Something that the film industry is keen on doing is rebooting popular franchises for new audiences. Studios hope that bringing back beloved franchises from the past will cause a surge in nostalgia and drive people to the movie theaters. Movie franchises from the ’80s and ’90s consistently get the reboot treatment because of this. Batman alone has gone through six different live-action iterations and there will probably be more in the future. Over the course of the last two decades, however, we have seen franchises and characters go through more reboots than we have before.
The firstSpider-Manmovie with Tobey Maguire came out in 2002 and his trilogy ended in 2007 withSpider-Man 3.Five years after Maguire’s trilogy ended,The Amazing Spider-Manstarring Andrew Garfield was released in 2012. His time as the web-slinging hero ended in 2014 withThe Amazing Spider-Man 2after it was bombed by critics. Only two years later were we reintroduced to Spidey a third time in 2016 when Tom Holland’s version of the character debuted in Marvel Studios’Captain America: Civil War. There were three different iterations of the same character and the same franchise in the span of only 14 years.
That seems like too many reboots, right? Granted, each iteration of theSpider-Manfranchise has garnered lifelong fans, but it has also been the subject of criticism for rebooting either too many times or too soon. The same criticisms apply to franchises such asJames Bondor horror franchises such asHalloween. With as many fresh ideas that studios are able to churn out, there are probably double the amount of pitches to reboot an already-loved franchise. This begs the question; how long should studios wait before rebooting a franchise? There should be criteria for studios who want to re-imagine an original movie or franchise, and certainly for movies that have already been remade. Studios should probably wait a minimum of 20 years before re-starting a franchise again. Let’s take a look at the reasons why they should wait:
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Avoiding Repetition
While some rebooted franchises are able to offer a new take on the original work, a lot of reboots fall victim to repeating the same storylines and tropes we have seen before. With Batman, we have seen how Bruce Wayne’s parents die multiple times. It is an important part of his character’s backstory, but we have seen their death so many times now that it is basically general knowledge at this point. It does not necessarily need to be included in every new version of the franchise because of this. The same can be said for Uncle Ben’s death for Spider-Man. Since audiences have already seen his death more than once, it’s probably one of the reasons that Marvel Studio’sdecided to just scrap the character altogether. Uncle Ben is a character that means something to Spider-Man, but he doesn’t have to be included to tell a great Spider-Man story, as seen in Tom Holland’s trilogy.
This goes for franchises outside the superhero genre as well. The horror genre falls prey to this repetitiveness frequently. How many times have audiences watched Michael Myers relentlessly terrorize Haddonfield in pursuit of Laurie Strode? Or witnessed Leatherface hack someone up? Most of these reboots aren’t received well by fans or critics because it offers nothing new to those franchises. If reboot after reboot is produced in relatively short periods of time, it is going to be nearly impossible to continue to come up with fresh ideas.
Allowing New Generations to Experience a Reboot They Can Relate To
Another downside to rebooting franchises too soon is that it doesn’t leave enough room for new generations to become involved with the new story while appreciating the original story. If a franchise starts and is rebooted within the span of ten years, it is likely the same group of people watching both versions. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but it doesn’t allow for new fans to come in during the reboot and leave wanting to experience the original to appreciate the source material.
A franchise that went about rebooting the story in an intriguing way is theScreamfranchise. No one else has ever played the iconic final girl Sidney Prescott other than Neve Campbell. She is what keeps every movie connected to one another, even as new characters and generations are introduced. When Paramount decided to giveScreamtheremake treatment 26 years after the first movie, they didn’t go about it in the traditional way. They kept the same principal actors in their original roles instead of having them simply make a cameo. They also introduced an entirely new group of teenagers that weren’t even born yet when the events of the original movie took place, but they kept those events canon in this new storyline. In doing so, they bridged the gap between generations and created a movie where both groups were working towards the same end goal. It was nostalgic for fans of the original and exciting for new fans to be part of this world while also having the story feel relatable to them.
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Revitalizing a Franchise
When done right, remaking a movie can breathe new life into a franchise. It can completely revitalize a franchise and get fans excited to delve into that world again. Waiting long periods of time between reboots adds to the anticipation of waiting for the next variation of a well-known franchise. It allows the filmmakers more time to perfect the script while keeping fans on their toes. It adds a new level of excitement for fans who are eager to invest themselves in a movie franchise again.
Before he took over the task of directing the next installment ofStar Warsmovies, J.J. Abrams reinvigorated theStar Trekfranchise. When the first movie ofthe rebooted trilogycame out in 2009, there were no Star Trek TV shows currently airing, and it had been decades since the original movies came out. He was able to create a remake that appealed to critics, audiences, and die-hard Star Trek fans by taking the time to get it right.
If studios and filmmakers rush to remake movies and reboot franchises in order to take advantage of their current popularity, they will disappoint themselves and moviegoers. It takes time and dedication to craft something that has sentimental value as well as new ideas. Rebooting a popular franchise three years later is not going to allow the filmmakers to bring anything new to the franchise, and it also does not give audiences any time to truly miss and appreciate their favorite franchises.
