One of the biggest complaints about Hollywood concerns its never ending sequels and reboots…
But can you blame the studios?
Franchises are the bread and butter of the Industry. Beloved characters targeting younger moviegoers while at the same time capitalizing on the nostalgia factor of older ones. And with tightening production dollars, the franchise sequels and/or reboots become ever more important in the marketplace.
Case in point THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!
As The Wall Street Journal recently pointed out in a piece about Sony (Columbia) Pictures, "A (Spider-Man) reboot was a way to escape the spiral of diminishing returns.
"While audiences sometimes decline over several sequels, costs such as actors’ salaries inevitably escalate: Mr. (Tobey) Maguire, who was reportedly paid $4 million for the first movie, earned a reported $15 million plus 7.5% of the profits for his work in SPIDER-MAN 3."
The budget for a fourth Spider-Man with the original crew would’ve easily exceeded the $260 million spent on number three. Yet the reboot reportedly came in around $200 million.
Also with sequels, "You get yourself into a place where it becomes this beast, and it gets riskier and riskier," says Matt Tolmach, a producer of the reboot and former co-president at Sony.
As for the differences in back story and certain Spidey facts, "The decision to tweak the mythology stemmed from the feeling that people don’t want to revisit something they already knew," says Sony’s Amy Pascal.
Compare Spider-Man to the first Batman franchise which ended with the rather embarrassing BATMAN & ROBIN in 1997.
Warner Brothers resurrected it in 2008 and put Christopher Nolan in the driver’s seat and Christian Bale in the cape. The rest is movie history—which will be made again in two weeks when Chris Nolan ends it with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.
Back to THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN…
It made a terrific comeback, not only here, but worldwide. On its first day—Tuesday, July 3—the film set a domestic Tuesday opening day boxoffice record of $35 million in North American ticket sales.
Spidey’s debut bested the previous Tuesday opening record (held by TRANSFORMERS in 2007) by $7.1 million.
Who said Hollywood types don’t know what they’re doing?
This reboot needs
more nipples on costumes and ass shots.
I am talking to you, Mr. Scumacher.
OMG
Whoa, the coveted “Tuesday Opening Record”. Next on the the list after “Transformers” was “The Omen”.
reboot fevah!
As for the differences in back story and certain Spidey facts, “The decision to tweak the mythology stemmed from the feeling that people don’t want to revisit something they already knew,” says Sony’s Amy Pascal.
You mean, like a reboot in less than 10 years time since the first was made?!?!?!
Hey dude….
…just keep repeating: ‘It’s Only a Movie. Only a Movie. Only a Movie.Take as much as you can.’
Come to think of it that’s the famous tag-line from “LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.”
I thought that was what
Butters mumbled repeatedly after watching Backdoor Sluts 9.
That and, “My Precious, don’t take my precious away!!”