Tags : boondock saints 2, dark knight, indiana jones, Movies, open letter, spider-man, Transformers, transformers 2, watchmen
An Open Letter to the Movie Industry
Dear Movie Industry,
We love you – just to clarify, “we” is most of America and large portions of the world-at-large. But you’re quickly becoming prey to your own scheming and need to be saved before you collapse from the weight of your own self-indulgence.
We’re here for you.
Over your history, you’ve produced alot of good, quality movies of all types, genres, and styles. Recently, however, you’ve become more interested in print-to-film adaptations, sequels, and reboots than true originality or creativity – just look at the recent list of sequels announced: Boondock Saints II, Spider-Man 4, Transformers 3, and Indiana Jones 5. This may ultimately be your downfall.
Don’t get us wrong, we love some of your sequels. And we love the movies you’re making sequels of – Transformers 2 may not have had the approval of the critics, but us fans seemed to love it. The problem is when you assume that the financial success of certain types of movies (like action, scifi, or thrillers) means there not only should be a sequel, but that we somehow demand one and will support it through the end.
This inevitably results in disasters like Spider-Man 3, where the series concept takes a turn for the worse and throws dirt on its own good name. The “they just don’t live up to their predecessors or expectations” label can applied to many sequels, like The Matrix movies – although they were still pretty awesome.
Between your sequel-happy trigger-fingers and the fact that only a few months can go by before yet another comicbook is announced as being adapted into a film, it would seem that you have lost your stride. Yes, District 9 came out recently, but guess what? You didn’t support the script, and Peter Jackson had to step in to help raise independent financing – good move. Gamer was an original script, sure, but it also wasn’t the best movie you’ve ever produced. Going down the release roster for the last few years doesn’t produce too many original or creative gems of genius either.
It’s time for you to bring back the creativity. The Matrix, Star Wars, The Boondock Saints, and the rest of your biggest successes (both financially and those with cult status) have typically been original works of creation, not adaptations – The Dark Knight is an outlier, as The Watchmen so deftly proved. Choosing a screenplay for production, or even an idea, should be based on its actual strengths and weaknesses, rather than whether it’s associated with previously successful movies, toy franchises, or highly successful graphic novels.
Don’t stop the sequels and adaptations, though – just make sure they’re warranted.
Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.
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