‘The Naked Gun’ and Co. - Nothing but remakes at the cinema: Is Hollywood running out of ideas? - Kathleen Loock on Hollywood's supposed remake boom – 27 July 2025
Hollywood is relying on the familiar – but the big remake boom is long gone
‘The Naked Gun’ is returning – this time with Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis are swapping bodies again in ‘Freaky Friday’. And Disney is bringing live-action adaptations such as ‘Lilo & Stitch’ to the cinema.
Sounds like a revival of old material? Kathleen Loock from Leibniz University Hannover disagrees. In her book Hollywood Remaking, the media scientist analysed over 6,500 productions – from 1896 to 2021 – and found that the real heyday of remakes was in the 1930s and 40s, when sound films replaced silent films. At that time, around 30 percent of all films were remakes or sequels. Today, the figure is only around six to seven percent.
So why do remakes still feel so prevalent? Loock explains: Today, they are marketing blockbusters that are supposed to bring in millions for the studios – and are therefore constantly being talked about. Nostalgia, familiar characters and expanded narrative worlds, such as in ‘Star Wars,’ attract both loyal fans and new generations to the cinema.
Click here to read the entire (German) Tagesspiegel article here.
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