Hollywood losing creativity?

Someone on another forum I post at pointed this out to me, and it's really interesting, but pretty much all of this summers blockbusters are prequels/sequels/trilogies/remakes. There is really nothing HUGE coming out that is new. I mean just look at this list of blockbusters coming out from April-August.

American Reunion
The Avengers
Prometheus
Men In Black 3
This is Forty
Madagascar 3
Star Trek 2
The Amazing Spiderman
Ice Age: Continental Drift
The Dark Knight Rises
Total Recall
G.I. Joe 2
The Bourne Legacy
The Expendables 2

The only ones not on that list that I would really care to see that aren't one of the aforementioned sequels or whatnot are Southern Rivals, I Hate You Dad, and Neighborhood Watch, which are all comedies. Go figure. What is your take on this and do you expect next summer to be better or do you think the trend will continue? Is Hollywood losing its creativity?

The majority of those films are going to make boatloads of money for the studios releasing them, so the point is moot. Hollywood doesn't really care about being creative anymore, its all about the cash. Besides, there has to be a decided lack of creativity in blockbuster films now because they don't want to exclude any potential audience members because of a fear of them "not getting it". Granted Inception was an exception to this rule, but its been the only relatively unique blockbuster in awhile. Perhaps you're confusing the term "creative" with "unique" though, because I can certainly see several of those films being creative while not being necessarily unique.

As far as the future goes, the trend will certainly progress. Basically every idea has been done before, so its hard to ask them to do new things. However, there will still be certain cases where films come along that satisfy your desire for creativity. In fact, John Carter and The Hunger Games are two such films coming sooner than you think.

Hollywood hasn't really had a period of great creativity since the 1970s, when you had a period of where directors had a great deal of power and many were allowed to be auteurs. That all changed with the advent of the blockbuster and the disaster of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate. The producer is the one with the most power now, followed by the studio. There are a limited number of director's who have the kind of pull and power to do almost any project they want.

Yet despite this, there continues to be really good, artistic, and original films put out every year by Hollywood.

Hollywood has certainly become risk adverse. But its not new. Sequels and remakes are pretty easy sells because there is some type of history there. Some degree of build-in fanbase. That is not likely to change.

There are still few people with creativity in hollywood as it has been mentioned by Papa remakes and sequels are easier to sell and that is what hollywood is looking for an easy sell. Unfortunately IMO this trend will continue until new generations loose ties/interest with franchises. What really gets under my skin is when they want to remake classics which I think sometimes is unnecessary, for example there are rumors about remaking The Godfather, there is absolutely no reason for it I saw the films years after their original releases and it still holds up even today. But some people just want money and don't care about telling a story anymore.

There are plenty of good creative films out there you just have to look beyond hollywood,

Originally Posted by The Count

What really gets under my skin is when they want to remake classics which I think sometimes is unnecessary, for example there are rumors about remaking The Godfather, there is absolutely no reason for it I saw the films years after their original releases and it still holds up even today. But some people just want money and don't care about telling a story anymore.

This is my biggest quirk with Hollywood. Actually it isn't a quirk it is a specific 'RAGE' point. When I hear of classics being re-made it literally sends me into a blood boiling rage. As for creativity, just go indy films, hollywood still has a few decent movies a year. Either way you will be wading through **** to find the pearls. Just the way H-wood is in this day in time.

Note: Literally I watch most every movie that hits the box office every week, whether I want to or not, just to critic the quality and compare it to what I thought of the movie pre viewing as opposed to post viewing.

So far this year (2012) I've found one movie that had both a positive light pre and post viewings. Usually in a given year I'll have in between 3-5 movies that hit such a mark, in my mind.

I've learnt that it makes absolutely zero sense to get made when Hollywood remakes a "classic"

No one is forcing you to watch the new version, it doesn't ruin the integrity of the original...in fact you can make it so it does not affect your life in any way, shape or form.

Originally Posted by Suffy

I've learnt that it makes absolutely zero sense to get made when Hollywood remakes a "classic"

No one is forcing you to watch the new version, it doesn't ruin the integrity of the original...in fact you can make it so it does not affect your life in any way, shape or form.

They would advertise it to hell and you wouldn't be able to not hear about it so in a way it does. What makes me mad overall for example is that there are plenty of good books out there that would make great films, but instead we get a remake of a movie or a show that was on tv years ago.

You wouldn't touch up on a Monet painting would you?

Originally Posted by The Count

They would advertise it to hell and you wouldn't be able to not hear about it so in a way it does. What makes me mad overall for example is that there are plenty of good books out there that would make great films, but instead we get a remake of a movie or a show that was on tv years ago.

You wouldn't touch up on a Monet painting would you?

Not a particular valid comparison... Unless they are filming the new version over the original and making that original unavailable... And while it can be tough to escape ads, PVR technology now means that you can watch a show or event at your leisure and skip commercials if you choose.

Originally Posted by Big Papa

Not a particular valid comparison... Unless they are filming the new version over the original and making that original unavailable... And while it can be tough to escape ads, PVR technology now means that you can watch a show or event at your leisure and skip commercials if you choose.

Also, to be fair, its not like every film that's remade was a Monet to begin with. Leave it to the master himself, Alfred Hitchcock, to sum this up with his thoughts on his remake of his own film, The Man Who Knew Too Much....

"“Let’s say that the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional.”