I think are good

< Message edited by NCC1701A -- 23/11/2012 3:44:59 PM >

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Post #: 10

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 1:41:36 PM

adambatman82

Posts: 11156
Joined: 15/12/2005
From: Sheffield

quote:

ORIGINAL: Happy Shrapnel

I wouldn't class Dredd as a remake, more a reboot, and its a shame it didn't make any money, cos its bloody good !

I think it's a remake in the same way that Total Recall or Conan are. All three are based on literary sources and removed from their existing film franchises.

(in reply to Happy Shrapnel)

Post #: 11

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 1:43:02 PM

adambatman82

Posts: 11156
Joined: 15/12/2005
From: Sheffield

quote:

ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq
I am of course playing devil's advocate, because I'd much rather see original films, but it doesn't mean that one need apply a blanket policy on no remakes ever.

To be fair to Cool Breeze, I think his point was that remakes don't make money, not that remakes are bad. Of course his skewed evidence states clearly where his allegiances sit, but still.

(in reply to homersimpson_esq)

Post #: 12

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 2:03:14 PM

dolfinack

Posts: 73
Joined: 20/7/2011
From: Belfast

Yeah pretty much as people have said, for every three turkeys there will be a massive hit. And around we go...

It is a bit silly, but then I'm partly to blame - I go and see most of it

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Post #: 13

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 2:04:55 PM

elab49

Posts: 51575
Joined: 1/10/2005

But Total Recall eg was a single world/story and the remake was from the same story. Dredd has decades worth of world to play with - I'd ditto it not being a remake as it didn't have the same source, just a vaguely similar character (yup, bias as Stallone's obvs. wasn't Dredd

)

But Adam's right NCC - CB isn't talking about whether people liked a remake, he's talking about the money

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Post #: 14

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 2:14:39 PM

matty_b

Posts: 12856
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.

It's all about the money.

It's all about the bom bom diddy-bom-bom.

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
Mattyb is a shining example of what the perfect Empire Forum member is.

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Post #: 15

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 2:15:02 PM

snaze1

Posts: 195
Joined: 2/3/2007

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze

Conan The Barbarian.
Fright Night.
Total Recall.
The Thing ( 2011 ) -(Yes its a remake.)
These are just some of the remakes that have come and gone in the last year or so.All have flopped badly.With the bad buzz on the incoming Robocop remake and an unwanted Starship Troopers remake ( films that are just about perfect as they are ), there seems to be no stop to the remake craze despite how poorly they are received.

So why do the studios keep making them?

No its not, its a prequel to a remake

And in answer to your original statement, if you took in box office returns, dvd/bluray sales and TV returns then ALL of the films you mention will turn a profit.
Even the most highly publicised mega flop of the last 20 years, Waterworld made Universal pictures money, granted not the huge returns it wanted from the film but still a profit and that is what it is all about,

Personnaly speaking, i will wait and judge the Robocop and Starship troopers on individual merit when they are released, not slate them whilst they are still before the cameras.
They may well turn out to blow the originals out of the water or they may be execerable piles of crap but whichever it is they will in no way affect my enjoyment of the originals.

< Message edited by snaze1 -- 23/11/2012 2:26:04 PM >

(in reply to Cool Breeze)

Post #: 16

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 3:10:34 PM

Judge

Posts: 176
Joined: 13/7/2008
From: Nottingham

I get the hate for them, it's the needless attempts to remake classics which annoys me as there is just no point as they can't be improved upon. However they aren't all bad, one of my favourite films is Heat and that's a remake, albeit of a white TV movie.

< Message edited by Judge -- 23/11/2012 3:13:45 PM >

(in reply to snaze1)

Post #: 17

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 3:13:31 PM

rich

Posts: 4133
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Neo Kobe

quote:

ORIGINAL: adambatman82

quote:

ORIGINAL: Happy Shrapnel

I wouldn't class Dredd as a remake, more a reboot, and its a shame it didn't make any money, cos its bloody good !

I think it's a remake in the same way that Total Recall or Conan are. All three are based on literary sources and removed from their existing film franchises.

Dredd and Conan are probably comparable in that the are film versions of the same pool of written fiction. Total Recall didn't do anything to adapt the original story so it's a remake. Dredd remade Judge Dredd the same way Batman Begins remade Batman Forever.

The likes of the 80s versions of The Thing and The Fly are hardly going to be made now, when they are considered risky. Straight out carbon copies that we normally see are safe studio bets regardless of whether they actually flop. It's probably easy to get a project off the ground when you can tell the suits it has an audience already, even when that's clearly a stupid idea.

< Message edited by rich -- 23/11/2012 3:17:25 PM >

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Post #: 18

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 3:57:23 PM

NCC1701A

Posts: 3797
Joined: 12/3/2011
From: Space Dock

Blu Ray and DVD sales also must help as well so even if a film flops at the box office the film still has more money to make.

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Post #: 19

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 4:46:23 PM

Shifty Bench

Posts: 14559
Joined: 30/9/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
The Thing ( 2011 ) -(Yes its a remake.)

No, it was a prequel. It set up a lot of what we had already seen in Carpenter's film and it's last scene leads into the 1982 film.

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quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b
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quote:

ORIGINAL: porntrooper
Shifty said it best

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Post #: 20

RE: Remakes keep flopping, studios keep making them.. - 23/11/2012 4:50:04 PM

jobloffski

Posts: 1837
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: elsewhere

Merchandising tie ins, product placement in the films (which helps fund the films meaning a relative lowering in the take needed to reach profit), international TV rights, online rentals, home retail, blah blah blah, the financial life of a film isn't solely based on the box office take alone, although obviously the life of a film after the cinema is more rosy if the box office is mega.

Make a remake = internet complaints about whether it is sacrilege and ,like it or not, net nerds are very much in the minority and the louder we scream about how shit something we haven't seen is gonna be the more chance people who aren't net nerds, which is still mostly everybody are going to be encouraged to see it cos, basically, we am not cool and agreeing with us am not cool

Edit, forgot to mention re-release of cleaned up versions of the original films that are either being remade, rebooted or prequelised/sequelised by the 'oldideamachine' that then seeks to make money from both the young blood and the old blade at the same time, in the hope that both will try both new and old iterations and if complaints happen afterwards, already gotchamunny, etc

,

< Message edited by jobloffski -- 23/11/2012 5:13:21 PM >

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Post #: 21