Hollywood seems to be running out of ideas, or perhaps the big studios are becoming more averse to taking risks on unproven formulas.
More than half of the big movies for 2025 are based on established movie franchises. So far in 2024, 11 out of the 15 top firms listed by Box Office Mojo are sequels or reboots.
They include Deadpool and Wolverine, Despicable Me 4, Dune Part 2, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Twisters.
Then there are movies from the Alien, Ghostbusters, Godzilla, Kung Fu Panda, Planet of the Apes and Bad Boys franchises.
Next year’s list includes familiar names like Toy Story, Jurassic Park and Dirty Dancing.
CNBC in the United States reported on the weekend that between 50 percent and 70 percent of movies from the six major Hollywood studies next year would be based on existing intellectual property.
According to the report, the trend is driven simply by ticket sales. Consumers are gravitating to characters and genres they know.
The same has been seen on television streaming services where brands like Frasier and Karate Kid are enjoying new life after many decades.
In his book You Are What You Watch, Walt Hickey argues that reboots are simply more reliable than original films.
“The top priority of most producers is not to make a lot of money, but rather not to lose a lot of money,” he says.
“Nobody ever got fired for making a modest bet on a beloved franchise, but many people have gotten fired for making a modest bet on an unknown script with big potential. The incentive is risk aversion, not profit seeking.”
Hickey says the average original film has made 2.8 times its budget at the global box office since 1980.
“But the average sequel has made back 4.2 times its budget at the global box office since 1980,” he says.
“Sequels based on original concepts did even better, earning back 4.7 times their budgets at the global box office.”
