Monday, February 13, 2017

Female reboot trend says more about Hollywood’s lack of creativity than feminism

The current trend in Hollywood of remaking popular movies that starred men using women started with last year’s “Ghostbusters” film.
Despite the fact that “Ghostbusters” (2016) was a costly flop (the studio reportedly lost more than $70 million on the flick), the female reboot trend has spread like the flu.
Currently in production is a female reboot of “Ocean’s Eleven.” The new movie, “Ocean’s Eight,” stars Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and Rihanna. It’s set for release in June 2018.
Hathaway also is slated to star with Rebel Wilson in a remake of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” (1988). The new movie is currently titled “Nasty Women.”
ABC is developing a sequel to “Magnum P.I.” that will revolve around Thomas Magnum’s daughter.
The Bill Murray comedy “What about Bob?” (1991) is being recast with a female lead for an NBC series titled “What about Barb?”
Meanwhile, some other movies that have been discussed for female reboots include “21 Jump Street,” “The Expendables,” “The Rocketeer” and “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.”
This trend isn’t so much about giving more starring roles to actresses. It’s a lazy way of rehashing old entertainment properties in a presumably fresh way. But this technique has become a cliché.
Changing the gender of the lead roles is usually a technique reserved for remaking public domain stories. Check out my article “How Hollywood remakes public domain stories and characters.”

Photo: The cast of “Ocean’s Eight.”

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