
I’m disappointed. Disappointed and angry. The Karate Kid made $18.8 million on Friday in the US with a weekend estimate of over $50 million now predicted.
I was really hoping that both The Karate Kid and The A-Team would bomb this weekend and it would give Hollywood pause to think about the whole remake business model they’ve been using. Unfortunately, all the hillbilly retards that Hollywood generally caters to went to see The Karate Kid this weekend which means that Hollywood will continue riding the remake train and update/reboot more of my childhood favourites for no good reason. And why wouldn’t they? If all the morons in society gladly spend their money on remakes the studios will be happy to not have to take chances on original films.
Quickly off the top of my head they’ve already remade Halloween, Friday 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Karate Kid, all of which are favourites of mine. But there’s also a whole host of remakes at various stages of development, including:
Fright Night
Overboard
Akira
American Pie
Arthur
Drop Dead Fred
Escape From New York
Flash Gordon
Fletch
Flight of the Navigator
Highlander
Let The Right One In
Sunset Boulevard
I’m all for remaking a film if the original is shit, but none of the films I’ve mentioned are. Except for Overboard. What’s the point of remaking a film when the original is good? It’s a cash grab by studios who are unable or unwilling to develop original projects and the trend is fueled by audiences who are willing to accept remakes. At some point the studios are going to run out of films they can remake and then they’ll be forced to develop original stuff. Why can’t they do that now and save all of us from having limited options when we go to see a movie.
I want new films in the cinema. If I want to watch Halloween I’ll watch the 1978 original. If I want to watch The Karate Kid I’ll watch the original with the awesome Ralph Macchio. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with these films or any of the other ones which are getting the remake treatment. The only way this remake trend will come to an end in the foreseeable future is if audiences don’t go and see them. Hollywood responds to the bottom line. If a certain type of film doesn’t make money then that type of film won’t get made any more.
I urge anyone and everyone to boycott remakes and see something original instead. Go see Winter’s Bone.