What's with what seems like all the remakes / revivals recently?

[BlackLurker]

Maybe I'm just crazy, you tell me.

My Little Pony (Yes, it's getting mentioned. If only because I'm creeped out that it's the first thing I could think of)
Garfield
The Smurfs
The Muppets (Oh God Yes)
Green Lantern
ThunderCats
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Duke Nukem Forever (Dear God Why?)
Marvel vs Capcom 3
Dragon Ball Z Kai (Eh, the Abridged did a better job)
Captain America
Epic Mickey
Sonic Generations
The Looney Tunes Show (Again, Dear God Why?)
The Avengers
Mortal Kombat
edited in:
Apparently all of the DC Cast (suddenly equiped with pants instead of underwear, again, Dear God Why?)
The Chipmunks (I kinda like it)
Final Destination (DEAR LORD, JUST STAY DEAD)
Red Riding Hood (although I may have only imagined hearing that rumor)
Winnie the Pooh
Haunted Mansion (if it's as scary as the ride, I'm not even approaching any theatre hosting it)
Romeo and Juliet (I don't think this one has gnomes in it)
G.I.Joe (really?)

and probably several others that I've forgotten (or blocked out for the sake of my mental health).

I know a couple of these are old news. But still, am I crazy for all of these, or is anyone else noticing this?

 

[staika]

I guess the idea bucket is empty in a lot of places but what better way to make money then the nostalgia factor and that's probably why your seeing so many remakes.

 

[BlackLurker]

I'm just trying to make sure I'm not going crazy paranoid over here seeing everything zombied back to life.

 

[Mark D. Stroyer]

This has always been the case, it's nothing new. It's something that's been happening since...well, when hasn't it, really? Even Shakespeare adapts a lot of thing off of much older material, such as the Greek background for Romeo & Juliet.

The only reason it seems to be 'more lately' is because we're recognizing things coming around again that were out the first time when we were younger.

People like betting on winners.

 

[ZiggyE]

Probably a good time to point out that Persona 4 Portable was announced today

 

[brunothepig]

Many of your examples weren't really remakes, they were the properties first transition to film. Green Lantern, Avengers, G.I. Joe, Captain America. If there were film versions before now, I've never heard of them. DNF was a sequel that took too long. Original properties are out there too, people just focus on the remakes because there's already a fan-base, so more people know of it, so more hear of it etc. And there's always those people crying for originality at the sight of every announcement of an old property being re-made or even adapted.

Personally, I have no problem with it. As I said, it's not all remakes. There's also the fact that with the internet, one can find out in seconds if this new film coming out is a remake of one 4 decades old or whatever. And why not? It'll have far better effects, there's a whole new audience it didn't reach because the film was before their time, or they can't watch it now because the effects just make them giggle. Remaking films released in the same decade, may be going a bit too far, but that doesn't happen all that often.

 

[Mastercylinder]

Recognizable names means built in audience.

Built in audience means guaranteed "butts in seats" and as long as that opening weekend does well . . . MONEY!

And nostalgia . . . I guess . . .

In it's defense: some things we have brought back are actually pretty good simply because they bring something new to the table

Examples: The new ThunderCats (seriously, check it out)
Tron: Legacy did some very cool new things
Mortal Kombat just made itself into a more enjoyable experience as a game.

Most everything else . . . can go die. Immediately.

I wouldn't necessarily count Epic Mickey (I thought it was great because they understood Disney has such a weird and varied history with forgotten gems and used this to craft some great ideas. It didn't really remake anything, it just looked at the big picture.)

Oh and the new Muppet movie looks awesome. (Yes, I said it. Look who's making it. Check out the pics of 80's Robot [the newest Muppet] Understand where they are coming from.)

 

[chaosyoshimage]

Nostalgia, and the whole out of ideas thing. I wouldn't really count some of these either. G.I. Joe has had a ton of different cartoons over the years. As have The Looney Tunes and Winnie the Pooh.

Sonic Generations is an anniversary thing. Actually, that's another good point, people like to do things for properties anniversaries. Dragon Ball Kai, is a half-assed product of this.

Donkey Kong Country Returns? Yet again, tons of Donkey Kong games over the years and Nintendo rehashes their properties all the time.

Do film adaptations of Captain America, Green Lantern, and The Avengers really count as revivals.

I could probably come up with lame excuses for the rest, but wevs...