It is a well documented fact that cinema has grown repetitive. Nearly every recent film can be tied to an existing property. Modern films are routinely reboots, sequels, and adaptations that showcase no true original thought or ideas. Even these adapted ideas often share striking similarities with one another, which often leads to lackluster endings and performances. Gritty and live action reboots have become the keystone features of modern Hollywood productions. The sole reason for this trend is that such films are profitable and will likely continue to be for many years to come.

Reboots have been the name of the Hollywood game in the past few years. In 2016 and 2017, of the top grossing twenty-five films, seventeen were sequels, reboots, adaptations, and combinations of the three. Of the remaining eight, two were not produced in the United States. That leaves only six original productions that managed to become one of the top grossing films of the year. Of the top five films, only one- Zootopia– was a new concept to the public.

How did this happen? The answer is simple: Christopher Nolan singlehandedly changed cinema. Following numerous failed Batman films, Nolan decided to try something new. With his 2005 film, Batman Begins, Nolan began a craze that most modern moviegoers have become very familiar with: the gritty reboot. He focused on the darker aspects of the superhero, Batman. He neglected to include the over-excited sidekick, Robin and omitted the goofy one-liners that came with the previous films. His Batman was stronger, more ruthless, and less welcoming. Nolan’s Gotham City was a crime-ridden dystopia, riddled with corruption and senseless cruelty. Batman, at the center of conflict in the city, was left scrambling for ways to solve the city’s problems, while always being one step behind Nolan’s complex villains. It felt realistic. It felt modern. Audiences flocked to experience a film that told it like it was in a dark and gritty world.

Batman Begins, while not earning a tremendous amount in the box office, gave way to another, even grittier Batman film. The Dark Knight, a direct sequel to Nolan’s first Batman film, nearly tripled the worldwide income of it’s predecessor. Hollywood began to notice just how interested audiences were in the noir-style films that Nolan specialized in. Gritty became the signature style of Hollywood. The Batman films were followed by a gritty Star Trek reboot, a gritty Captain America film, and the dystopian Hunger Games series. The days of the gritty reboot had come.

But gritty reboots are not the only modern cinematic craze. Kicked off in 2010 by Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland remake and encouraged by the 2014 film Maleficent, animation companies discovered yet another tool by which to maximize profits: the live action reboot. Without having to conceive a new idea and spend months tailoring a story around it, Disney and other animation companies can simply reshoot an old film and proclaim it as a new property. The Jungle Book, one of Disney’s recent adaptations, was the fifth highest grossing movie in 2016, earning $966.6 million in the box office. Beauty and the Beast, a 2017 film, earned over one- billion dollars. Pete’s Dragon, while considered unsuccessful, still managed to gross over $140 million. These films have served as a message to Hollywood that, so long as a film is recognizable, it will do well in the box office. With such success, why should Disney craft new products? It is far easier to simply remake old products and earn the same gross income for less work.

Now, this is not to say that sequels, adaptations, and reboots are wrong. If done correctly, they can prove to be fantastic pieces of cinema. Many classic Hollywood movies were adaptations of older works- Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Bridge on the River Kwai were all adaptations of famous novels. The most profitable movie in history when adjusted for inflation is Gone with the Wind, which was based off of the 1936 novel. These classic movies were all adaptations, and they were all highly successful and well received films. There is nothing inherently wrong with adapting films or producing sequels. After all, no Star Wars fan would have been satisfied, if A New Hope was the only film in the series. In addition, no Disney princesses could ever have existed, had Disney not adapted  older works. The only problem with the modern reboot craze is that reboots and adaptations are practically the only thing that Hollywood has to offer. The content becomes stale. The conflicts become tired. The audience becomes apathetic.

This is not the first time that this sort of trend has appeared, of course. Throughout the history of cinema, there have been cycles of trends that the public and industry seem to be attuned to. In the early days of the industry, Charlie Chaplin’s comedies controlled cinema. As that phase passed, John Wayne’s westerns took control for decades. For a time, noir films were quite popular. Now, in place of those genres, gritty reboots have become the more commonplace commodity. Historically, during each phase, the public slowly began to shift its attention, leaving the films growing less and less profitable. There is no reason to believe that this cycle has come to a stop. It appears that we are simply on one rung of a ladder, and are content to remain there, until something else catches our collective eye.

But the question remains as to how this can be resolved. How will the industry move onto the next rung of the cinematic ladder? What can the American public really do to prevent the staleness of Hollywood? The answer is more simple than one might think: see what you like. If consumers continue to enjoy sequels and adaptations, there is nothing wrong with those mediums. If audiences continue to uphold gritty films as the epitome of cinema, it will remain. There is nothing inherently wrong with this style of cinema. Continue to enjoy it, if it is something that can be enjoyed.

However, if the products are unenjoyable, the solution is simple: do not watch them. Allow the box office numbers to fall. So long as Hollywood continues to profit, nothing will change. If they see their numbers falling, producers will look to other sources to solve the issue. Cinema will only change if the audience does as well. Film studios do not exist to antagonize the public. What the public wants, it shall receive. If the public wants original, non-gritty products, it will get them. Everything in the world of cinema depends on the audience. When audiences turn their attention away from dark films, the industry will follow. It always does.

“2016 WORLDWIDE GROSSES.” Box Office Mojo, Box Office Mojo, 2017, www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2016.

Opam, Kwame. “Ten Years Ago, Batman Begins Kicked off Hollywood’s Gritty Reboot Rut.” The Verge, The Verge, 15 June 2015, www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2015/6/15/8784353/batman-begins-anniversary-gritty-reboot-hollywood-criticism.

Schrodt, Paul. “The 10 Biggest Blockbuster Movies of All Time, and How Much They Raked In.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 28 Sept. 2016, www.businessinsider.com/the-highest-grossing-movies-of-all-time-adjusted-for-inflation-2016-9/#4-et-the-extra-terrestrial-1982-7.