There's been a trend lately with the movie industry doing reboots. And every time I hear about another reboot, my initial reaction is always the same. Rolling the eyes, uttering a disgusted sigh, shaking my head, and then usually saying something like: "Seriously?"
I get it. A movie had a huge following years ago, so why not remake it? There are things available now (like CGI) that weren't around back in the 80's and early 90's. Fans of the old will see it to make a comparison between the two, and the new generations likely haven't seen the original so there's a new group of moviegoers who will watch the 'new and improved' version.
What makes me shake my head and utter those disgusted sighs is the fact that reboots take away what made the original movies good to begin with: they were ORIGINAL. And changing up a few things doesn't warrant calling it a 'new take on the original.'
Ghostbusters was a great movie in it's day. It's a classic. It had a great cast, the storyline was awesome... Then along comes the reboot - only this time with an all-female cast. Insert sigh of disgust. Not for the all-female cast, but because it was a REBOOT. Look, all of my books have strong female characters in leading roles (it's kind of my thing), so I'm the last person who would complain about that fact of the movie. No, it was the fact that it wasn't a new movie, it was the same old movie with a few slight changes.
That's one example. There are obviously others. Annie got rebooted. Carrie has been rebooted... 4? 5 times? I've lost count on that one. The Shining got rebooted. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - rebooted. I've heard rumors that The Lost Boys is getting rebooted with an all-female cast (are they gonna call it The Lost Girls?).
It is getting a reboot. I saw pics of Pennywise's costume, and if it weren't for the fact that it's a reboot, the costume alone is terrible. The whole idea behind the original was that Tim Curry's costume was meant to make him look bright and happy and fun for the kids. Do you seriously think the dark and evil looking costume in the reboot would have a kid laughing? Hell no! They'd run screaming for the hills!
So why all the disgust for reboots? Because I'm a writer, I suppose. There's no such thing as a 'reboot' or 'remake' in my line of work. That's called plagiarism in my field. And to be honest, that's what frustrates and irritates me when I hear about all of these movies getting reboots. There are literally millions upon millions of stories out there. They aren't all blockbusters, but then neither is every movie. Still, the fact remains that there is seriously no reason the movie industry should ever take away what makes a movie great and lessen it with a reboot when there are so many stories out there that could be made into movies.
Anyway, the whole pics of the new It costume kind of got under my skin and brought a whole circus (pun intended) of thoughts on the movie industry and their reboots, so I thought I'd blog about it. And for those who are wondering, of course I think my fantasy series or paranormal romance trilogy (UPDATE EDIT: Or my latest Urban Fantasy release) would make blockbuster movies. Definitely the Urban Fantasy! Dani is a kick-ass superhero who redefines the traditional superhero mold!
Come on, every author thinks that about their books! 😉
