Summary
Be honest with yourself: can you even remember a time before live-action remakes were ruling the box office? Sure, it wasn’tallthat long ago, but it feels like moviegoers have been inundated with remake after remake after remake for eons now. Even though these films seem to be little more than soul-sucking, creatively bankrupt cash-grabs frombillion-dollar conglomerates, people keep on going to see them in theaters.Although many seem to be tiring of endless superhero films and have genuine sequel fatigue, live-action remakes seem to have some kind of magic sauce that keeps them from dying off.
You’d be forgiven for assuming that the trend was waning earlier this year with Disney’sSnow Whiteremake, after numerous behind-the-scenes faux pas,crashed and burned at the worldwide box office. After all, on a reported budget of over $240 million, the film barely brought in over $200 million and was unceremoniously and quietly thrown on Disney+ last week with a whimper.Snow White’s abysmal box office performance caused Disney to suspend production on aTangledremake back in April. Alas, the remake machine keeps on turning as two of the biggest movies of the year (Lilo & StitchandHow to Train Your Dragon) have reminded studios that they can just keep remaking movies that don’t even need remakes to bring in more money.
So, How Did The Live-Action Remake Trend Get Started Anyway?
Way back on Christmas Day in 1994, Disney released their first-ever live-action remake:Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.Starring Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, Lena Headey, Sam Neill, and John Cleese, this film deviated heavily from both the books it is based on andthe 1967 animated Disney film many people know and love. The animals don’t talk, there are no songs, and it had a relatively small budget of $30 million. It came and went without much fuss, did well enough at the box office, and is fondly remembered by ’90s kids who saw it upon release.
Two years later, things kicked up a notch with101 Dalmatians.With more than double the budget ofThe Jungle Book, an A-list star in Glenn Close, and a screenplay by none other than John Hughes,101 Dalmatiansproved to be one of the biggest films of the year, grossing over $320 million worldwide. We’re off to the races now, right? Wrong.102 Dalmatianscame four years later, earned awful reviews, and struggled to bring in over $180 million despite a higher budget of around $85 million. It would take Disney a decade to dip back into the remake well, but it would really go for it.
Tim Burton returned to Disneyafter years away from the company to helm 2010’sAlice in Wonderland.Having Burton in charge with his odd aesthetic, in addition to a celebrity cast featuring Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, and Helena Bonham Carter, fueledAlice in Wonderlandto over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, kickstarting Disney into the remake business for good.Films likeMaleficent,Cinderella, andBeauty and the Beastfollowed, easily bringing the Mouse House a solid return on their investment almost every single time.
The One-Two Punch OfLilo & StitchAndHow to Train Your DragonProves Audiences Still Want Remakes
Although 2002’s originalLilo & Stitchfilm has had an enduring popularity over the past two decades, it’s not like it was a runaway success at the box office. Sure, it earned a healthy $273 million at the worldwide box office and was nominated for an Academy Award, but it was kind of the odd duckling of the Disney family. Granted, that plays into the film’s whole message, but it was never going to be the first choice for a live-action remake.Alas, Disney has kind of gone through the majority of remake-ready films in their backlog, and they felt it was time to giveLilo & Stitchthe remake treatment. So far, they’ve beenrewarded with over $850 million at the box officefor their trouble.
Until this year, DreamWorks hadn’t gotten into the live-action remake game, but you can be sure they’re going to be a major player in it from now on.How to Train Your Dragon, a live-action remake of the 2010 animated film of the same name, set a franchise record at the box office this past weekend, proving to every studio in Hollywood that this remake game isn’t something that only applies to Disney.AHow to Train Your Dragonremake sequel is currently in production, set to release in 2027.
Thanks To Disney, Plenty Of Other Live-Action Remakes Are On The Way As Well
Seeing as Disney has released 21 live-action remakes since 2010 (22 if you countPete’s Dragon), did you really think they’d be stopping anytime soon?The original animatedMoanafilm isn’t even ten years old yet, and its live-action remake is set to release in July of next year. A remake of 1970’sThe Aristocatsis currently in development with Questlove attached to direct, and the Russo brothers are teaming with Guy Ritchie fora remake of 1997’sHercules. A remake ofBambiwas announced back in 2020 but has subsequently lost its director, and it’s unclear if Disney will be moving forward with that particular, harrowing project that would be sure to scar a whole new generation of children.
Now that DreamWorks has proven that the live-action remake train can stop and let other studios aboard, will we be getting even more down the line? What’s to stop Warner Bros. from remakingThe Iron GiantorThe Polar Express? What’s stopping Sony from creating live-action remakes ofCloudy with a Chance of MeatballsorHotel Transylvania? Will Disney ever push into remaking Pixar films in live action?Where does the chaos end?Live-action remakes seem to be a function of the Hollywood ecosystem now, and we’re all just doomed to consume them until the well dries up.What a world we live in.
