Your favorite ’80s film is going to be remade, count on it
Shawn Norris
That’s right. In the growing trend of playing it safer an safer, Hollywood studios have turned back the clock on original ideas and decided to re-make at least 30 shows or films from the 1980s. During the next 10 years, we could all be seeing re-makes of films like “Short Circuit,” “Police Academy” (oddly enough, Steve Guttenberg was free), “The Never Ending Story,” “Red Dawn,” and “Escape from New York,” which many feel will be shot for IMAX (which does sound kinda awesome).
Now I know what you’re thinking. “Why does Hollywood insist on ruining my childhood? How are they going to replace classic characters such as Kevin Bacon in Footloose, Kurt Russell from Escape from L.A, and the guy who made all those funny noises in the Police Academy movies?”
Well, I don‘t really know. I’m sure that Hollywood has a slew of casting directors looking for the next Cadet Mahoney or Benjamin Braddock or even scouring the mean streets for a RoboCop. But, I can’t help but think that some of these re-makes are going to be a tough sell for kids (now adults) that grew up in the era. I mean, how do you even re-make a film like Red Dawn without the crushing asphyxiation of Cold War tension? Why would studios even want to chance angering an entire generation of movie patrons?
Titles like “Ghostbusters,” “Tron” and “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” provide studios with opportunities to pump out merchandise and collect licensing revenue. That area of Hollywood’s bottom line has grown in importance over the years as congloms demand more from their studio arms. And films that can be exploited through retail are especially attractive, considering that many of the top toy properties from Hasbro and Mattel have already been snatched up and set up at various studio lots around town.
That’s right. It all comes down to selling toys. You see, the secret in Hollywood is that a lot of these movies that bomb still make tons of money on merchandising. That’s why we are not only seeing them churn out these comic book movies once a year, but it’s also why we’ve seen a remake of “G.I. Joe” and will see a “He-Man” film in the distant future. That’s also why we will be seeing a new “Voltron” film as well. Oh, if you screw that up like you did with “Transformers” for the love of all that is holy, I will build my own RoboCop suit and tear down that Hollywood sign myself! Alas, I’d probably just end up on a reality show…Hollywood just isn’t what it used to be.
Hollywood heads back to the ’80s [Variety]
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