What Do We Want?
Whilst rambling to my younger brother about how disappointed I was with this year’s slate of remakes, he cut through my outrage with one simple question that’s been rattling around in my head ever since.
I had just finished laying into ‘Lilo and Stitch’– the remake- for screwing up the one thing that made the original feel sacred. That line, the line everyone remembers: “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten.” (I’m not crying, you are.)
So imagine my reaction when, at the end of the remake, Nani and Lilo…split up. It undermines the theme of the film. It contradicts the entire emotional arc of the film. In a movie about family sticking together, you’re really going to separate the family? I mean, come on.
From there, I transitioned- as I do- into a long-winded rant about the new ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. Because this remake doesn’t change anything. It’s a shot-for-shot, line-for-line redo that exists purely because someone at Universal realized they could squeeze money out of something that already worked. No new angle. No reinterpretation. Just: “What if it were live action?”
And that’s when my brother started laughing.
Not at the remake. Not at the studios. At me. “Then what do you want?” he asked. “You’re mad when they change things. You’re mad when they don’t. So what do you want?”
What do I want? What does the public want?
Well, we want original titles…right?
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This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Be careful what you wish for. You may not want it.
‘Elio’ was Pixar’s original film for the year. A new story. A new world. A new protagonist. No legacy IP, no sequel number, no beloved character with a voice actor swap. Just a standalone, original idea- the kind we claim we miss. The kind we say we want.
And it bombed. Domestically it opened to a measly $20.8 million. And according to an inside source, The Hollywood Reporter reveals that the film may very well be on track to finish its theatrical run still more than $100 million below breakeven.
So where does that leave us?
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it proves a painful point: studios aren’t crazy for leaning on remakes. They’re responding to data. And the data says that audiences, when given the choice between the familiar face of a toothless dragon or an eyepatched youngster they’ve never seen before, will almost always go with what they already know.
‘Elio’ was a test. An honest attempt at something new. And we failed it.
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The Comfort of Low Expectations
Save for a crucial exposition scene and the addition of a few new action sequences in the final battle, the 2025 live-action remake of ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ is, quite literally, a shot-for-shot remake of the original animation. And what’s the point of something like that? Commercial appeal. Plain and simple.
Because I went in. And I liked it. I couldn’t believe it. I actually liked the movie. But the more I sat with that feeling, the more I realized it wasn’t enjoyment in the traditional sense- it was relief. Relief that something I loved hadn’t been broken. That they didn’t get it wrong. That they left it mostly untouched. I wasn’t swept up in a new story. I wasn’t moved in a new way. I was just… grateful that the story I already cared about had made it to the other side mostly intact.
That’s what I liked- that it was basically the same thing I already liked. That they didn’t mess it up. And that realization is a little depressing. Because it means I’m not walking into these remakes looking to be surprised or even entertained. I’m walking in hoping not to be disappointed. Hoping they don’t tarnish the memory. And if they don’t- if they just replay it with enough accuracy- I come out thinking I had a good time.
But that’s not the same as loving a movie. That’s not joy. That’s survival. That’s brand loyalty repackaged as emotional resonance. And the worst part is, I think they know that.
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Same Old, But New
It’s not looking good for new work.
Between the umpteenth ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie and the announcement of another ‘Indiana Jones’ remake, the creative ether seems to have been bled dry. And why?
Because people like what they know.
Movie ticket prices are outrageous. Gone are the days when a family could comfortably spend a night out at the movies without thinking twice. Now, the average American family has to shell out at least $40 just to walk into the theater- and that’s before snacks. When you’re spending that much, you’re not going to take a risk on something unfamiliar. You want a sure thing. A known quantity. A title you’ve heard of before.
Nostalgia plays a huge part.
The original ‘Lilo and Stitch’ came out in 2002- twenty-three years ago. So someone who saw it at age seven is now thirty, and probably has a kid. When ‘Lilo and Stitch’ hits theaters, it’s a family outing. You dress the kid up like Stitch, take and post a photo, and caption it something like “Baby’s first movie” or something in that vein. Even if that baby has already watched hundreds of hours of streaming- everything from ‘Paw Patrol’ and ‘Bluey’ to ‘The Office’ when the parents needed background noise and just hoped the cringey, albeit ironic, racism of the early seasons didn’t sink too deep into the kid’s subconscious.
But that’s the thing- it’s not really about the movie. It’s about the moment. The ritual. The branding. You’re not taking your child to see something new. You’re sharing, connecting with your own childhood.
That’s what sells. That’s why the ‘Lilo and Stitch’ remake is well on its way to grossing $1 billion.
That’s what “new” looks like now: the same title, the same story, just with more pixels and fewer risks.
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My Strategy In This Unoriginal Time
We are living in unprecedented times, cinematically.
Gus Van Sant’s remake of ‘Psycho’ was once considered an anomaly. A curiosity. A film-school experiment that tested the boundaries of form, authorship, and intention. It wasn’t good- not by most standards- but it was at least trying to say something. It was weird. It was bold. It was once. That’s what made it feel like a statement.
But now, that once is a model. Van Sant’s shot-for-shot gimmick has been repurposed as a strategy- a method for maximizing profits while minimizing risk. What was once a conceptual art project is now a business plan.
Look at ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’ This remake isn’t a reimagining. It’s not a live-action reinterpretation in the spirit of, say, ‘Cinderella’ or even ‘Pete’s Dragon.’ It’s a carbon copy- shot-for-shot, line-for-line- and it’s making money daily. That’s the part that matters. Not whether it’s better. Not whether it justifies itself. But whether it earns.
And it does. So now we wait.
We wait for the second one. And the third. Because you know they’re coming. We are living in the unprecedented time where we can expect to see the entire ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ trilogy remade in the exact same way: verbatim dialogue, replicated camera moves; the same movie but somehow flatter.
That’s where we are.
This is the age where movies either get revisited or they get replicated. And no one at the top seems to think that’s weird. The idea of remaking something used to suggest a new take- new cast, new themes, new technology, something fresh. But now it means: don’t touch a thing. Just translate the animated texture into something live-action-y, pump up the orchestral swell, and hit upload.
The goal isn’t to improve on the original. It’s to remind you of it. It’s comfort food, not Cinema. It’s a museum wax figure version of the original- still vaguely recognizable, but lifeless behind the eyes.
And it’ll keep working. As long as people keep buying tickets- and they will, because we’re exhausted, we want to feel something, and nostalgia is cheaper than therapy- they’ll keep doing it.
And it won’t stop with kids’ films.
If Universal sees financial potential, they’ll do it to ‘Jaws.’ Warner Bros. will do it to ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ Someone- probably someone who says “I grew up watching it every Halloween”- will pitch a reverent shot-for-shot remake of ‘The Exorcist’ and get it greenlit. And someday, someone will try to remake ‘The Godfather’, and we’ll all have a panic attack for a week, and then most people will see it anyway.
That’s what’s coming.
So, what do we do? Honestly, I think we just wait. Wait for everything to get remade once. Let the cycle play out. Let them finish copying everything they think they can monetize.
And when they run out of old material to recycle, maybe- maybe- they’ll have no choice but to make something new again.
By Joseph Tralongo
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc.
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Joseph Tralongo is a playwright and screenwriter who approaches storytelling with a deep respect for film’s ability to distill human behavior into meaningful moments. His personal work- i.e. his plays, screenplays, and films- leans into semantic tension, moral ambiguity, and the quiet unraveling of social dynamics- not to preach, but to parse. For him, writing is a slow excavation of truth through craft. With a background in theatre and independent film, he brings a structural precision and dramatic instinct to every film he reviews. Hollywood Insider’s mission to champion substance over spectacle aligns with Joseph’s belief that storytelling should investigate, not dictate.
Joseph Tralongo is a playwright and screenwriter who approaches storytelling with a deep respect for film’s ability to distill human behavior into meaningful moments. His personal work- i.e. his plays, screenplays, and films- leans into semantic tension, moral ambiguity, and the quiet unraveling of social dynamics- not to preach, but to parse. For him, writing is a slow excavation of truth through craft. With a background in theatre and independent film, he brings a structural precision and dramatic instinct to every film he reviews. Hollywood Insider’s mission to champion substance over spectacle aligns with Joseph’s belief that storytelling should investigate, not dictate.
