Has the movie industry run out of original ideas for movies?

[Hawkee]

I remember when movies used to be very simple and be very original. Like in comedies they used to be very funny and in action movies they had loads of excitement and adventure and horror movies were actually scary. But I have noticed that the movie industry has run out of original ideas for movies and can't figure out why this is a trend in Hollywood today? Take for instance in the recent Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 I noticed that they have very little action scenes in the movie and not much comedy in it and I can't figure out why it was even made. I personally think Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 is not the end of the movie trilogy and they just released it just so they could introduce new characters in it like Adam Warlock and Cosmo the dog and I can bet Marvel is gonna make a spin-off animated cartoon series with Cosmo and Adam Warlock following this movie. I also have noticed this trend with animated movies and even though they are meant for kids and everyone the storylines aren't original. Take for example I have seen previews of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and I personally think it will fail because it simply is just an episode of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series on Nickelodeon and I think Nickelodeon is just making money so they can make a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series from this movie. But i'm surprised that Barbie The Movie is doing well but I think the movie industry needs better improvement to make original movies better so everyone can watch them

[dee2364]

It's not that Hollywood has run out of ideas but that it makes movies primarily for overseas markets, since that's where the money is. Overseas markets have zero tolerance or understanding of American "originality", so Hollywood would rather churn out safe, cookie cutter movies it knows will work in those markets.

Another bigger problem is that Chinese and other foreign national investors basically own Hollywood now, and they literally call the shots on what gets made. They have so much power and influence that the studios have even censored movies to get in their good graces.

[Janice Johnson]

In all honesty, basically every idea a movie can come up with has even been done already to death. The Hunger Games Trilogy/Quadrilogy was an EXTREMELY rare idea(Adolescents being forced to murder each other for a game) and was highly successful . Only about one other movie had Adolescents murdering each other (Battle Royale, and in Battle Royale, some of the Adolescents were forced to kill their FRIENDS. At least in The Hunger Games, most of the Tributes were complete Strangers, so they were being forced to murder people they didn't even know, which is way better than having to kill people you know and like.

[dee2364]

Originally Posted by Janice Johnson

In all honesty, basically every idea a movie can come up with has even been done already to death. The Hunger Games Trilogy/Quadrilogy was an EXTREMELY rare idea(Adolescents being forced to murder each other for a game) and was highly successful.

Hollywood did not come up with that idea. The Hunger Games was based on a series of YA books written by Suzanne Collins, who ripped the idea off from Battle Royale, a Japanese novel, manga and movie that became a cult favorite among American "weebs" (kids who were heavily into Japanese culture) in the early 2000s.

I've heard people defend Collins by saying that it was super obscure and she couldn't have known about it, but Battle Royale was so well known that Tarantino got one of the actresses from the Japanese adaptation to be in the first Kill Bill movie, as an Easter egg to his fans, who were also into Japanese movies. Also, fans of the series had also campaigned to get Tarantino to shoot an American version of Battle Royale.

In any event, because BR became big, one thing thing led to another and that genre (kids killing each other until one is left) became a huge fad and led to more stuff like this coming out of Japan, the most famous one being Gantz.

Suzanne Collins, who'd literally never written anything this remotely dark in her life, suddenly became "inspired" to write this ultra dark, dystopian story about kids being forced to kill each other years after Battle Royale, Tarantino, Gantz. This was also around the time when everyone was basically looking to Japan to readapt mangas and movies (Dark Water, The Ring, etc.) for their projects.

I just had to put this out there, because I've always found this entire saga with THG and BR frustrating. Hunger Games was definitely not a one of a kind novel idea and part of the reason why it did so well is that it tapped into this fad that had been paved by BR.

[ThisLittlePiggy]

How about Steven King's The Running Man (1982) where a man entered a game show and he was hunted by other people. He earns $100. an hour for every hour he stays alive.

[dee2364]

Originally Posted by ThisLittlePiggy

How about Steven King's The Running Man (1982) where a man entered a game show and he was hunted by other people. He earns $100. an hour for every hour he stays alive.

You're right. The idea goes all the way back to Running Man. The author of BR admitted that he was inspired by it. All he did was add this schoolkids twist and throw in the battle royale concept from wrestling.

[ABlairican Pie]

I hope that Hollywood hasn't run out of ideas. I just installed screenwriting software and was about to embark on screenplay ideas when I started thinking, okay, is this idea TOO original, or is it something people can relate to? If it's too orginal, would people not "get" it, while at the same time it can't be too familiar.

There also seems to be the premise that Hollywood relies these days on too many "woke" ideas revolving around "identity politics", which is an accusation leveled at the 'Barbie' movie, but that was a fun little romp through fantasy if you can get past that.

[Dude111]

Its not that Hollywood has run out of ideas but that it people are so dumbed down and brainwashed now they cant act!!

[Chocolate Moose]

kind of