Hollywood seems to be trapped in a cycle of reboots, remakes, sequels, spin-offs, and adapting every semi-identifiable brand on the planet. While we might be more open to something that's familiar, the industry might be sacrificing originality and quality storytelling just to make content quickly and expand their brands. But is the IP problem as simple as it seems? Or is there more going on with this reboot obsession?
Stories have been recycled all throughout history and with the advent of new technologies, we've gone from oral traditions to written manuscripts, to theatrical performance, and then to the screen itself, and even that has evolved from simple moving pictures to works with sound, music, color, and insane effects. But these days it seems that when studios are reusing and repurposing existing properties, it isn't exactly to show off the latest tech in filmmaking.
Mattel's Nostalgia Bait Tactic
After the big success of "Barbie," Mattel is turning 45 of their brands into movies and shows, such as Polly Pocket, UNO, and even Fisher Price. While it's not the worst idea to expand their vast collection of IP into various pieces of content that reach wider demographics, some of these adaptation idea raise a few questions.
For instance, turning UNO the card game and the random toys of the big Fisher Price brand honestly just seems really strange and more like an easy cash grab. Live-action and more mature versions of Thomas & Friends, Barney, and Hot Wheels is also just odd. Is this nostalgia bait to trick audiences who grew up with these into taking the brands seriously again? Well, it worked with Barbie.
In general, there seems to be this really concerning trend of adultifying kids' content: taking children's properties and turning them into adult movies and shows, usually for shock value or nostalgia (i.e. the ability to draw in paying adult customers). In addition to Mattel's upcoming slate, there have been some more extreme cases, such as the evil Winnie the Pooh Universe or the adultification of Scooby Doo with Velma.
Clearly, this is more about nostalgia and brand recognition than great storytelling. The 2023 Barbie live action did well because of its massive brand name and a marketing campaign geared at all demographics, and it looks like that might be the direction Mattel takes with all of its content from here on out.
Animation and Pixar: Sequels Reign Supreme
The animation world is in serious sequel mode, with Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, and Illumination all working on sequels and even franchising their biggest hits.
Following the limited box office success of Pixar's Luca, Turning Red, and Elemental, Pixar aims to move away from personal stories based on directors' experiences and towards "clear mass appeal," but they're forgetting that the aforementioned films did much better on streaming. Plus, 2017's Coco was a massive box office hit despite also straying significantly from the studio's prior slate, which typically involved talking non-humans (monsters in Monsters Inc, toys in Toy Story, cars in Cars, fish in Finding Nemo, emotions in Inside Out).
Even though Coco was out in the pre-pandemic era, Disney's Encanto was similarly a big hit, but on streaming. Both films combine personal cultural influences and family-based storylines with fantastical elements that appeal to a broad audience. Perhaps the reason Pixar's recent slate of originals (which also includes Onward and Soul) hasn't exactly taken off is because the mass appeal in question isn't very clear.
All of Pixar's most successful non-sequel projects are very clear on what they're about. These posters below showcase just how easy it is to understand what you're getting into without even seeing so much as a trailer, and as shallow as it may seem, these extremely clear concepts are what sells a four-quadrant animation feature to the casual family looking for their next weekend outing.
However, marketing should not be underestimated, as proven by the surprise success of 2024's The Wild Robot. Sure, it helps that the animation work is incredible, but I was seeing trailers for this film every day on YouTube, and it was immediately obvious that this was a movie about a robot in the wild. This concept has the premise and character built into the title and promotional material, unlike fellow DreamWorks venture, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, which doesn't sell itself at all (and isn't the most interesting idea anyway).
Attributing the failure of these films to the wrong reasons will not help these studios in the long run. First, some of the aforementioned films, such as Soul, did considerably well on streaming after being released during the pandemic. Second, the studios need to actually promote their films. Pixar's Elio comes out in June 2025 and yet I wouldn't even know about this film if I hadn't done research specifically for this topic. Contrast that to other 2025 films like Superman: Legacy being teased since 2023 at least.
And third, come up with really interesting concepts. With no marketing effort and a quiet release on streaming, the least these studios can do is create incredibly compelling concepts for their films so people will somehow find out on their own.
The Harry Potter Reboot Won't Work
Warner Bros. is rebooting Harry Potter into a TV show, which is insane considering the movies just ended in 2011. But because it's supposed to be much closer to the books, a lot of people are actually on board, despite author JK Rowling's problematic views.
The studio's first misstep with really utilizing this massive IP was the Fantastic Beasts series, which was incredibly unfocused. Although expanding on the world and politics, as well as the story of young Dumbledore, were all some potential highlights, there was no storytelling craft involved — rather just a clash of random ideas combined with an attempt to appeal to Americans.
There are plenty of other possibilities for Wizarding World-based IP: a young Voldemort TV show, a post-war epilogue about Harry as an Auror, a preschool animation about Harry's kids' generation having magical shenanigans, and even some more large-scale international magic stories.
Doing a reboot focused on retelling the books in a visual medium is not only a waste, but it won't even be good. The movies were an incredible adaptation because they scrapped the book's more boring or convoluted plotlines and created streamlined narratives that focused on characters and themes. A close TV adaptation is wildly unnecessary and would feel incredibly repetitive, with extremely long villain monologues, lots of random day-to-day school stuff, and overly manufactured plotting.
This isn't the only property getting a makeover. Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender just got a live action remake on Netflix, to mixed reviews. The Percy Jackson books also got a new series on Disney+ after years of fans demanding an adaptation that was more accurate than the two films they got, but this show also seems to have mixed reception from fans as some claim the author is using this as an opportunity to rewrite the original series.
This wouldn't necessarily be an issue, but it seems that the purpose of doing this adaptation feels a bit lost. At any rate, the two episodes I saw did stick very closely to what I remember of the books, and that was frankly not a good decision.
The Universe-ification of Everything
Hollywood is literally turning everything into a universe, whether the fans asked for it or not. Wednesday, Stranger Things, One Piece, Wizards of Waverly Place, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, and That 70s Show are just among a few shows that have gotten reboots, remakes, sequels, and spin-offs.
Additionally, there are some massive universes on the rise within TV. Showtime's Dexter now has a limited sequel series, a prequel series, and an actual full sequel series. All this, of course, came at the cost of the original show ever getting a proper wrap-up because the network wanted to drag it out, and now they're doing it again.
Netflix is also turning Squid Game into an entire franchise, including a reality show, slot machines, and even a possible English language remake. It's insane how something that started as a limited series and was, essentially, a fictionalized reality TV show with death, has now turned into all of this.
Then there's HBO's aggressive expansion of Game of Thrones into tons of spin-offs, including the currently airing House of the Dragon, as well as a show based on the author's other stories, and one about Aegon's conquest. Not surprisingly, all these shows involve Targaryens in one way or another, which shows HBO's goal of drawing in audiences at all costs, including the story.
The Truth Behind Superhero Fatigue
A lot of people have remarked about superhero fatigue, growing tired of so much superhero content, particularly when discussing the Marvel Cinematic Universe's never-ending slate of TV shows and movies. Yet people keep tuning in for every superhero project in existence, and so the genre continues to dominate the entertainment landscape.
In particular, many of these projects have started to feel very same-y, recognizable by their "MCU" feel rather than a strong story. This is especially true for the MCU's version of Spider-Man, which doesn't have the novelty of the animated Spider-Verse films (of which I've only seen the first) or the grounded nature of both the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films and the unfinished The Amazing Spider-Man duology.
Though I haven't seen these films in a long time, they still felt like Spider-Man movies, and when the characters were brought back for Spider-Man: No Way Home, it became extremely obvious that the newer Spidey series could not only not stand on its own, but that the older series were infinitely better.
However, it's not all sour on the superhero horizon. Matt Reeves' Batman universe has been hailed as a fresh new take on a tired old hero. At the time of making the above video, I thought I probably wouldn't watch it, but maybe I'll change my mind. (Definitely not watching The Penguin, though.)
Then there's the upcoming Superman film from James Gunn, which features a stellar cast, and the trailer definitely seemed interesting when it came out. In fact, I'm very much looking forward to seeing this in theaters, which I didn't expect as a non-DC fan.
Maybe what's working so well about these reboots is that creators like Reeves and Gunn genuinely love the worlds and characters they're working with, so rather than pumping out new reboots for the sake of money, they're putting their own spin on stories they love.
The Potential of Public Domain
Reboots aren't inherently a problem, and same goes for any work that is derivative of an original source. Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many other writers whose works are in the public domain have had their classic characters and stories brought to life over and over again on the stage and on screen, and this will continue to be a trend for every new public domain work that comes out.
Many creatives have the ability to put on a version of these works that they've grown up with or fallen in love with, and due to the nature of the original story, there's built-in marketing, which allows the work to possibly gain a wider reach than an original story might have. And public domain can lead to all sorts of universes and crossovers beyond the dizziest daydreams of Hollywood's big studios.
A lot of the popular IPs of today will enter into the public domain eventually, and even though we won't be alive to see it, the most original ideas of today will likely end up with ten different versions in the next couple centuries, for better or for worse.
It's All About Story
Whether something's original or based off a pre-existing concept, it's all about story (and marketing). There are so many "original" concepts for horror films, and yet these turn into massive franchises where each sequel is a copy of the original. On the flip side, there are many game-based adaptations that could come off as a cash grab (like the 2023 Mario movie), or could be truly fresh and entertaining.
Same goes for any original property - it all depends on execution. Here are some examples of remakes/reboots that actually improved on the originals:
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953): This incredible film is a sound and color adaptation of a Broadway musical based on a book which was previously adapted as a black and white silent film just 25 years prior. When such an adaptation exists, why do another one? Well, the advent of new technology allowed them to retell the story with fun songs and bold colors - plus they changed the story and that's what really makes this film shine.
Planet of the Apes Trilogy (2010s) : These amazing films took us back in time to show the evolution of a concept introduced to the world many decades ago by crafting the legend of Caesar and showing us how apes came to take over the world. The incredible VFX is just the cherry on top of a fantastically human story.
Mission: Impossible Saga (1996-2025): The short-lived TV show was rebooted into an incredibly iconic action thriller that has since become a massive 8-part saga with loveable characters, incredible action, and very rewatchable stories.
There are also tons of original ideas that are downright awful, like many Netflix original movies. The problem is, Hollywood is focused more on immediate returns with the least amount of effort possible. This sort of thinking might save them money in the short term, but in the long run, they won't have that strong library of favorites that fans will return to over and over again.
If creators really want their movies and shows to stand the test of time instead of riding the nostalgia wave or some momentary hype or trend, the key is to focus on crafting excellent stories, and letting people know they exist. That's how you build an IP that truly lasts forever.