We've always rebooted old film series, but it seems like we've been doing it much more recently. It almost seems like there's a new reboot of something every other week!
Last year, it was "Star Wars" and "Jurassic World." This year, the big ones are "Finding Dory" and "Ghostbusters."
But, why are all of these old series being rereleased or continued now? It's simple: nostalgia sells, and film companies have a new target: '90s' kids.
People born in the '90s are finally old enough to experience (and invest in) all of the nostalgia from their favorite old movies and TV shows. It's almost a brand new market for film companies.
We all love nostalgia, that's almost a given. So it only makes sense that we love seeing our favorite films remade - if they do them right, of course. Film companies need to be extra careful when remaking these movies, because if they screw up, even something as simple as casting, a whole audience could be turned off to the film.
Even if the newer movie is actually better than the old one (production-wise and/or story-wise), we still may favor the older one just because it's the original. We see this happen often.
The companies who own the rights to these films are able to profit off of not only the movies themselves, but merchandising, as well. Remember all of the "Star Wars" merchandise everywhere last year? You couldn't go to a store without seeing something related to the franchise.
You can anticipate a similar effect this year with "Finding Dory" and "Ghostbusters" (on a much lower scale, of course). Not only are they releasing a new version of the '80s classic, but they also rereleased the Hi-C Ecto Cooler drink that was popular after the original movie's release.
It's much easier for companies to reach their desired audiences with social media. The Ecto Cooler is living in the digital age with its own website and Twitter page, targeting the exact audience that remembers the drink.
Even though this effect might not seem like what's happening with the release of sequels like "Finding Dory" and "Jurassic World," it's exactly what's happening.
People have been wanting a sequel to "Finding Nemo" since it came out in 2003. So, why not make them wait? Fans of this movie have been highly anticipating this movie release, so they will be first in line on the day of the premiere. Since it's been nearly 13 years since the original release, the original fans might even have kids of their own who they can introduce to the franchise. That's marketing gold.
Disney has pretty much gotten this technique down. They've announced new releases for other animated classics from the 2000s, like "The Incredibles," "Toy Story" and "Cars."
They've also applied this technique to make some of their classic animated movies live-action, like "The Jungle Book," "Cinderella" and "Alice in Wonderland" (which all performed pretty well at the box office). You can count on seeing more of their classic movies made into live-action films, "Beauty and the Beast" has already been confirmed and it's first trailer has been released.
Other childhood movies you might remember that are getting a reboot are "Jumanji" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas."
Anticipate seeing many of your favorite childhood '80s and '90s movies being remade in the near future.
