Branding, Culture, Politics, and Everything in Between

This is a continuation of my last post on Hollywood’s new business model. I’m thinking about writing an academic article on the subject, so any interesting links or data is very welcome.

I just saw the new Terminator film yesterday. While it was not really my cup of tea, the tone of the movie was considerably different from the previous films. The film was dark and rugged, in its own way “realistic” even. This is the new aesthetic Hollywood has embraced when making these all these sequels and prequels for familiar franchises. It goes without saying that the phenomenal success of the two new Batman films is a major reason for this, but I think the Matrix trilogy also played a part in this resurgence.

It seems that Hollywood has gone a bit mad even for this new aesthetic. If you search for the keyword “reboot” on Slashfilm you’ll find a LOT of familiar titles being in development. One interesting case is one of Fantastic Four, which came out in 2005 (with a sequel in 2007), and it is already being rebooted. From Slashfilm:

Marvel has changed the game, and the way studios are looking at superhero properties. Fox now wants to reboot the series in a tone described as “less bubble gum” and more in the vein of Marvel’s Iron Man than Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

It’d be interesting to clearly identify when the cultural balance “tipped” towards this darker take on superhero myths. I’m sure there was latent demand for “less bubble gum”, as Fox put it, films even before Batman, but Hollywood was doing just fine before it. It could also be a simple case of demographics: a lot of moviegoers (such as myself) who grew up reading the comic books we’re now seeing on the big screen are just too old for teen pop art, and maybe Hollywood has understood that. I’m sure the recession and general pessimism about the world’s state have contributed to the aesthetic as well.

I’ll definitely keep an eye on this.