This weekend marks the start of the summer blockbuster movie season. It's the time of year when anyone over the age of 30 rarely steps foot into a movie theater. Mature audiences follow the advice of "see you in September" when more serious, adult-themed movies return to the big screen.
"Marketing redux" is running rampant in today's market climate. Brands are reluctant to change. If the formula is tried and true, why change it? Nowhere is this more apparent than in the motion picture business. A quick glimpse through a list of the summer movie line-up turns up nothing but sequels and remakes, week after week. It is late June, a full eight weeks into the blockbuster season (didn't that used to start on Memorial Day weekend?), before you find an opening Friday without the dreaded sequel or remake.
Risk is out in Hollywood. The trend is to bet on the sure thing. Creative be damned. Give audiences something they liked before and hope they'll like it again. After all, Hollywood has shareholders to look after and profits to realize. Story tellers are out. Risk aversion is the new paradigm.
Iron Man 2 kicks off the blockbuster season today. Robert Downey Jr. is back as the cool and smart superhero. How do you make it better - bring on more villains and mayhem? Mickey Rourke is cast as Whiplash (wasn't that a character on Masters of the Universe?), a Russian Iron Man.
The next week brings us Robin Hood - another reincarnation that features the Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe teaming. If it worked in Gladiator and L.A. Confidential, it will work again is the theory. It has to be better than Robin Hood - Men in Pants.
The green guy from the swamp is back on May 21 in Shrek Forever After It is a whole new generation of fans for Shrek, Fiona and Donkey as the franchise is closing in on 10 years. It's in the magical 3D format. Shrek is a franchise for Universal that keeps on giving. Why not milk it for all it is worth? The story premise of Shrek the Ogre being sucked into an alternative reality after making an unwise bargain with Rumplestiltskin seems forced. Dream sequences never work. It's the easy way out. It doesn't measure up to the creative brilliance established in the previous Shrek iterations. This is the fourth Shrek movie - too much of a good thing. Time for the Ogre to take some time off.
Sex and the City 2 opens on Memorial Day. Carrie and company try to replicate the smash hit of a few years ago. The trailer with the girls romping around the desert doesn't look promising. When the trailer doesn't pique that 'gotta see it' feeling, you know problems are lurking.
Remakes rule June. Marmaduke jumps from the funny pages to the big screen in CGI with Owen Wilson as the voice-over. Marmaduke really isn't very funny in papers; what makes studio executives think this will be a hit? Don't they know that no one under 20 reads the paper - the very audience that will make or break this effort? Does anyone care about Marmaduke?
The 80's TV Cult hit The A-Team is next up on the weekend of June 11th. They're making this a serious movie, not campy like the show. Bad mistake, although the casting of Liam Neeson as Hannibal Smith is brilliant. No matter who you cast, Mr. T is the only B.A. Baracas. This has got flop written all over it.
The very same weekend, the Karate Kid remake is being released. Time for everyone to visit the dojo! It stars Jackie Chan as the lovable maintenance man and master arts performer, Mr. Miyagi. He is now known as Mr. Han. Jaden Smith - son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith - plays the Ralph Maccio character. How could you possibly capture the same magic and emotion of the original? To be a hit, this is going to need some serious polish - wax on and wax off.
Rounding out the month of June, Buzz ("I come in peace") and Woody are back in Toy Story 3. Can you believe it has been 15 years since the original? A sequel every five years makes sense. Write a great script, show character development and appeal to all audiences. The premise - the owner of the Toy Story gang of toys is now grown up (just like the original Toy Story fans of the 90's) and giving the toys away to undisciplined kids at a day care. You can only imagine the mayhem possibilities. Can you say "blockbuster"?
Which formula, either sequel or remake, leads to box office success is anyone's guess? Movies, like any form of entertainment, need a story as a foundation. A connection to the characters/actors is a must. Movies are escapism at the very core. It just seems as though there is a rampant lack of creativity in today's movie industry. The formulaic approach is great for profits but bad for moviegoers in the long run. After awhile, the same old is just that - the same old. There is a very inherent risk of falling into the 'been there and done that' mentality. Sticking with a tried and true formula offers as much risk as reward. Here's hoping for something surprising this summer.
There seems like a lot of "New Coke" movie offerings this summer. That is, taking a twist on existing formulas and hoping the consumer will like it. Coca-Cola found that wasn't the case and Hollywood will probably find more losers than winners in their efforts to re-formulate some existing TV and movie franchises.
To infinity and beyond for box office receipts may be a stretch come Labor Day.