All art is cyclical. In this way, the past will always be a determining factor influencing the present. A great example of this is the fashion industry. With the audiovisual arts, such as cinema and TV, it is clear that things would not be different. Revisiting the past has always been part of the backbone of this industry, with works being reimagined since the early days of the seventh art. With almost 130 years of cinema, it is natural that many filmmakers have already taken inspiration from other film productions to create their own, whether they are declared remakes or not.
However, today more than ever we live in a time of pre-established brands, determined by the public itself. The astonishing success of certain titles – placed on such a pedestal by the viewer himself (due to their quality, of course) – has accustomed the public to trust these particular brands. And so, they instigated producers to create the much talked about and profitable franchises. Today, it is much easier for the general public to follow the brands they know and like than to give an unknown item a chance, unless it is sold as the new eighth wonder of the world – as was the case this year with Everything Everywhere at the Same Time.
In this way, we decided to join in the fun and show that our argument is valid in a story divided into two parts – which will focus on titles retread only in 2022, whether they are remakes, sequels or derivatives of successful films and series of the past, brought from back to the new generation. This first part will present what has already premiered and the second what is yet to come this year. Check it out below.
The biggest movie hit in 2022, Top Gun Maverick It has already grossed nearly US$1.5 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of the year. the film put Tom Cruise again sitting on top of the world as Hollywood’s biggest star. Maverickof course, this is the late sequel to the first major blockbuster of Cruise’s career, Top Gun – Indomitable Acesthe biggest release of 1986.
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Following on from 2022’s biggest hits that mirror the phenomena of the 1980s, the latest installment in the franchise predator finally put the brand back on track, securing the largest audience in the history of the Hulu (Star+) platform ever. The option for a launch at home proved to be a very good decision on the part of Disney (new owner of the rights to the brand). The predator original, of course, dates from 1987 – in an action film with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
All right, Batman is a character created in the comics back in the 1930s. But the wave of popularity reached by the brand in 1989 when Tim Burton signed the first super production with the character was unprecedented for the hero. Since then, the character has been reinvented over the decades and this year was no different, with another successful work directed by Matt Reeveswhere the masked vigilante, in a serious and dark film like never before, was played by the young Robert Pattinson in the first years of performance of the caped crusader.
Not all attempts to revitalize a title hit their target by becoming successful. This is the case with this new foray into Flames of vengeance (Firestarter), based on a book by Stephen Kingwhich had already won the screens in 1984 with a Drew Barrymore still a child and fresh out of ET – The Extraterrestrial. The film went blank at the time, and the new one did nothing to improve that, similarly quickly obscuring it.
Jumping from the 80s to the 90s, we have the new version of a beloved women’s sports movie that has a very girl power vibe and ahead of its time. The original film is turning 30 in 2022, and it had in its cast Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Madonna, as members of a women’s baseball league replacing men during the War. The new version arrives in the form of a series on Amazon Prime Video recently launched, and willing to include new representative topics in its narrative, such as black and lesbian gamers.
Speaking of hits from the 90s, no one will ever forget Jurassic Park – The Dinosaur Park (1993), alongside Terminator 2, the definitive landmark of cinema entertainment in that decade. It is clear that the dinosaurs of Steven Spielberg continue to bear fruit to this day, and in 2022 the sixth film was released. The difference here is precisely the presence of the trio of original protagonists: Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.
One of the things that annoys me the most in some franchises nowadays is the use of the same title as some past copy. Oh lack of originality! If the intention is not to let the viewer wear out when placing panic 5 in the title, unless they put a subtitle, like Panic “something”. Anyway now we have two movies called Panic in the same franchise, this and the 1996 original, which reinvented the slasher for the decade. The strategy didn’t work very well, as everyone continues to call the fifth feature a panic 5. Despite this, the film was a huge success and will continue next year.
Speaking of cultural phenomena from the 90s, one of the programs that was most immortalized in the minds of fans from that time was the sitcom Fresh prince of Bel Air (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), the series that would be the springboard for Will Smith to stardom. And it is the star himself who produces this new version of the story, again as a TV series, but now with a more serious and dramatic touch. And of course, with other stars playing the iconic Uncle Phil, Aunt Vivian, Carlton and protagonist Will. The series has already aired its first season, but it may have been hampered by the erratic behavior of Will Smith at the last Oscars, when he decided to get up from his seat and attack the comedian Chris Rock for not liking a silly joke involving his wife. Five months later and things still haven’t improved for the star’s image.
Now we jump into the almighty Disney and one of its most beloved animated franchises of all time. In fact, the franchise Toy Story holds the record of being the studio’s first animated film entirely generated by computer graphics, dating back to 1995. There were three more sequels with the brand Toy Story until 2019. This year, the studio decided to innovate, and instead of debuting Toy Story 5, they made a movie for Buzz Lightyear, but not the doll, but the human astronaut that gave rise to the doll. Although creative, it didn’t have the same impact as previous films.
It wasn’t just Disney and its Toy Story that marked the 90’s in the field of animations. Here we have a copy that was a real fever at the time, one of a content very different from anything out of Disney, where politically incorrect reigned. Created by Mike Judge for MTV (and we can already see the content there, since the channel was synonymous with teenage rebellion), Beavis and Butt-Head premiered in 1993 and lasted no less than 7 seasons until 1997 – in the meantime, it even won a feature film (Beavis and Butt-Head Wreck America, 1996). In 2011, the show got a revival for its eighth season. And in 2022 the brainless duo came back with everything, with a movie (Beavis and Butt-Head Wreck the Universe) and a new season on the small screen (the ninth).
We have cult releases on the list too. This creative series has recently landed on the platform of HBO Max starring none other than the Oscar winner Alicia Vikander. In the plot, she plays an American actress disillusioned with her career who decides to go to France to film a feature “art”, a modern version of the classic The vampires (1915). A second glance at the credits is enough to realize the name of the French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, as the show’s creator and writer for the 8 episodes (as well as directing all of them). It turns out that the director himself shot a 1996 feature with the same proposal, which became cult.
This one isn’t exactly the revitalization of a brand like a movie or a series from past decades, but the portrait of a very famous event for everyone who lived in the period – especially in the 90’s. It’s about the infamous video tape intimate that was leaked in the early days of the internet involving the then couple Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee (from the band Motley Crue). The miniseries is still a journey through time through the music, fashion and culture of the time, especially involving the career of Pamela Anderson, protagonist of the series. Baywatch (SOS Malibu) and the film Barb Wire – The Punisher.
Coming out of the 90’s and going even further back in time to the 70’s for when the first Star Wars was released there in 1977 – now subtitled A new hope. It is safe to say that the franchise created by George Lucas never left pop culture and has always been in the collective subconscious. But the 1980s to the late 1990s was the period when it was most dormant. Today, in the hands of Disney, several movies and programs are popping up all the time and the most recent was the success Obi-Wan Kenobiwhich continues the events of the prequel trilogy.
And if we talk about Star Warswe also need to talk about his biggest “rival” in pop culture and science fiction nerds: Star Trek. For the more old school, Star Wars and Star Trek respectively. And if Star Wars had a new copy on the small screens with Obi-WanStar Trek wasted no time and took it out of the hat Strange New Worlds at Paramount+, which functions as a prequel to the classic crew, with members like Spock and Uhura.
Still in the field of science fiction, now comes a more cult copy to the list. Based on a famous book, the work had already been taken to the big screen in the form of a conceptual feature starring the chameleon David Bowie and directed by Nicolas Roeg in 1976. The story follows an alien on a special mission to Earth in order to save his species, who disguises himself as a human and tries to impersonate an inhabitant of our planet by studying and replicating our behavior. In the new version, in the form of a TV series, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomie Harris star.
Moving from fiction to horror, in 2022 we also had a new copy of an important franchise of the genre. In 1974, the first The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a raw and visceral film that behaved a lot like an amateur film, with an almost documentary air. The work was also important in shaping the beginnings of the slasher. Almost 50 years later (do you realize?) the ninth copy of the franchise debuted directly on Netflix, however, despite the success of views, fans complained more than applauded the result.
Another leap between genres, this time from horror to suspense. But not just any thriller, but one based on the work of a true genius of the genre: Agatha Christie. After Murder on the Orient Express (2017), the director Kenneth Branagh he was willing to build his own “Agathaverse” on the big screen, where he gives life to Inspector Poirot. Despite having suffered from delays, death on the nile proved to be a very popular new hit. Both films mentioned, reimagined by Branagh, had already been taken to theaters in the 70s – in 1976 and 1978 respectively.
Closing the matter, we have a case similar to that of Pam & Tommy. The series about the theft of Pamela Anderson’s intimate tape is not based on a movie or series, but rather creates another aspect of visiting the past of pop culture by centering its plot as a portrait of a specific and very famous event that occurred in the 90’s. . Here we have something similar, but set in the 70s. The Offer brings fans the universe of the immortal classic The Godfather (1972), in a unique way, by revealing the backstage of the production, when Paramount collided with the filmmakers to take an iconic book from paper, respecting all the wishes and fulfilling the wishes of its stars. the renewed Miles Teller is the one who stars in the role of producer Albert S. Ruddy.
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