1) Companies remake films for profit, as production values and technology have advanced, allowing for higher quality remakes that appeal to wider audiences. 2) Remakes of popular franchises like Batman are low-risk endeavors that build on existing audiences and intellectual property, ensuring financial success. 3) Political and social contexts can impact remakes, like how Steven Spielberg remade War of the Worlds to reflect post-9/11 fears rather than Cold War anxieties of the 1953 original.

1. Nicole Melia
Introduction-
A remake is a film that has been filmed or recorded again. The film tends to have similar
characters and narrative.
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There are so many ways why a company would remake a film, the main reason would be the
profit, but profit is only made if the film is successful, before they make the re-make they
have to think whether the first film was successful enough for their target audience to want
to watch it again. Production companies in the 21st
century now have more money to spend
on the studio, actors and technology than back in the 1960’s. Comparing the financial
determinants, funding bodies, quotas and tax incentives, all of these have increased
therefore the more money they now have the better quality they film is going to look and
be. If they know the film is going to be a huge Hollywood Blockbuster, it’s obvious that they
will make a huge profit whether this is through the use of synergy, stars or even distribution
and exhibition of the film. The technology has advanced majorly therefore the better the
films quality is, we now have so many ways we can watch a certain film whether it being 3D,
4D, motion capture, the use of green screens and HD cameras. The actors look better, the
settings are clearer and realistic and so the remake would be a better quality than something
that was made 60 years ago. A few examples of this is King Kong, the original film was
realised in 1933, then remade in 1976 and then again in 2005.
(1933)
(1976)

2. Nicole Melia
(2005)
As you can see as the years have gone on the quality of the film have got more realistic,
clearer and of a better quality. They have gone from black and white film that made a profit
of $650,000 to a high quality, blockbuster film that made a profit of $550.5 million dollars.
You can see the more advanced the film is, the more people are going to want to watch it. In
the 1933 King Kong looks like a painted, cartoon character in comparison to 2005, it looks
realistic and extremely detailed. Another film that was improved by the use of technology is
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Every Oompa Loompa within the film was a
different person where as in Charlie and the Chocolate factory remade in 2005, the Oompa
Loompa was the same man throughout the film and was computer generated to make him
several of him.
(1971)
(2005)

3. Nicole Melia
This just shows how the technologies over the years have improved. The Exhibition
throughout the years have improved and got bigger and better, A film that was made in the
1950’s would have been realised and shown in the cinema most likely in black and white,
people didn’t have TV’s and internet so they couldn’t just watch a film at home. Now in 2016
we have 3D, 4D, IMAX, Phone and Internet. This is also a way that a remake will have a wider
target audience; they can watch the film anywhere and don’t have to pay to go to the
cinema to watch it. Then thinking about the distribution, the marketing of films are now how
the remakes are promoted, in the 70’s they had posters and film trailers just like today but
we can watch them trailers anywhere, pop ups on the internet and on your phone,
promotions on social media, viral marketing campaigns and tie-ins. The more popular the
genre of the film is the more money the film company will make, Superhero films are usually
the most popular genre as it attracts a wide target audience, men, women, children and
teens. Whereas musicals and western films aren’t that popular therefore they wouldn’t tend
to remake this type of music because it wouldn’t make them that much money. Certain
genres, cycles and trends tend to change when a film becomes more popular, for example if
musicals we’re to become the most popular genre in 2016 they could remake, Grease (1978),
Hairspray (2007) or The Sound of Music (1965). In the 90’s-2000 the trend was handheld
camera films and in the 2000’s Japanese’s films were a huge trend and this is why REC (2010)
was remade. A main part of any film is the actors. By using more established stars in a film
you are guaranteed to get a wider target audience for exampleusing a famous actor such as
Will Smith will get the film a wider audience as he is an extremely famous actor who appeals
to all ages. He has been in Fresh Prince of Belair (1990), Focus (2015), I Am Legend (2007),
Hitch (2005) and Men in Black (1997). Because of all of his fantastic films he has been in over
the last few years people know his films are usually funny, exiting and popular. This will then
encourage people to watch any film that he is in because they know they like his work. The
production company know the better the stars, the wider audience they will attract which
means more money they will make. In some films there are current topics in today’s society
that wouldn’t have been around when the first film was remade. Today a huge social and
political issue is terrorism whereas 30 years ago they wouldn’t have made this a story line
because it wasn’t something that was as important as it is now. Stephen Spielberg said if it
wasn’t for 9/11 he would have never of made ‘War of The Worlds’. 30 years ago you wouldn’t
have gay or lesbian characters because it was looked down upon, or anything to do with
transgender in comparison to 2016 we have celebrity’s in the public eye who are part of the
LGBT community, such as Bruce Jenner who Is now known as Katlyn Jenner. Censorship laws
have now changed, looking back on Clockwork Orange (1971), this was known as an
extremely violent film and got withdrawn but looking back at it now the violence isn’t
anything compare to some films that have been realised in the last few years. As years have
gone by regulatory issues have changed, in 1740 the thought of a gay or lesbian man or
women kissing on screen would have been shocking, now it is a natural thing to see. In the
70’s sex was banned on screens in comparison to now we see it as a natural matter and as
long as the certificate is 15-18 no one comments on this. The profit of the film is the only
reason films makers want to remake popular films, they know they can make so much money
out of making a bigger and better film. Nowadays you can promote a film in so many
different ways and one being the use of synergy. They can sell a film by using tie-ins,

4. Nicole Melia
McDonald’s toys and special offers, merchandise and the cinema. For example when they
remade Star wars in 2015 they had so many tie ins one being with Tesco where they has their
own section with Star wars Lego that people could build, a treasure hunt around the shop to
find the missing letters to give you clues to the new movie and people dressed as the
characters, They brought out Pyjama’s, Shoes, Clothing, Games, Pens, Toasters, Toys and
even had a tie in with Pringles. Another main thing that a production company can think of is
vertical and horizontal integration. Being part of what conglomerateall depends on what
synergy they use. An example of this is Disney. Disney bought the rights to everything
Marvel so now Disney are in control of Marvel and make the money off the magazines, toys
and other merchandise they sell.
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The batman films have been shown to be so popular with their audience; in the first film
Batman: the movie (1966) it made a profit of $1,378,000 in comparison to Batman vs
Superman Dawn of Justice (2016) it made a budget of $250 million. Warner’s Brothers are a
very wealthy distribution film company and know how popular Batman is; this is why they
keep making remakes as they know their profit will keep increasing. As they work with DC
Comics and use vertical and horizontal integration they also will make a larger profit because
of this. Superhero is a popular and successful genre and franchise that had a target audience
for a male audience but of all ages and appeals to a very wide range of people from children,
teens and adults. It is so easy to keep remaking Batman films as the narrative and the
characters already exist therefore its less money for them to make this as they already have
their ideas, and as they already have a readymade audiencethey don’t have to spend as
much money on the distribution of the film. If you compare the first batman to the newest
released Batman you can see the huge difference.
(1966)
(2015)

5. Nicole Melia
You can see the huge difference within the style, effects and picture. As the years have
progressed the better the technology has improved and now we have CGI and 3D. This again
makes the film even more exiting to go and view at home or at the cinema because you
don’t know what to expect. The current trend is the superhero genre, so remaking a
superhero film that is known by so many people will influence more peopleto go and watch
it. In Batman v superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) they use starts such as Henry Cavill and Ben
Affleck, well-known actors; this is another way that Warner Brothers get a wider target
audience by using main characters that are already established in the film industry. In 2016
there are thousands of more cinemas than there was in 1966, therefore there is a bigger
audience to watch the film, not just this but the 2016 batman had so much merchandise
such as clothing, costumes, figures, cups, key rings, activity books and caps. This also helped
towards the $250 million profit.
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The first War of the Worlds was released in 1953 by Byron Haskin and then was remade in
2005 by Steven Spielberg. Within them years the political subtext changed in 1953 it was all
based around the aliens invading America and the society’s fear of the Cold war. Where as in
2005 it was all about the fear of terrorism of 9/11 and America feeling vulnerable. Steven
actually stated that if it wasn’t for 9/11 he wouldn’t have remade War of the Worlds. But
both political subtexts relate to the fear of society. The first film made a profit of £2,999,945
in comparison to the 2005 remake which made a profit of £407,125,563. In the first film the
stars were Gene Barry, Ann Robinson and Les Tremayne where as in 2005 the starts were
Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto and Justin Chatwin which would have appealed
to the target audience as these were huge actors at the time that the remake was re-
released. Obviously within the years the technology had improved immensely in 1953 it was
created with computer generated imagery and a small use of visual effects and special
effects where as the remake was all computer generated imagery with a high usage of visual
effects and special effects. (1953)
(2005)

6. Nicole Melia
As you can see the 2005 remake looks so much more realistic and clear in comparison to the
original version.
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was originally releasedin 1974 and then remade in 2003. Both
films were created by different directors the 1974 version was directed by Tobe Hooper
where as the 2003 version was directed by Marcus Nispel, Both distribution company’s were
also different, 1974 the distributer was Bryanston Pictures where as 2003 was New Line
Cinema, Focus Features and 20th
Century Fox. At first The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was
refused a certificate and was told that the tone of the film was too much and you could only
view the film in London. In 1974 it was told that it was to be cut but 16 years later in 1990 it
was re released and rated an 18 certificate. Back in the 70’s their was different views and
opinions to what are aloud now an X certificate back in them days would most likely be a 15
or 18 now. Both newer released remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released uncut
and rated an 18. This makes us question whether our society is more violent in this day an
age. The political subtext of the film changed completely, the original was banned due to its
‘abnormal psychology’ which the BBFC thought was un-acceptable. Where as the remake in
2006 did have concerns with the BBFC about how it may disturb and influence a specific
young audience as it contained a prominent of bad language and bloody violence. How ever
it was still uncut and classed as an 18 certificate.
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The Ring (1998) also know as ‘Ringu’ was originally a Japanese horror film, this was actually
one of the most successful foreign films so they decided to create an English remake as they
knew it would be extremely popular and they would make a huge profit. The first film made
a profit of £6,068,840 where as the remake made a profit of £171,670,572. Company’s like
DreamWorks’s realised that they would make a bigger profit with more opportunities for
synergy. As they had a huge budget in the 2002 film they used a huge actress, Naomi Watts,
this again would have been a big influence why someone would want to watch the film. At
one point there was a trend to remake Japanese horror films, some of the films that were
remade were The Grudge (2004), Dark Water (2005), and Pulse (2006). All of these films were
made into Hollywood English versions.