It's not that Hollywood lacks creativity, but that investors want more predictable returns. Sequels, prequels, remakes, adaptations, and "spiritual successors" all have a baked in % of revenue. They rarely bomb as badly as an original venture.
It's also due to declining star power. In the "Golden Age" of Hollywood, a movie was guaranteed a certain amount of success so long as it had one of the big stars. This allowed studios to take on more risk knowing that there was a floor to how little they can make if it turns out to be a flop.
But some big time bombs in the 1990s and early 2000s made it clear that star power alone wasn't enough. So studios started relying on nostalgia and the power of existing brands.
![image showing [OC] Hollywood's Vanishing Creativity? Proportion of Original Films in the Worldwide Top 50 Grossing Films, 1978-2019](719c5c81-7dc5-515d-87cf-97ca8ea3f16d.jpg)
Medical_Officer on September 7th, 2020 at 08:57 UTC »
It's not that Hollywood lacks creativity, but that investors want more predictable returns. Sequels, prequels, remakes, adaptations, and "spiritual successors" all have a baked in % of revenue. They rarely bomb as badly as an original venture.
It's also due to declining star power. In the "Golden Age" of Hollywood, a movie was guaranteed a certain amount of success so long as it had one of the big stars. This allowed studios to take on more risk knowing that there was a floor to how little they can make if it turns out to be a flop.
But some big time bombs in the 1990s and early 2000s made it clear that star power alone wasn't enough. So studios started relying on nostalgia and the power of existing brands.
Magikarpeles on September 7th, 2020 at 09:41 UTC »
Now plot sequel/remake profitability vs original profitability.
tada!
malsomnus on September 7th, 2020 at 10:01 UTC »
If that's just the top 50 grossing films, it might indicate something about moviegoers' preferences rather than "Hollywood's vanishing creativity".