Just in case they haven't F-ed up Indiana Jones enough...

 

Nearly as good of an idea as aliens!

Bizarro Fletch wrote: 

Nearly as good of an idea as aliens!

He's better than Shia LaBeouf, but that's like saying you're better off with the clap instead of gonorrhea.

It's really surprising that no one in Hollywood (or beyond) can come up with an original thought anymore.

Idris elba should be Indy

Izzo Court wrote:

He's better than Shia LaBeouf, but that's like saying you're better off with the clap instead of gonorrhea.

Was Bieber unavailable?

xsanguine wrote:It's really surprising that no one in Hollywood (or beyond) can come up with an original thought anymore.

Eh. TV is pretty good right now if you stay away from certain channels.

They're ruining my childhood!

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Eh. TV is pretty good right now if you stay away from certain channels.

That's a great point.

They should never make another Star Wars or Indiana Jones again.

xsanguine wrote:It's really surprising that no one in Hollywood (or beyond) can come up with an original thought anymore.

I disagree completely. I think Hollywood definitely CAN come up with an original thought, but the challenge is getting enough moviegoers to go watch it. Blame the moviegoers, not just in the US, but abroad.

Guarantee that a new Indiana Jones movie, however bastardized it may be, will make more money than 10 other moderately successful original movie ideas combined. Rehashing old movies are a very low-risk high reward prospect. Sure some bomb, but the chances of re-makes and sequels doing well is much greater.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Eh. TV is pretty good right now if you stay away from certain channels.

This is true. TV is pretty freakin great now a days. I don't recall any point in my life I could rattle off 3-4 series I absolutely dig... but I could now.

steveschneider wrote:They should never make another Star Wars or Indiana Jones again.

I guess I'm enough of a sucker that I hope Star Wars in the right hands (read: Not George Lucas') can be awesome. 90% chance I'll be disappointed in the results, but Abrams' casting and general philosophy of returning the series to its roots is somewhat promising...

MiamiSpartan wrote:
I disagree completely.  I think Hollywood definitely CAN come up with an original thought, but the challenge is getting enough moviegoers to go watch it.  Blame the moviegoers, not just in the US, but abroad.

Guarantee that a new Indiana Jones movie, however bastardized it may be, will make more money than 10 other moderately successful original movie ideas combined.  Rehashing old movies are a very low-risk high reward prospect.  Sure some bomb, but the chances of re-makes and sequels doing well is much greater.

I think if the idea is good enough, though... people will see it and enjoy it.

But I agree with you regarding them taking the easy ticket. The one poster made the great point about TV... there's a lot of original, creative stuff coming out of that format right now. A great, complex television series make many films coming out today unsatisfying.

AvgMSUJoe wrote:

This is true. TV is pretty freakin great now a days. I don't recall any point in my life I could rattle off 3-4 series I absolutely dig... but I could now.

This. This is definitely the historical high point for TV, at least in terms of dramas.  Even shows that we thought were good in the 80s or 90s look downright silly when watched today, and not just because the clothes are out of style.  The plots, writing and acting is vastly superior today.  Try sitting through an entire Miami Vice - my favorite show back in the 80s - today without laughing when you're not supposed to.

IMHO, TV is producing better material than movies because a station can take a flyer on a pilot or even a full season of a show and not be out that much money.  Plus, several channels specifically market big concept, out of the box series as their MO (HBO, AMC, etc.).  Movie execs just can't afford to take chances any more because of the money on the line (in addition to their jobs). They know they are pumping out raw sewage, but as long as it has a built-in audience (X Men 7! Indiana Jones 5! Batman 12!) they can count on to make cash, they'll pick that over a risky project every day of the week.

Bizarro Fletch wrote:

I guess I'm enough of a sucker that I hope Star Wars in the right hands (read: Not George Lucas') can be awesome.  90% chance I'll be disappointed in the results, but Abrams' casting and general philosophy of returning the series to its roots is somewhat promising...

He said the same crap about Star Trek and he completely f'd it up.

steveschneider wrote:

He said the same crap about Star Trek and he completely f'd it up.

Into Darkness was great.

Izzo Court wrote:

He's better than Shia LaBeouf, but that's like saying you're better off with the clap instead of gonorrhea.

As a person, Shya LaBoof is a tool, but I actually thought his self deprecating acting style might work as Indy junior in the right hands.

xsanguine wrote:

I think if the idea is good enough, though... people will see it and enjoy it.

But I agree with you regarding them taking the easy ticket. The one poster made the great point about TV... there's a lot of original, creative stuff coming out of that format right now. A great, complex television series make many films coming out today unsatisfying.

Of course, a studio are the ones that need to buy into any good idea before viewers will ever have the chance. And there are good, original ideas that come up and turn into mega-hits (Avatar, for example), so you're right that people will go see a good enough idea. But I wonder how many great movies and great ideas never get made because something else is more of a sure thing. Does the original Star Wars ever get made in 2014? Probably not.

I agree about TV, as well. There is a lot of great stuff out there, and the current landscape really encourages creative, edgy, stuff. The financial risk on TV is much lower, because they don't have to put all of the promotion behind it that movies do. And much of the promotion they do give shows is effectively free (promoting it on their own network and sister networks). And, perhaps most of all, you don't need more than a couple of million viewers for it to succeed, while also making millions on advertising within the shows (or subscriptions for premium channels). The way that so many edgy, non-mainstream shows can become big hits makes it almost a bigger financial risk to pass on a show.

MiamiSpartan wrote:
Of course, a studio are the ones that need to buy into any good idea before viewers will ever have the chance.  And there are good, original ideas that come up and turn into mega-hits (Avatar, for example), so you're right that people will go see a good enough idea.  But I wonder how many great movies and great ideas never get made because something else is more of a sure thing.  Does the original Star Wars ever get made in 2014?  Probably not.  

I agree about TV, as well.  There is a lot of great stuff out there, and the current landscape really encourages creative, edgy, stuff.  The financial risk on TV is much lower, because they don't have to put all of the promotion behind it that movies do.  And much of the promotion they do give shows is effectively free (promoting it on their own network and sister networks).  And, perhaps most of all, you don't need more than a couple of million viewers for it to succeed, while also making millions on advertising within the shows (or subscriptions for premium channels).  The way that so many edgy, non-mainstream shows can become big hits makes it almost a bigger financial risk to pass on a show.  

In general, the only people that can afford to make and mass produce truly original movies are directors with so much clout the studios will make whatever they want. I hated Avatar, but it got made because Cameron has the big dick to swing around Hollywood after Titanic, T2, etc.

One of my favorite movies of the last ten years was Inception. That flick doesn't get made if Nolan didn't earn the juice with Batman.

There are plenty of great, original smaller movies that get made, but studios generally won't pay to properly promote and distribute them if they don't feature a super hero.

I think the next step is to reboot Spiderman again and debut it in the SAME year as the current reboot concludes, or even have multiple reboots running concurrently!

On a serious note, I think that the guy currently running Disney, Bob Iger, is on top of it. He recognized that the global public will turn out in droves to watch sequels from established source material, so they bought Marvel and Star Wars. I don't think Disney could loose money now even if they put that moron Eisner back in charge.

I bet that Peter Jackson wishes he would've made each Lord of the Rings book into its own trilogy, but then again, he can just reboot it and make it so, lol.