In the last few decades, Hollywood has been receiving an increasing amount of backlash for their lack of originality. Theaters have been playing remakes, sequels, spin-offs and movies based on pre-existing material like books and comics. As screenwriters are producing less unique content, people have started to take notice.
Since 2000, the originality of films has decreased from 40.9% to 18.6% original films in 2024. Viewers are getting frustrated as movies seem to be repeating previous productions. “Older movies are so much better than what we have now, everything feels like a remake or a sequel at this point and it’s getting boring,” said senior Constanza Viera. “It’s also frustrating because a lot of these remakes change details from the original that didn’t need to be changed and then try to convince us it’s a movie worth watching,” said Viera
Of the top 20 highest-grossing films in 2024, 18 of them are sequels, prequels or based on preexisting material, and the remaining two were hits exclusive to the Chinese market. It’s easy to place the blame on Hollywood screenwriters for the replicated films, but the box office numbers show it’s what the people want.
These box office numbers also confirm that Hollywood is simply playing it safe. Rather than taking a gamble and producing unique films with new plots and characters, they film what they know will bring in viewers and money. “Most of the movies I saw last year were sequels and even though they were good, it’s still boring to watch the same characters over and over,” explained Viera.
Junior Nowal Sareini is conflicted by this predicament. “On one hand, I want to see new, unique movies and see cinema take a gamble and produce something original. But on the other hand, I like the guarantee that I will enjoy a movie when I buy the ticket,” Sareini explained.
It’s easy to point fingers and say that Hollywood isn’t creative and is running out of ideas. They aren’t losing creativity, they just know what the audience wants to see. Thousands of original scripts are written each year, but producers know that viewers might not watch something new and are unwilling to take a chance. There is a guarantee that something with a preexisting fan base will bring in profit, and for an industry focused on generating revenue, there is nothing more important than a guarantee.
