Free Hollywood from remakes

From “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Men in Black: International,”  and “The Addams Family,” there are plenty of movies to look forward to this summer. Yet none of these movies are original; they are all remakes.

Although remakes of movie classics may seem like a good idea, it reveals an underlying problem: the lack of new ideas for entertainment.

Hollywood remakes are nothing new. Since the start of the movie industry, producers have been making big bucks from remakes. There have been three remakes of “Annie” and seven remakes of “Night of the Living Dead.”

While some remakes are wonderful, there are many others that flop.

Why are there so many, and why doesn’t Hollywood just stick with new ideas?

Someone once said “when you find a good thing, hold on to it.” Movies that were successful in the box office are often remade with the hopes of recreating or improving that success.

The idea of remakes isn’t exclusive to the movie industry. For years, TV shows, music, and other entertainment pieces have been remade.

The song “Hallelujah” was originally written and sung by Leonard Cohen in 1984, but since then has had over 15 remakes.

However, the issue isn’t a lack of new ideas. Recently, there have been many new movies, books, songs, and TV shows stemming from new ideas.

So what is it about movie executives that only like remakes? Well new ideas are harder to make than old ones.

Remakes are easier to make because they come with reviews of the original movie. These reviews show what was good and bad in the original film and what could be improved in a remake.

New movies force Hollywood executives to go in blind without knowing if a movie will be successful.

Yet, this ideology has been proven wrong time and time again. New ideas have had a plethora of successes.

TV shows like “On My Block” and “The Umbrella Academy” and movies like “Us” and “Bird Box” show that new ideas can be successful.

New writers need to have the opportunity to get their ideas in front of an audience. Executives need to have an open mind to creativity and originality without worrying just about failure and money.

Hollywood and other entertainment industries need to start using new ideas so current and future generations can have a culture that’s uniquely theirs.