The "Boycott Remakes" Movement

#BoycottRemakes.  What does that mean?  I’ll explain later.

Okay, we all know the ever growing trend going on in Hollywood right now where almost half the movies being green lit are remakes or reboots.  Both terms refer to the same thing, where a stories made previously on film are being filmed again.  I love the labels these remakes get from the studios—obviously they see how tiring this is, hearing movie after movie is getting the remake treatment.  So, besides being called remakes or reboots, we hear terms like “reimagining” or “redux.”  It doesn’t matter how you slice it, as long as the prefix “re” is in the word, they’re all do-overs.

Let’s face it, the only reason studios are doing this is for the money.  It’s a guaranteed cash-grab because we, the audience, will go see the movie no matter how upset we are over the fact that it’s a remake.

But why is that?  Why do we go see the movie if we hate the idea a movie we loved from not-too-long-ago gets the reboot designation?  Why don’t we make a statement and refuse to see it?  Why?

Curiosity.  That’s the reason, pure and simple, it’s curiosity.

The biggest disappointment I’ve heard regarding remakes is when, in 2010 or 2011, I heard Spider-Man was going to be remade.  Spider-Man!  The film that was finally made in 2002 after years of court litigations for some studio to get the rights—which Sony Pictures was the winner—and garnered great admiration with three successful films under Sam Raimi’s direction gets the reboot route after a mere ten years!  You’re kidding me!

Boy, was I fit to be tied!  I was horrified!  I had sworn, at the time, that I would NOT watch that reboot!  How dare Sony start over after ten years and three successful (yes, even the third one) films!

But guess what?  Even though I waited a few weeks, I finally found myself in the movie theater watching that crap.  I’d even seen it in iMax in 3D!  Why???

Curiosity.

Now we’re a few months away from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  And guess what?  After watching the few trailers for this film…I’m intrigued.  The first one (of the reboot) was crap, changed up the costume to every fan boy’s disappointment and had this lifelong Spider-Man comic book fan take umbrage to the stupidity they permeated into that superhero’s myth, so why would I go see the sequel?

Curiosity.

Curiosity is why I watched the Rob Zombie Halloween remakes, why I watched Fright Night, Total Recall, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc…and it’s why I’ll continue to see any upcoming remake.  It’s just pure curiosity.

So, as I had a conversation with a co-worker the other day, discussing the news about the confirmed cast for the Fantastic Four reboot, I came up with a solution to make our collective voices heard.

How can we satisfy our inquisitiveness for these repeats of films yet make our voices heard in our protest of this method of filmmaking?

Boycott them!

I propose to you all: The Boycott Remakes Movement!

It’s simple and will actually help out other lesser-known films of your choosing.  What you do—and what I’ve been doing—is when these remakes are released, I usually wait a week or so to see them and take a drive to the local movie house.  I walk up to the ticket window, pay to see another movie in their establishment, but walk into the theater that’s showing the remake in question.

Of course, this works best if the movie is playing at a multiplex and if they’re pretty casual about the entrance to the screening.  That’s why I wait at least a week, when the hype for the movie has died down a little and the ticket-taker is not being as vigilant as to who’s coming and going.

Now, I’m not sure if this will get me into any trouble for trying to spread this, but I feel it’s worth it to see if we can stop this trend.  Let’s face it, the movie studios don’t care about us and what kind of entertainment we get…they only care about making money.  To them, we’re idiots buying into this remake garbage as they laugh all the way to the bank.

Think of the good this will do, as the movies you do pay for will get the imbursement they deserve, especially if it’s an original story from an independent film company.

So, from now on, when I see a post on Facebook or Twitter regarding a remake, reboot, redux, reimagining, etc., I will repost with the link to this blog editorial, hashtagging #BoycottRemakes, and let social media do its thing.  Hell, even if it’s something I see online, I’ll share it the same way as well.

So…who’s with me?