And it’s not like audiences are resistant to nostalgia. The biggest hits of last year, by a huge margin, were “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Jurassic World,” both of which have been termed ‘requels’ — movies that sat somewhere between a reboot, a sequel and a remake, continuing the story from previous entries, passing the torch to new characters who could continue the franchise going forward, and hitting many of the structural beats as the first films in the series (it’s this trend that “Ghostbusters” arguably fits most closely into, thanks to the cameos by original cast members).
The occasional remake does still land with audiences, but it does seem that for every “Cinderella” or “Godzilla,” there are two films closer to “Total Recall” or “Point Break,” both of which made closer to half what their predecessors did two decades earlier. What’s the difference? Well, it’s a similar question to when we examined the run of sequel flops earlier in the summer — it’s simply studios making movies that audiences don’t want to see.
A “Jungle Book” or “Cinderella” movie is always going to find a crowd, given their appeal to families, the Disney brand-name and beloved source material. “Ocean’s Eleven” was a pretty safe bet, as the idea of a bunch of A-list stars doing fun things in glamorous places is always appealing. Teaming Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise for “War Of The Worlds,” or Johnny Depp and Tim Burton for “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory,” was bound to sell a bunch of tickets, at least in the mid-’00s.
Making “Total Recall” without Arnie and the weirdness, or making “Point Break” without Keanu and Swayze and with two no-name leads, or the umpteenth version of “Carrie,” or a Dennis Quaid-starring remake of “Flight Of The Phoenix,” or a Dennis Quaid-starring remake of “The Poseidon Adventure,” or an English-language take on “Funny Games,” or an English-language redo of “The Secret Of Their Eyes” stripped of its political context, or a $150 million rejig of “The Taking Of Pelham 123,” or Nicolas Cage in a misogynistic take on “The Wicker Man,” were not things that people wanted to see, at least in the number that justified their cost (similarly, an all-female “Ghostbusters” remake is a great idea, but not when it costs $150 million). These were all bad ideas, but studio executives convinced themselves that they were good ones because the name was a familiar one already.
And this trend isn’t ending any time soon. The next 12 months will bring “Pete’s Dragon,” “Ben-Hur,” “The Magnificent Seven,” “Amityville: The Awakening,” “Friday The 13th,” “Kong: Skull Island,” “Beauty & The Beast,” “King Arthur,” “Ghost In The Shell,” “Going In Style,” “The Mummy,” “Jumanji” and “Flatliners.” Some will make money, some might even be good, but you can probably take a pretty good guess at which ones will be which. And the idea that they’re any more of a safe bet than a slate of original projects seems, unfortunately for studios having one of their worst years, pretty misguided.
Below, you can see the hard numbers of budgets versus worldwide theatrical gross for remakes over the past 20 years. It’s sobering stuff, and studio executives might want to start crunching the data to see the reality of risk versus reward when it comes to remakes.
All numbers from Box Office Mojo
“3:10 To Yuma” (2007). Budget: $55m. Gross, $70m. 89% RT
“About Last Night” (2014) Budget: $12.5m. Gross: $49m. 69% RT
“Alice In Wonderland” (2010) Budget: $200m. Gross: $1.025b 52% RT
“Annie” (2014) Budget: $65m Gross: $133m. 27% RT
“Arthur” (2011) Budget: $40m. Gross: $45m 26% RT
“Assault On Precinct 13” (2005) Budget: $30m. Gross: $35ww 60% RT
“The Amityville Horror” (2005). Budget: $19m. Gross: $108ww 23% RT
“Bad News Bears” (2005) Budget: $35m. Gross: $34m 48% RT
“Black Christmas” (2006) Budget: $9m. Gross: $21m 14% RT
“Brothers” (2009) Budget: $26m Gross: $43m 63% RT
“Carrie” (2013) Budget: $30m, Gross: $84m 48% RT
“Charlie & The Chocolate Factory” (2005) Budget: $150m. Gross: $474m 83% RT
“Cinderella” (2015) Budget: $95m. Gross: $543m 83% RT
“Clash Of the Titans” (2010) Budget: $125m. Gross: $593m 28% RT
“The Crazies” (2010) Budget: $20m. Gross: $54m 71% RT
“Dark Water” (2005) Budget: $30m. Gross: $49m 46% RT
“Dawn Of The Dead” (2004) Budget: $26m. Gross: $102m 75% RT
“The Day The Earth Stood Still” (2008) Budget: $80m. Gross: $233m 21% RT
“Death At A Funeral” (2010) Budget: £21m. Gross: $49m 41% RT
“The Debt” (2011) Budget: $20m. Gross: $45m 76% RT
“The Departed” (2006) Budget: $90m. Gross: $289m 91% RT
“Dinner For Schmucks” (2010) Budget: $69m. Gross: $86ww 42% RT
“Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark” Budget: $25m. Gross: $36m 58% RT
“Down To Earth” (2001) Budget: $49m. Gross: $71m 20% RT
“Endless Love: (2014) Budget: $20m. Gross: $34m 15% RT 2 horror
“Evil Dead” (2013) Budget: $17m. Gross: $97m 61% RT
“Fantastic Four” (2015) Budget: $120m. Gross: $167m 9% RT
“Flight Of The Phoenix” (2004) Budget: $45m. Gross: $34m 30% RT
“The Fog” (2005) Budget: $18m. Gross: $46m 4% RT
“Footloose” (2011) Budget: $24m. Gross: $63m 69% RT
“Freaky Friday” (2003) Budget: $20m. Gross: $160m 88% RT
“Four Brothers” (2005) Budget: $45m. Gross: $92m 583% RT
“Friday The 13th” (2009) Budget: $19m. Gross: $91m 25% RT
“Fright Night” (2011) Budget: $30m. Gross: $41m 72% RT
“Fun With Dick & Jane” (2005) Budget: $100m. Gross: $202m 29% RT
“Funny Games” (2007) Budget: $15m. Gross: $8m. 52% RT
“Gambit” (2012) Budget: $10m. Gross: $10m 17% RT
“Get Carter” (2000) Budget: $63.6m. Gross: $19m 12% RT
“The Gambler” (2014) Budget: $25m. Gross: $39m 46% RT
“Godzilla” (2014) Budget: $160m. Gross: $529m 74% RT
“Halloween” (2007) Budget: $15m. Gross: $80m 25% RT
“The Heartbreak Kid” (2007) Budget: $60m. Gross: $127m 29% RT
“The Hills Have Eyes” Budget: $15m. Gross: $69m 49% RT
“The Hitcher” (2007) Budget: $10m. Gross: $25m 21% RT
“I Am Legend” (2007) Budget: $150m. Gross: $585m 70% RT
“The In-Laws” (2003) Budget: $40m. Gross: $26m 34% RT
“Insomnia” (2002) Budget: $46m. Gross: $113m 92% RT
“The Invasion” (2007) Budget: $80m. Gross: $40m 19% RT
“The Italian Job” (2003) Budget: $60m. Gross: $176m 73% RT
“The Jungle Book” (2016) Budget: $175m. Gross: $936m 94% RT
“The Karate Kid” (2010) Budget: $40m. Gross: $359m 66% RT
“King Kong” (2005) Budget: $200m. Gross: $550m 84% RT
“The Ladykillers” (2005) Budget: $35m. Gross: $76m 55% RT
“Let Me In” (2010) Budget: $20m. Gross: $24m 88% RT
“The Longest Yard” (2005) Budget: $82m Gross: $190m 31% RT
“The Manchurian Candidate” (2004) Budget: $80m. Gross: $96m 81% RT
“Meet Joe Black” (1998) Budget: $90m. Gross: $142m 51% RT
“The Mechanic” (2011) Budget: $40m. Gross: $62m 53% RT
“Mirrors” (2011) Budget: $35m. Gross: $77m 14%
“Mr Deeds” (2002) Budget: $50m. Gross: $171m 22% RT
“My Bloody Valentine” (2009) Budget: $125m. Gross: $100m 57% RT
“The Next Three Days” (2010) Budget: $30m. Gross: $67m 52% RT
“A Nightmare On Elm Street” (2010) Budget: $35m. Gross: $115m 15% RT
“No Reservations” (2007) Budget: $28m. Gross: $92m 42% RT
“Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) Budget: $85m. Gross: $450m 82% RT
“The Omen” (2006) Budget: $25m Gross: $119m. 27% RT
“Oldboy” (2013) Budget: $30m. Gross: $5m 41% RT
“Point Break” (2015) Budget: $105m. Gross: $133m 9% RT
“Poltergeist” (2015) Budget: $35m. Gross: $95m 31% RT
“Poseidon” (2006) Budget: $160m. Gross: $181m 33% RT
“The Producers” (2005) Budget: $45m. Gross: $38m 50% RT
“Psycho” (1998) Budget: $60m. Gross: $37m 37% RT
“Pulse” (2006) Budget: $20.5m. Gross: $30m 10% RT
“Pusher” (2012) Budget: $2m. Gross: $200k 50% RT
“Quarantine” (2008) Budget: $12m. Gross: $41m 58% RT
“Red Dawn” (2012) Budget: $65m. Gross: $44m 13% RT
“Red Dragon” (2002) Budget: $78m. Gross: $209m 69% RT
“The Ring” (2002) Budget: $48m. Gross: $249m 72% RT
“Robin Hood” (2010) Budget: $200m. Gross: $321m 43% RT
“Robocop” (2014) Budget: $100m. Gross: $242m 49% RT
“Rollerball” (2002) Budget: $70m. Gross: $25m 3% RT
“School For Scoundrels” (2006) Budget: $35m. Gross: $23m 25% RT
“The Secret In Their Eyes” (2015) Budget: $19.5m. Gross: $32m 39% RT
“The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty” (2014) Budget: $90m. Gross: $188m 59% RT
“The Shaggy Dog” (2006) Budget: $50m. Gross: $87m 26% RT
“Shall We Dance” (2004) Budget: $50m. Gross: $170m 46% RT
“Shutter” (2007) Budget: $8m. Gross: $47m 7% RT
“Solaris” (2002) Budget: $47m. Gross: $30m 66% RT
“The Stepford Wives” (2004) Budget: $90m. Gross: $102m 26% RT
“Straw Dogs” (2011) Budget: $25m. Gross: $10m 40% RT
“Swept Away” (2002) Budget: $10m. Gross: $600k 5% RT
“Sweet November” (2001) Budget: $40m. Gross: $65m 16% RT
“The Taking Of Pelham 123” (2009) Budget: $100m. Gross: $150m 51% RT
“13 Ghosts” (2001) Budget: $42m. Gross: $68m 13% RT
“The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999) Budget: $48m. Gross: $124m 70% RT
“The Time Machine” (2002) Budget: $80m. Gross: $123m 29% RT
“Total Recall” (2012) Budget: $125m. Gross: $198m 30% RT
“The Tourist” (2010) Budget: $100m. Gross: $278m 20% RT
“The Truth About Charlie” (2002) Budget: $29m. Gross: $7m 33% RT
“Unfaithful” (2002) Budget: $50m. Gross: $119m 49% RT
“Vanilla Sky” (2002) Budget: $68m. Gross: $203m 42% RT
“Walking Tall” (2004) Budget: $46m. Gross: $57m 26% RT
“War Of The Worlds” (2005) Budget: $132m. Gross: $591m 74% RT
“When A Stranger Calls” (2006) Budget: $15m. Gross: $66m 9% RT
“The Wicker Man” (2006) Budget: $40m. Gross: $38m 15% RT
“Wicker Park” (2004) Budget: $30m. Gross: $21m 25% RT
“Willard” (2003) Budget: $20m. Gross: $8m 64% RT
“The Wolfman” (2010) Budget: $150m. Gross: $139m 34% RT
“The Women” (2008) Budget: $16m. Gross: $50m 13% RT
“Yours Mine & Ours” (2005) Budget: $45m. Gross: $72m 44% RT
