Piranha 3D and Other Movie Remakes, Sequels and Adaptations

The campy horror-comedy Piranha 3D has been making headlines lately, most recently because of a scathing letter sent by the film's producer Mark Canton to director James Cameron. The film, a remake of the 1978 film Piranha, got me thinking about remakes, sequels, and adaptations--three things that movie studios love because they're safe financial choices.

Interestingly, the film industry is largely "recession-proof," maintaining high profits even in the midst of the worst economic times. Christmas weekend of 2009 saw the highest total box office revenue of any weekend in history. While other facets of the leisure industry have suffered badly, the film industry has continued to hold strong. Economists and statisticians theorize that in a recession, people have an especially strong desire for the escapism that movies offer. Also, they theorize, going to the movies is a relatively cheap form of entertainment, a small pleasure that people are willing to pay for even as they make other cutbacks. (When I'm making budget cutbacks, full-priced movie tickets are the first thing to go, but apparently I'm in the minority.)

Despite their good fiscal luck, movie studios are going for especially safe financial choices the last couple of years. Studios are always big fans of playing it safe, as you've probably noticed from the plots of Hollywood movies. That tendency has been especially noticeable lately, though, as studios produce more remakes, sequels, and adaptations. Of the 10 highest-grossing films of 2010 to date, only one, Inception, was originally written. Studios like to remake, sequel and adapt material that already has, essentially, brand recognition. It's much less risky to cash in on something that's already popular-- be it a previous film, comic book, or iPhone app-- than it is to invest in a brand new project. This is bad news for fresh-out-of-film school indie director hopefuls like me :( my friends.

And this trend isn't going away anytime soon. Here are 5 movie remakes, sequels and adaptations that are currently in the works:

1. Tron: Legacy - Disney's 3D sequel to the 1982 Tron opens in December 2010.


2. The Birds - A remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic, the film will star Naomi Watts and open sometime in 2013.


3. The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury's collection of short stories gets a second film adaptation--there was already one made in 1969. This one is directed by Zach Snyder, director of Watchmen and 300, and is rumored to be released in 2013.


4. They Live - This remake of John Carpenter's cult classic is rumored to have a 2011 release date, and not too much else is known about it.


5. Meatballs - A remake of the classic comedy that launched Bill Murray's career, Meatballs is rumored to be released in 2010, but I've heard surprisingly little about it so far.

What do you think of this trend? Are there any movies you want to see remade/sequeled, or any you especially don't want this to happen to?