by Hank Brockett
I look forward to that roast beef sandwich on Italian bread, with a little lettuce and some green peppers. Polish that off with a drink and two chocolate chip cookies and you’ve got something worth looking forward to.
The menu offers up plenty of other options, which I’ve tried. The roast beef routine used to be Meatball Mondays in another locale and another time. Ah, those halcyon days of three-napkin meals ...
There’s no telling how long the good taste will last. But until then, there’s a certain comfort in the routine and familiarity. And that’s why it’s so easy to understand what’s going on in entertainment right now.
The phrase “brand extension” is what the marketing gurus call it, but you probably know it as two parts sequel-itis and one part spin-off syndrome. Entertainment financiers are taking a concept already played out in the retail world (Toys ’R’ Us is good, but a Babies ‘R’ Us and Kids ‘R’ Us would be even better!) and hoping it works in an artistic realm.
Anyone who has seen Halloween: Resurrection knows that isn’t always the best policy.
Horror movies somewhat lead the charge in this movement, although even Freddie Kruger and Jason Voorhies probably have wiped their hands of it at this point. On huge marquees and overwhelming video store shelves, a familiar name receives much more notice than a quirky independent film with a strange name.
However, the practice has extended far beyond slasher flicks (even though the long-awaited Jason vs. Freddie movie should come out soon). The smattering of action, animated and comedic sequels has become a full-blown epidemic.
What’s scary is the risk of stagnation. Sure, Legally Blonder sounds like a can’t-miss proposition, and you might own a copy of Men in Black II or American Pie 2 or Austin Powers 2 or Rush Hour 2 or ...
The list is quite lengthy, and isn’t likely to shorten any time soon. The new Harry Potter film rings up dollar signs in executives’ eyes like a winning slot machine, and the first Lord of the Rings film paid for the costs of the entire trilogy. In other words, The Two Towers ticket you buy ends up as pure movie profit after the theater’s share.
But the marketing required to make any movie besides My Big Fat Greek Wedding a success just doesn’t happen for the smaller, one-off, character-driven dramas. In looking for a hook to sell a wishy-washy audience on, there’s a star actor, but no “built-in audience.”
The latest news is enough to make you forget the success of Back to the Future 2 and The Empire Strikes Back.
NBC, after its TV-movie remake of Brian DePalma’s Carrie drew a good rating on a slow day, is considering a television show following poor Carrie as she deals with her psychotic powers. In author Stephen King’s world, the undead would be too distraught to roll over in, let alone get out of, their graves.
In another news item, shock jock and former newsmaker Howard Stern announced his intention to remake such ’80s teen comedy classics as Rock and Roll High School and Porky’s.
Never mind that the “built-in audience” that first saw those movies is now nearing 40 and blushing at American Pie jokes. These flailing attempts to connect with past work reek of desperation, and become more commerce than creation.
I mean, before you know it, someone’s going to go so far as a shot-by-shot remake of the classics, like Psycho ...
Oops, tried to forget about that one.
Lost in this rush for the past (with accomplices in retrospective television specials and “where are they now” updates) is the lack of popular cultural benchmarks for future remakes. If college kids in the late 1960s identified with The Graduate and Easy Rider while the next classes quoted the Godfather trilogy verbatim, what does today’s youth call theirs? The Fast and the Furious?
Actually, the Corleone saga shows us the difference between a run to the bank and continuing a saga. With characters so rich and so ripe, the audience cared about where they headed, and there were twists to make it worth their while. And in many ways, you can’t imagine the story ending after the first film. That’s a marked contrast from those lethal box office weapons that say, “He’s back, and he’s crazier than ever! And remember her? She’s causing trouble ... again!”
Beyond the Home Alone retreads and head-scratchers like the upcoming Tomb Raider 2 (What outfit will Angelina Jolie wear next?), there are works created today that speak to all generations. In all likelihood, they’ll probably never make the money back from the first movie, let alone start a franchise. In a week, they come and go from the theaters and head straight for DVD-prep. It’s up to you to seek these out, and start the “You should check out ...” campaigns. The Hollywood types are too busy ransacking the oldies to notice.
And what of this lost generation? Hope still springs eternal beneath the blaise, as long as you shop around. The old saying that “familiarity breeds contempt” hasn’t lost its luster just yet.
If it’s remade into the tagline for The Fast and the Furious 2, though, that’s something to lose your lunch over.