The Film Industry

Have you noticed how most films that have been released or in production within the last few years have been film adaptations to an older version, a sequel/prequel, or a live-action/cartoon adaptation? In the box office now we have Wonka (which has four film adaptations now), Mean Girls (which came out in 2004, has a sequel, and now an adaptation from the Broadway Musical), and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (which is a prequel from the Hunger Games trilogy).

Watch Wonka | Prime Video


Adorno and Horkheimer explained, “movies and radio no longer pretend ot be art. The truth that they are just business is made into an ideology in order to justify the rubbish the deliberately produce.” 


Most movies now are no longer unique or seem like something we haven’t seen before. Even TV shows that are being produced have similar storylines or plots. For example, I have watched popular TV shows, like The Summer I Turned Pretty and The Vampire Diaries, where the main plot is that there are two brothers in love with the same girl. These shows are so high in demand to watch that they have been renewed for new seasons, and I am sure there will be new shows coming out with the same love triangle. This is because the film industry knows these shows will sell and become popular as they are engaging and keep the audience on their toes. 


The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb


Adorno and Horkheimer also state: “What is new about the phase of mass culture compared with the late liberal stage is the exclusion of the new. The machine rotates on the same spot. While determining consumption it excludes the untried as a risk. The movie-makers distrust any manuscript which is not reassuringly backed by a bestseller. Yet for this very reason there is never-ending talk of ideas, novelty, and surprise, of what is taken for granted but has never existed.”


In essence, nothing seems unique now in the film industry or even the entertainment industry as a whole. Every film that is being produced seems to be grasping at films they know for certain will be viewed by the masses. Whatever films haven’t been somehow seen by the public, whether that is through a best-selling book or an old best-selling movie, the film industry has seen that as a risk. 


I always wonder how many movies are turned down from movie-makers (producers, directors, etc) because of the high risk it might not be mass consumed by the public. For example, Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie have publicly claimed that they didn’t believe Barbie would do well in the Box Office and that it would basically fail. Yet they took a risk and it grossed over more than $155 million over opening weekend. Barbie has also impacted the culture industry immensely, so what would have happened if the movie never came into existence even with the never-ending talk of ideas?

When will the culture industry get tired of reproductions of films and demand new ones? What will the film industry do then? 

Comments

  1. Caity H.January 25, 2024 at 8:16 PM

    I have noticed this trend as well and I've been very frustrated as a consumer in the lack of new original content. The predecessors to many of these films were so popular because they were new and exciting. The familiarity of the story and remembering how popular they were when they first came out makes these stories a safe choice for producers and studios to make guaranteed money. I suppose that one good thing to come out of this, however, is that its gone on for so long now that people are starting to get restless and talk about it online, especially since Disney started doing all the live-action remakes of classic animated stories, and even more so when rumors start to go around about new remakes of recently released animated movies.

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  2. Lauryn PJanuary 26, 2024 at 1:28 PM

    As much as I wish there was new content all the time, it feels like the more something tries to go outside the norm and be different, the more push back there is on it. But there is also push back on having things just be "new versions of the same old thing". I feel like I am very much in the minority when I say that I really like seeing re-hashed old classics being redone for new audiences. Are they always stellar? No. For example, I was not a fan of the new Little Mermaid (despite the great cast) and I really disliked Emma Watson as Belle in the live action version of Beauty and the Beast.

    One thing that I am really enjoying are two shows that started online and have a huge following. One of them is still being released gradually on YouTube (Helluva Boss) and one of them just released the first season on Amazon Prime streaming (Hazbin Hotel). Both of these shows really push the envelope with their risque, raunchy humor and characters that have no issues with letting loose with their language and bad decision making. It also really does not shy away from heavier subject matter. I love how both of these shows really push the envelope with their content because it is really interesting to see the shift from censoring everything to pushing out a show that is irreverent and proud of it.

    I kind of got off topic there, but I have no issue with re-hashing old content like the Disney classics, as long as they try to do something more with it than the original did. Like the live action Cinderella and Aladdin. They gave lesser characters more stuff, and it made it enjoyable for me. Is everything going to be good? No, but I really love seeing what can be done with what we consider classics in new ways.

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