GWL 5

A remake is a re-instalment of a film usually from a film franchise. Remakes are usually created, in order to make changes from the original film. The changes can be anything from cast, editing, effects and storylines. Remakes usually have the same main characters and story, with twists to the storyline. They are created in order for producers to get money by making changes which will broaden the audience.

There a variety of reasons in which remakes are made. One of the influences for remakes to be created is the financial aspect of the production. Production companies and studios have more funding to spend on films in recent times than they had in the 50’s and 60’s. King Kong ( Merian C. Cooper 1933) was remade with a bigger budget, King Kong( Peter Jackson 2005) which meant advanced technology was used. Technology of production has been advanced in recent years with features such as CGI, Green Screens, 3D, 4D, Motion Capture and HD. These features help create a better film because the audiences will enjoy watching the film with these features in them. Recent remakes such as The Terminator Genisys (Alan Taylor 2015), Star Wars The Force Awakens (2015 J.J.Abrams), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton 2005), have been remade with new technology which has made them more successful. 

Film Companies also create remakes because of recent trends in the film industry. They base their films on recent popular genres of films because they know this is how they are going to make their money. Popular trends and genres nowadays are superhero films. Film franchises such as Batman and Superman have been remade over the years, and still continue to be popular.

The stars of the films are an important aspect of the films popularity. Directors use popular stars in order to attract a larger audience for the film, when creating remakes. Remakes such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton 2005 ) used a popular star to play the main character. The popular star at the time was Johnny Depp, which is what drew a bigger audience, and made the money at the box office.

 Some films are made based on social and political issues in the news. Films such as World Trade Center (Oliver Stone 2006) and War of the Worlds (Bryan Haskin 2006) are based on events that took place around the world at that time.

Over the years censorship rules have changed. Back in the 70’s and 80’s the rules were a lot stricter especially regarding horror films, because of the gore and violence. Films such as A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick 1971) had strict censorship rules and had been withdrawn from cinema by the director because of the violence featured in that film. The film had been blamed for influencing people to go out and attack homeless people because of one the scenes featured in the film. Another film which had strict censorship rules was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre( Tobe Hooper 1974), which because of the themes of cannibalism and gruesome torture and murder scenes, which had to be cut a number of times in order for the censorship rules to be followed.  After this the film was released for showings in London with the rating X with no cuts made to the film.

When creating remakes different companies will get involved to try and promote the film. This is known as synergy which means different large companies will have an involvement with the promotion of the films and the amount of money a product makes. Warner Bros is a large company which produces films and TV shows. Warner Bros is known for working with distributors such as Paramount and DreamWorks. Warner Bros have bought the rights to companies such as Marvel which means they own all the Marvel products such as the Avengers. The Avengers has been made into a film franchise but also has a variety of different products released which is linked to the film in order for the companies to make more money.

A company that has created a product and has been the main company involved in the distribution, exhibition and production, this is known as Vertical Integration. Vertical integration is a good way in which companies  don't have to spend money, by having other companies involved in creating the product.

Unlike vertical integration, horizontal integration means that a company has other companies involved in creating a product. This means that the company is expanding it self in order for the company to make more money. The companies Sony and Disney have horizontal integration, as they both create a variety of products based on one product, in order to expand their sales.

The batman film franchise, has been a big success over the years, from when it first started in 1966. It has been remade over the years because of this success and also because of the new technologies which are available. They have also been remade because now production companies have more money to spend than what they use to. A remake of the batman films such as Batman (Tim Burton 1989) used stars in the film such as Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton in order to attract a bigger audience because they were popular stars in the 80’s. The Dark Knight( Christopher Nolan 2008) also used stars such as Heath Ledger and Christian Bale in order to attract a bigger audience. The superhero film genre has recently become a trend in which almost every year a new superhero film is made because of how popular and successful they are.

War of the Worlds is a 1953 film based on world was 2. The film was later remade by Steven Spielberg in 2005. He remade the film in order to use more technology which made the film look better and more realistic, as well as using popular stars such as Tom Cruise in his film to broaden the audience. Both films are based around events that happened around the time of their release .with Steven Spielberg quoting that if 9/11 didn't happen he wouldn't of created the film. Both films are about social and political issues that happened around the time of their release.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an iconic horror film created in 1974 which was directed by Tobe Hooper. When it was first released there were a lot of regulatory issues with the BBFC, this led to it being banned in a number of countries. There was a lot of gore and violence in the film which led to complications with the film getting an 18 certificate. The film was the released with a rating X for showings in London. The film was remade in 2003 and was directed by Marcus Nispel. It was remade to tell the story of the original film , without a lot more violence and gore featured in the remake. In today’s society people have become more desensitized towards gore and violence which is why the BBFC rules are more lenient, and aren’t as strict as they were in 1974.

The Ring ( Gore Verbinski 2002) is a remake of the original Japanese horror film Ringu ( Hideo Nakata 2000). The film was adapted into an English version in order for the audience of the film to be bigger. The film was originally an alternative Japanese film, which was later turned into a Hollywood blockbuster horror film. With the English language being the most well-known language universally, this made the audience much bigger which made the film more successful. By this film being remade and released as an American version this started a trend for Hollywood producers to remake iconic Japanese horror films. Japanese films such as The Grudge, Dark Water, Pulse and One missed call , then started being released because of the success that the Ring had. The film also featured a big star at the time to feature as the main character in the film. By using starlet Naomi Watts, this also attracted a bigger audience because her fans would be drawn to watch the film.

One the main reasons why remakes are created is for the financial determinates. Trends and cycles are also another reason in which remakes are created with popular trends such as superhero films being constantly made because distributors and producers know that this is a good way for them to make money. With the rules of gore, violence and blood being more lenient than what they used to be, more violence and gore are being featured in remakes, especially horror film remakes. New technology has been developed over the years, with features such as CGI, which is being used in most of the films released in recent times. This is another reason remakes are being made because of how much money production companies now have to spend on films, and the technology they have available which make the films more attractive to the audience.