In a world of remakes, sequels and franchises, we look to the rare originals out there, breaking through.
There has been so many remakes in recent years as well as sequels and franchises consisting of numerous films that feels as if there is barely any room out there for the original things to break through. I was reading this week about 'Us' and 'The Farewell' which have been two original films that broke through to the top ten US box office while the rest of the films were the usual, more of the same films. The fact that there was only two to be named was rather disheartening despite knowing full well that cinema has been in a time of turmoil of years. This isn't a dig at streaming services, as that is a whole other issue to be discussed on another post. But the steady decline of cinema attendance cannot all be blamed upon the fact that there are other ways to watch films. In my opinion, as someone who goes quite frequently to the cinema, the decline of cinema audiences is due to the cost of tickets and the lack of originality.
The cost of a cinema ticket is insane. When I was a teenager it was £5 to see a film or approximately that much, compares to now where its three times that. The fact that cinema is so expensive does put many people off. Sometimes a film is judged on whether its worth the trip and waiting for the DVD release or worse, for it become available on a streaming service seems to be the choice more and more. I know there are some people out there who illegally download films - honestly just don't as this does affect the industry, those annyoing adverts are right. Its a never endiny circle of saying its too expensive but then downloading a terrible copy of the film 'for free' just adds to the cinemas charging more money. Aside from the cost, cinema is lacking and has been ever since we entered the age of the superhero film, now a genre in its own right. I'd like to point out that I do like superhero films and I do watch and like Marvel/Disney films but they are dominating the cinema screen space.
Original stories are craved but are rarely given and when original films are given a fanfare, they are hailed by critics but audiences simply do not care. The the average audience member will see the latest blockbuster/studio offering and that's about it. Adaptations are used as a safe bet, with a built in audience who may be interested in seeing that book they read made into a film BUT even this sometimes frustrating to watch as the same books are adapted with little to no difference from the versions before. Adaptations fall between original and remake and are loved or hated, anything in between and you'd be lying to yourself.
As cinema continues to decline, the way of the world as it keeps going, there may not be any cinemas to go to anymore bit I doubt this will be for a long time, there is still hope it will become a niche things to do so there will be a market for films. As for stories and how original they are, there isn't a clear cut answer except maybe shaming the studios into realising smaller more intimate films matter. But as the whole industry runs on money, it'll be far interesting to see how this plays out when there isn't enough money to make an films.