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The rumors are true. Hollywood is out of ideas. All the writers with fresh films have either left or been shut out of the industry. All Hollywood wants is an endless cycle of old ideas with slight changes to get butts in seats and money in investors' wallets.
I'm being hyperbolic, of course, but the idea that Hollywood refuses to tell original stories has been circulating around film spaces for a while now. Ever since Disney shifted most of their efforts towards live action remakes, it's felt as if most movies released have been based off of previously existing IP.
It can feel like a drag. We all want to see something fresh when we sit down to watch a movie. However, I don't think remakes, reboots, and rehashes are the problem. At least, not the real one.
When people talk about "the good old days" when films were all original, I've found that they're usually referring to the '70s and '80s. They might mention classics like The Godfather or Jaws. They'll say "those were the days when filmmakers had ideas!"
Or did they? Fun fact, both The Godfather films and Jaws are based off popular books that came out at the time. In fact, many films that we consider to be a part of the "film canon" are adaptations of books like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Going further back into Hollywood's history, we can find many book to film adaptaions like Frankenstein (1931). Sometimes, movies are even secret adaptations like Clueless, which is secretly Emma.
Yes, I'm specifically picking the few films from past eras which just so happen to be adaptations, but my point isn't that adaptations have always existed; it's that adaptations aren't necessarily bad.
Let's go back to 2008. Iron Man had been recently released and comic fans were hyped. Over the next few years, Marvel will go on to release several other super hero films which all ultimately connect in one film: The Avengers.
We've all heard the story of the birth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). At the time, it was a fresh new take on not only the superhero genre, but on film storytelling as a whole. No other film franchise had tried to have so many connections between films before. And while it certainly was a new idea, it was still an adaptation.
Today, we view the MCU very differently. Marvel still has some hits from time to time, but overall, we tend to see the MCU like a washed up actor who still wants to be famous.
The MCU's decline in quality isn't specifically because it is an adaptation. While that plays a role, the true culprit is a bit more complicated. In my opinion, the real reason the MCU and many other recent adaptations have been bad is because Hollywood uses adaptations (and reboots/remakes) as an excuse to get sloppy.
Sure, the modern movie landscape is full of bad remakes. But many of them are still good, some are great, even. Robert Eggers's Nosferatu is phenomenal. (The original Nosferatu itself is an adaptation of Dracula)
I have no problem with a remake as long as it's clear that someone put all their heart and soul into it. I can respect films like Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio because your can see the creators' passion dancing across the screen. I can't say the same for Disney's adaptation of the same story which coincidentally came out the same year.
