Swamp Journal

It's almost as if they've ceased to even try. Earlier this week, the "new" version of The Omen came out, and all the talk was about it being released on 6/6/06. But I'm more bothered about the fact that it is simply another in what seem almost a weekly barrage of unoriginal movie ideas. Over the past year or two, almost every movie to come out seems to be a remake of a successful (or not-so-successful) movie released in or around the 1970s. Here's a short list:

1. Poseidon
2. The Pink Panther
3. Fun with Dick and Jane
4. RV (come on, admit it, as soon as you saw the trailer you thought of National Lampoon's Vacation)
5. Superman
6. Herbie Fully Loaded
7. The Stepford Wives
8. Planet of the Apes
9. Freaky Friday
10. When a Stranger Calls
11. Back to School (I am not making this up)

I'm sure you can think of many, many more. And if it's not taken from an earlier movie, it has to be based on a television show from 20+ years ago:

1. Dukes of Hazzard
2. S.W.A.T.
3. Mission: Impossible
4. Starsky and Hutch
5. Bewitched
6. Miami Vice
7. The A-Team (oh, yes, it's in production. Be very afraid....)

Then there are old cartoons and comics:

1. Spiderman (and sequels)
2. The Hulk
3. Scooby-Doo
4. The Thunderbirds (well, it's not a cartoon, but the original was sorta animated)

And if all else fails, there's the sequel. Or the sequel to the remake of the movie that was adapted from a tv show based on a comic strip. Or yet another movie based on an SNL skit that couldn't sustain 90 minutes movie even if it weren't lame to begin with.

I have a friend who works part-time for one of the studios, and she actually goes into the theater every weekend, at least to check out the trailers, so she knows exactly what is out there. Last summer I asked her to name three movies that weren't remakes, sequels, or adaptations of television shows or comic-strips. She couldn't. So what's going on here? Do the studios think all the movies have been made? Do they think recycling movies is good for the environment? Or are they just too lazy to try to come up with an original idea? What do you think?