Does Hollywood have no imagination?

June 18, 2008

I know that it may seem that I’m on a big rant as I’m moving out of SoCal, but honestly this has been brewing (and talked about with various people) for some time – I just haven’t had anything to point to and say “there!”.

A really cool article in the NYT a week or so ago detailed some “additions” that an architect did to a client’s apartment in New York without telling them.  I won’t go into detail because it’s a fascinating read and it will spoil the story.  However, just today I saw that JJ Abrams wants to make a movie based on that article.

Is it me, or does Hollywood have no original ideas left in them?  Sure, it’s an interesting story, but as the Gawker post says, it’s been done before.  McG tried to bring one of my favorite TV shows back in the UK over to the US (in what I heard was a a word-for-word remake) without even consulting with the originators/cast – that went so well a fan revolt eventually canceled the show at the pilot.

It’s not even a few people.  Lots of films recently seem to me to be either remakes, bad sequels, or TV shows adapted for the big screen (how the hell is The A-Team getting remade!).

I thought that Hollywood was the land of the creative geniuses?  What has happened to all the interesting, engaging films and TV series (ok, I’m a big fan of BSG, but that is so different and original vs the 1980’s series I’m not lumping it in with all the others).  There’s a lot of talent out there, so why isn’t it being used?  Is it because the studios just don’t want to take the risk(s) any more and just go for the “safe” option with “established” brands? (how did that work out for you Knight Rider?).  All my favorite shows seem to get canceled very quickly, so how is one supposed to “invest” in a program – looks like I’m just going to have to wait for the DVD’s to appear on NetFlix.

Ideas anyone?

Posted in Uncategorized