Nicole Melia

Introduction- A remake is a film that has been filmed or recorded again. The film tends to have similar characters and narrative. Paragraph 1 – There are so many ways why a company would remake a film, the main reason would be the profit, but profit is only made if the film is successful, before they make the re-make they have to think whether the first film was successful enough for their target audience to want to watch it again. Production companies in the 21st century now have more money to spend on the studio, actors and technology than back in the 1960’s. Comparing the financial determinants, funding bodies, quotas and tax incentives, all of these have increased therefore the more money they now have the better quality they film is going to look and be. If they know the film is going to be a huge Hollywood Blockbuster, it’s obvious that they will make a huge profit whether this is through the use of synergy, stars or even distribution and exhibition of the film. The technology has advanced majorly therefore the better the films quality is, we now have so many ways we can watch a certain film whether it being 3D, 4D, motion capture, the use of green screens and HD cameras. The actors look better, the settings are clearer and realistic and so the remake would be a better quality than something that was made 60 years ago. A few examples of this is King Kong, the original film was realised in 1933, then remade in 1976 and then again in 2005.

(1933)

(1976)

Nicole Melia

(2005)As you can see as the years have gone on the quality of the film have got more realistic, clearer and of a better quality. They have gone from black and white film that made a profit of $650,000 to a high quality, blockbuster film that made a profit of $550.5 million dollars. You can see the more advanced the film is, the more people are going to want to watch it. In the 1933 King Kong looks like a painted, cartoon character in comparison to 2005, it looks realistic and extremely detailed. Another film that was improved by the use of technology is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Every Oompa Loompa within the film was a different person where as in Charlie and the Chocolate factory remade in 2005, the Oompa Loompa was the same man throughout the film and was computer generated to make him several of him.

(1971)

(2005)

Nicole Melia

This just shows how the technologies over the years have improved. The Exhibition throughout the years have improved and got bigger and better, A film that was made in the 1950’s would have been realised and shown in the cinema most likely in black and white, people didn’t have TV’s and internet so they couldn’t just watch a film at home. Now in 2016 we have 3D, 4D, IMAX, Phone and Internet. This is also a way that a remake will have a wider target audience; they can watch the film anywhere and don’t have to pay to go to the cinema to watch it. Then thinking about the distribution, the marketing of films are now how the remakes are promoted, in the 70’s they had posters and film trailers just like today but we can watch them trailers anywhere, pop ups on the internet and on your phone, promotions on social media, viral marketing campaigns and tie-ins. The more popular the genre of the film is the more money the film company will make, Superhero films are usually the most popular genre as it attracts a wide target audience, men, women, children and teens. Whereas musicals and western films aren’t that popular therefore they wouldn’t tend to remake this type of music because it wouldn’t make them that much money. Certain genres, cycles and trends tend to change when a film becomes more popular, for example if musicals we’re to become the most popular genre in 2016 they could remake, Grease (1978), Hairspray (2007) or The Sound of Music (1965). In the 90’s-2000 the trend was handheld camera films and in the 2000’s Japanese’s films were a huge trend and this is why REC (2010) was remade. A main part of any film is the actors. By using more established stars in a film you are guaranteed to get a wider target audience for example using a famous actor such as Will Smith will get the film a wider audience as he is an extremely famous actor who appeals to all ages. He has been in Fresh Prince of Belair (1990), Focus (2015), I Am Legend (2007), Hitch (2005) and Men in Black (1997). Because of all of his fantastic films he has been in over the last few years people know his films are usually funny, exiting and popular. This will then encourage people to watch any film that he is in because they know they like his work. The production company know the better the stars, the wider audience they will attract which means more money they will make. In some films there are current topics in today’s society that wouldn’t have been around when the first film was remade. Today a huge social and political issue is terrorism whereas 30 years ago they wouldn’t have made this a story line because it wasn’t something that was as important as it is now. Stephen Spielberg said if it wasn’t for 9/11 he would have never of made ‘War of The Worlds’. 30 years ago you wouldn’t have gay or lesbian characters because it was looked down upon, or anything to do with transgender in comparison to 2016 we have celebrity’s in the public eye who are part of the LGBT community, such as Bruce Jenner who Is now known as Katlyn Jenner. Censorship laws have now changed, looking back on Clockwork Orange (1971), this was known as an extremely violent film and got withdrawn but looking back at it now the violence isn’t anything compare to some films that have been realised in the last few years. As years have gone by regulatory issues have changed, in 1740 the thought of a gay or lesbian man or women kissing on screen would have been shocking, now it is a natural thing to see. In the 70’s sex was banned on screens in comparison to now we see it as a natural matter and as long as the certificate is 15-18 no one comments on this. The profit of the film is the only reason films makers want to remake popular films, they know they can make so much money out of making a bigger and better film. Nowadays you can promote a film in so many different ways and one being the use of synergy.

Nicole Melia

They can sell a film by using tie-ins, McDonald’s toys and special offers, merchandise and the cinema. For example when they remade Star wars in 2015 they had so many tie ins one being with Tesco where they has their own section with Star wars Lego that people could build, a treasure hunt around the shop to find the missing letters to give you clues to the new movie and people dressed as the characters, They brought out Pyjama’s, Shoes, Clothing, Games, Pens, Toasters, Toys and even had a tie in with Pringles. Another main thing that a production company can think of is vertical and horizontal integration. Being part of what conglomerate all depends on what synergy they use. An example of this is Disney. Disney bought the rights to everything Marvel so now Disney are in control of Marvel and make the money off the magazines, toys and other merchandise they sell. Paragraph 2 –The batman films have been shown to be so popular with their audience; in the first film Batman: the movie (1966) it made a profit of $1,378,000 in comparison to Batman vs Superman Dawn of Justice (2016) it made a budget of $250 million. Warner’s Brothers are a very wealthy distribution film company and know how popular Batman is; this is why they keep making remakes as they know their profit will keep increasing. As they work with DC Comics and use vertical and horizontal integration they also will make a larger profit because of this. Superhero is a popular and successful genre and franchise that had a target audience for a male audience but of all ages and appeals to a very wide range of people from children, teens and adults. It is so easy to keep remaking Batman films as the narrative and the characters already exist therefore its less money for them to make this as they already have their ideas, and as they already have a readymade audience they don’t have to spend as much money on the distribution of the film. If you compare the first batman to the newest released Batman you can see the huge difference.

(1966)

(2015)

Nicole Melia

You can see the huge difference within the style, effects and picture. As the years have progressed the better the technology has improved and now we have CGI and 3D. This again makes the film even more exiting to go and view at home or at the cinema because you don’t know what to expect. The current trend is the superhero genre, so remaking a superhero film that is known by so many people will influence more people to go and watch it. In Batman v superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) they use starts such as Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, well-known actors; this is another way that Warner Brothers get a wider target audience by using main characters that are already established in the film industry. In 2016 there are thousands of more cinemas than there was in 1966, therefore there is a bigger audience to watch the film, not just this but the 2016 batman had so much merchandise such as clothing, costumes, figures, cups, key rings, activity books and caps. This also helped towards the $250 million profit. Paragraph 3- The first War of the Worlds was released in 1953 by Byron Haskin and then was remade in 2005 by Steven Spielberg. Within them years the political subtext changed in 1953 it was all based around the aliens invading America and the society’s fear of the Cold war. Where as in 2005 it was all about the fear of terrorism of 9/11 and America feeling vulnerable. Steven actually stated that if it wasn’t for 9/11 he wouldn’t have remade War of the Worlds. But both political subtexts relate to the fear of society. The first film made a profit of £2,999,945 in comparison to the 2005 remake which made a profit of £407,125,563. In the first film the stars were Gene Barry, Ann Robinson and Les Tremayne where as in 2005 the starts were Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto and Justin Chatwin which would have appealed to the target audience as these were huge actors at the time that the remake was re-released. Obviously within the years the technology had improved immensely in 1953 it was created with computer generated imagery and a small use of visual effects and special effects where as the remake was all computer generated imagery with a high usage of visual

effects and special effects. (1953)

(2005)

Nicole Melia

As you can see the 2005 remake looks so much more realistic and clear in comparison to the original version.Paragraph 4-The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was originally released in 1974 and then remade in 2003. Both films were created by different directors the 1974 version was directed by Tobe Hooper where as the 2003 version was directed by Marcus Nispel, Both distribution company’s were also different, 1974 the distributer was Bryanston Pictures where as 2003 was New Line Cinema, Focus Features and 20th Century Fox. At first The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was refused a certificate and was told that the tone of the film was too much and you could only view the film in London. In 1974 it was told that it was to be cut but 16 years later in 1990 it was re released and rated an 18 certificate. Back in the 70’s their was different views and opinions to what are aloud now an X certificate back in them days would most likely be a 15 or 18 now. Both newer released remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released uncut and rated an 18. This makes us question whether our society is more violent in this day an age. The political subtext of the film changed completely, the original was banned due to its ‘abnormal psychology’ which the BBFC thought was un-acceptable. Where as the remake in 2006 did have concerns with the BBFC about how it may disturb and influence a specific young audience as it contained a prominent of bad language and bloody violence. How ever it was still uncut and classed as an 18 certificate. Paragraph 5- The Ring (1998) also know as ‘Ringu’ was originally a Japanese horror film, this was actually one of the most successful foreign films so they decided to create an English remake as they knew it would be extremely popular and they would make a huge profit. The first film made a profit of £6,068,840 where as the remake made a profit of £171,670,572. Company’s like DreamWorks’s realised that they would make a bigger profit with more opportunities for synergy. As they had a huge budget in the 2002 film they used a huge actress, Naomi Watts, this again would have been a big influence why someone would want to watch the film. At one point there was a trend to remake Japanese horror films, some of the films that were remade were The Grudge (2004), Dark Water (2005), and Pulse (2006). All of these films were made into Hollywood English versions.