Emma Hoffman ‘16, Arts and Entertainment Staff Writer

In 1990, TriStar Pictures released Total Recall, a typical 80’s action movie laced with camp and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Austrian brogue. The movie’s special effects were revolutionary at the time and today it is regarded as a classic of the science fiction genre. Twenty-two years later, Columbia released a remake with a 21^st century aesthetic. Instead of a romp through space, the update set the film in a dystopian Earth wracked by terrorism and social inequality. 2010’s Total Recall was met by poor reviews and poor box office showings. Surely, after such a mediocre showing, Hollywood would back away from reboots, right?

Wrong. Two years later, 20^th Century Fox remade RoboCop, another 80’s classic, which performed at the same, poor level that Total Recall did.

So why is Hollywood hell-bent on recreating classics if they garner little enthusiasm at home?

The answer is simple: money. Studios feel a sense of security with remakes. The public is familiar with the story and may also have affection for it, guaranteeing that there will be a domestic audience no matter how small it may be. On an international level, reboots have never been more popular. Global audiences, especially in China, have flocked to see remakes clotted with CGI and fighting robots. Transformers: Age of Extinction (technically a reboot) earned $300 million of its billion dollar gross in China alone. The film pandered to a Chinese audience, filming scenes in Hong Kong and casting Chinese superstar Li Bingbing in a supporting role to boost ticket sales. American audiences are beginning to matter less and less to the studios; as long as they can turn a profit through overseas sales, the domestic performance is of little consequence.

Yet it is important to bear in mind that all remakes are not mindless moneymaking schemes. Martin Scorsese’s Academy-Award winner The Departed is a remake of the Hong Kong thriller Internal Affairs. Other successful and critically acclaimed remakes include Scarface, Ocean’s 11, and The Magnificent Seven.

Rumors about a Chris Pratt-led remake of the Indiana Jones franchise have circulated around the Internet, prompting both groans and hopes from die-hard fans and teenage girls. A possible Kristen Wiig-led Ghostbuster has captured the imagination of moviegoers; but, inevitably, one begins to wonder whether Hollywood has any new stories to tell.