Fischer: Something old, nothing new

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

While much of the Hollywood presence at Comic-Con was muted this year, Paramount was the notable exception, bringing panels for Star Trek and the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie to bolster an otherwise anemic Hall H line-up.

Both panels were as good as one would expect them to be considering the strike-related lack of acting and writing talent and it’s not such a difficult thing to generate hype when you’re already working with two beloved and well-established franchises.

And franchises seem to be where Paramount is going to keep its focus.

In a “Variety” profile last week, Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins was quoted saying that the studio’s animation wing would be prioritizing commercially safe franchises over original IPs when it comes to their theatrical releases.

Specifically, Robbins was talking about moving “Under the Boardwalk,” an upcoming animated musical about hermit crabs on the Jersey Shore, to release on Paramount’s streaming service instead of going to theaters.

Robbins was quoted in the article as saying, “We’re not going to release an expensive original animated movie and just pray people will come.”

The quote has sparked a minor amount of internet controversy, being touted as yet another example of out-of-touch Hollywood moneymen stifling the creatives in favor of a quick buck.

Taken on its own, it’s not a great look. It’s been a long-running criticism that the entertainment industry has become too enamored with capitalizing on properties with pre-existing fan-bases rather than putting in the work to develop new original IPs.

We live in an era of endless reboots and remakes, with entertainment across all mediums increasingly dependent on tapping into established franchises.

Star Trek and Star Wars are riding high on television right now with arguably more shows than all but the most dedicated viewers can keep up with, but with “The Expanse” over and the fate of “The Orville” unclear, it’s getting sparse for original space-faring sci-fi shows.

Video games face a unique variant of this phenomenon where it has become increasingly common to remaster old games for modern systems or remake them completely, telling roughly the same stories in a new package with more up-to-date graphics and game mechanics.

But more than any other medium, theatrical films have really become adverse to the risk of investing in new IPs. This year’s biggest movies so far include the tenth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise, the seventh live-action Transformers movie, a handful of comic-book adaptations, a remake of “The Little Mermaid,” and a new Indiana Jones movie starring an 80-year-old Harrison Ford.

Of the top 10 highest grossing movies this year thus far, only “Oppenheimer” isn’t based on an existing IP (unless you count the biography) and even that has somehow become inextricably tied to the Barbie movie.

But while it’s easy to lament the lack of original IPs in Hollywood, it’s hard to argue with the reality that Robbins is right. Animation is expensive and it’s hard to get audiences into the theaters for movies that aren’t sure things.

I can’t say I’m not guilty of perpetuating this cycle. The only movie I’ve seen in theaters this year not based on a pre-existing property has been “Cocaine Bear.” As much as I’d like to say I fully support the creation of new properties with new ideas, my viewing, reading, and gaming habits suggest otherwise.

The may be some self-fulfilling prophecy in play here. If studios don’t put the extra effort into building up original IPs, audiences are less likely to discover them. On the other hand, it’s hard to blame studios for following the path of least resistance. On the other, other hand, every successful IP was once an original idea and the only way to make the next big thing is to take that risk.

There doesn’t seem to be a good answer here. Nobody wants a landscape of endless reboots and remakes, but the only way to avoid that is if both studios and audiences support new ideas.

Until then… I can’t wait for the new TMNT movie.

– Travis Fischer is a news writer for the Charles City Press and really should catch up on “The Orville.”