When we pundits and critics wring our hands about the death of original cinema, we are frankly talking mostly about the big-budget tent-poles and/or genre films that are released by major studios. In truth, there are plenty of films that qualify as original that are released year-round. We obsess on the remakes and reboots because they generally fall in the film-nerd-friendly genres that we obsess over.
But there are plenty of original films out there for those who want to obsess on more than just the comic book adaptations, the animated films, and the sci-fi and horror genres. Of the 98 films coming out between September and December (according to this week’s Entertainment Weekly ‘Fall Movie Preview’), only eighteen would theoretically qualify as a sequel, a remake, franchise revamp, or spin-off of a known property. They are -
In September, we have just the re-release of The Lion King in 3D, plus the Rod Lurie remake of Straw Dogs. In October, we have a Footloose remake, a prequel to The Thing, Paranormal Activity 3, a 3D-revamp of The Three Musketeers, and Johnny English Reborn. As we get into the holiday season, November brings us the Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots, A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas, Happy Feet Two, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part I, The Muppets, and Piranha 3DD. Finally, December brings us New Year’s Eve (technically a spin-off to last year’s Valentine’s Day), Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, David Fincher’s remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Assuming I didn’t miss anything, that’s one re-release, one prequel, two spin-offs, two franchise revamps, three remakes, and nine sequels. That gives us just 18% of the film releases during the last third of the year that don’t qualify as at least somewhat original (by which we mean either completely original or adapted from a book, a play, or some other medium).
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