IS ORIGINALITY A THING OF THE PAST IN HOLLYWOOD?
Tue, May 8, 2007
With the overwhelming success of Spider-Man 3 and this truly being the summer of sequels, some fear originality is becoming a thing of the past in Hollywood. Patrick Goldstein of the L.A. Times points to next year’s Indiana Jones 4 as proof that even some of our most beloved directors are passing up original content for been-there done-that material that is safe and practically guarantees box-office success. ”Hollywood makes sequels for one good reason: They make money,” writes Goldstein. ”The biggest summer hits of the last three years were all sequels. After its record-setting weekend, Sony Pictures chief Michael Lynton boasted to the BBC that the Spider-Man series may continue ad infinitum, saying. ’Everybody has every intention of making a fourth, a fifth and a sixth and on and on.’ Geez, is that a promise or a threat?”
Goldstein spoke with sequel heavy director Brett Ratner, who, in addition to this summer’s Rush Hour 3 also directed the third installment in the X-Men series as well as Red Dragon, a prequel to Silence of the Lambs. ”I know that [Steven] Soderbergh’s great film isn’t going to be one of the Ocean’s sequels,” says Ratner. ”But I don’t feel like I’m slumming. If Ridley Scott could do a sequel [Hannibal] to a movie that won an Oscar for best picture and hold his head up high, then why couldn’t I? You have to make the film feel fresh and keep the audience’s expectations satisfied, all at the same time. Trust me, it isn’t easy.”
As for Indiana Jones 4, Dreamworks co-chairman Stacey Snider insists the reason Spielberg decided to direct a fourth Indiana Jones film was based on the strength of David Koepp’s script. ”It was the best script we saw all year - by far,” says Snider. ”To me, it’s not so much a sequel as an affectionate reprise of a beloved character and his story. It has much more in common with the feeling you had when the Star Wars movies were coming back than what you feel about a lot of sequels, which is, ‘How do I wring one more dollar out of the franchise?’ “
Goldstein notes that one other possible reason for Spielberg’s decision is his ability to understand audience tastes and their desire to regain the feeling they had when they first saw Raiders of the Lost Ark over twenty-five years ago. ”If there is anything that Spielberg understands, it’s what audiences want,” writes Goldstein. ”And people today have made it clear that when it comes to pop culture, they have a craving for comfort food.”
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