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When remembering the movies I saw during my childhood, the lights dimmed in a theater and a bucket of popcorn come to mind. Whether it was Disney, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, or Paramount, movie production companies used to partake in a craft that employed creativity and originality. It was these qualities that characterized the cinema of our pasts, and it is these same standards that the industry is now failing to meet, culminating in the downfall of Hollywood producers who continue scrapping together remakes of past films that simply no one asked for.
One example of this dilemma is the 1998 remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, which was anything but masterful in comparison to the original film, produced in 1960.
Director Gus Van Sant. copied the original scripts and shots, offering no new artistic interpretation of the story. This remake was also shot in color, which critics said ruined the suspenseful and moody feel that the original black-and-white version brought to the screen. Additionally, many fans of the original production noted that the casting of Vince Vaughn, most noted for starring in comedy films, as the movie’s creepy yet charismatic Norman Bates was the wrong call.
Another flop was the reboot of the long-standing action franchise, The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise as the protagonist who awakens an ancient Egyptian princess and now has to save the world from her malevolent intentions. The remake was intended to be the first film in a new Universal franchise, Dark Universe, which would feature other productions centered around classic monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Unfortunately, this plan never came to fruition after the supreme failure of the 2017 The Mummy remake, which lost about 70 million dollars. Major criticism for the film came from the excessive CGI, rushed character developments, a cliché storyline, and that the movie prioritized world-building for the upcoming franchise more than its own narrative.
Among the more recent remakes, Disney’s 2025 Snow White live-action set itself up for failure by spending a whopping 336 million dollars on production and only managing to bring in half that amount in box office returns. The nonexistent profit was brought about by a surplus of negative publicity surrounding the film both before and after its release.
One significant controversies while the film was in progress was how Disney was to respectfully portray the seven dwarves, with actor Peter Dinklage speaking out about his concerns. This led Disney to initially fathom changing the dwarves into magical creatures, but the poorly received alteration made Disney frantically throw in CGI dwarves. Criticism also fell on the film’s lead, Rachel Zegler, whose vocalization about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the actions of President Donald Trump did not sit well with some viewers. Along with Gal Gadot’s (Evil Queen) supposed bland performance, the negative aspects of Zegler’s wardrobe and changes that sought to resonate more with a Gen Z audience made the movie into one major fail.
With more classic film remakes on the rise, it makes me wonder whether the industry has learned from these failures or if more flops are to be expected.
