Source: China News Network
Beijing, January 19 (Reporter Yuan Xiuyue) Nearly 20 years later, the "Matrix" series of movies is now producing a sequel! Keanu Reeves returns, the original team of people to build, for fans, this can be regarded as a "lifetime series".
However, after the release of "The Matrix: Matrix Restart" in China, word of mouth and box office were both cold - Douban scored 5.7 points, and the box office only exceeded 50 million yuan.
It is not that the domestic audience "does not know the goods". The film just grossed over $140 million worldwide and also had an IMDb rating of 5.7. Some netizens said: "Some things should be left in the past." Some people also quoted the Internet terrier, ridiculing that "the filming is 'very good', next time it is not allowed to shoot again..."
The Matrix Reboot poster
Among the many comments, the most prominent is the outside world's doubts about the film's "remake of consumer feelings" and "fried cold rice".
Some media said that in "The Matrix: Matrix Restart", director Lana Wachowski also used the mouth of the character to vaguely "spit" on the film producer Warner, "The times have changed, the market is sluggish." I'm sure you can understand why our beloved parent company, Warner Bros., decided to make a sequel to the trilogy. They told me that they would develop a sequel with or without us. If we do not cooperate, they will terminate our contract. ”
Video screenshots
Of course, some people pointed out that this is not actually a problem with Warner. Several major Hollywood film companies are keen on remakes, such as Disney's live-action movie "Mulan", "Mermaid", "The Lion King", "Dumbo", "Aladdin", Paramount's "Your Name", "Catch the Thief", Netflix's live-action version of "Star Cowboy", "One Piece" and so on.
Looking at the list of film and television dramas, in recent years, the domestic remake of classics has been prevalent, especially like martial arts films, idol dramas and mythological dramas in the "hard-hit areas". Among them, there are also many failure cases, such as "Deer Ding", "Searching for Qin", "Smiling Proud of the Rivers and Lakes", "Forgetting You, Remembering Love", "Meteor Garden" and so on. According to the investigation, the Douban score of these works does not exceed 4 points.
Douban screenshot
Remake classics and consumer sentiments seem to have become a major feature of current popular culture. This can't help but make people wonder, the film and television industry is exhausted, there is no original good script? How could you turn your attention to the classics again and again?
But in retrospect, similar operations are not impossible. For example, Wu Yusen's "The True Colors of Heroes" is a remake, the "Batman" series, the 2005 version of "King Kong", the movie "Manslaughter" and so on have also had good reviews.
Therefore, the problem is that many producers remake classics, not because there is a new expression in the content, but only because those works have a relatively stable audience. Compared with the new genre, its benefits may be guaranteed in advance in some subjective way. When film and television practitioners do not want to take risks and want to earn "full pots", this may be a "more appropriate" solution.
Here's the paradox. When the producer overemphasizes IP-oriented, the importance of the story will be reduced, and the level of work will inevitably be uneven, so that many viewers also have resistance to the remake. The case of "The Matrix: Matrix Restart" shows that simple "fried cold rice" and consumer sentiment have long ceased to be foolproof "good business".
For many viewers, classics are a sentiment. Although the remake can cause temporary attention, but to continue the classic, it requires the creator to spend more effort on the content. The plot should be new, the story can also be connected, both "up" and "open down", leaving enough imagination space for the audience, which can have the possibility of "next".
Alas, under the guise of sentimentality, it is time to brake. (End)