After watching the MTV Movie Awards with Mike Meyers, I think they could pull out another Wayne's World sequel. They've aged well enough.
Well, it's been about 15 years since I read the book as a young teenager so I'll take your word for it.
hehe... I had just finished watching Entourage when I read your post. I love his character on the show.
Usually this argument devolves to, Why can't Hollywood make more good movies instead of the mindless drivel? I'm not even asking for that. I'm wondering, why can't they make fresh drivel instead of retread sequel drivel. You can have Megan Fox's ass in a Bay-directed movie that is not a sequel. Wouldn't that sell too? It seems to me that sequels get increasingly worse as each installment must outdo the last in scope and stakes (whether it be the size of the catastrophe a hero averts, or the limits of decency a comedy pushes). So, each one gets more and more self-absorbed, outlandish and cartoonish. If you start a new movie, you get to reset to something that is free to tell its own story without worrying about how it compares to its predecessor. Thanks, that makes some sense. Though it doesn't explain the seemingly large number of sequels going to the silver screen. Maybe it just seems that way because of the all the dvd sequels and a couple of geriatric returns.
Depending on the movie, it would probably sell. I mean, Michael Bay films like "The Rock" and "Bad Boys" seemed to do okay despite not being sequels or otherwise existing properties. One problem that many writers and writer/directors I've gotten to speak to cite is that many executives either don't know what makes a good movie or don't want to be the one making a decision to greenlight something that's new. So, they greenlight things that others have approved - sequels, movies based on comic books, movies based on books, movies based on old TV shows, remakes, etc. - believing that to be not only a safer bet but a decision that can be more easily defended if the movie fails to live up to expectations. So, I would say that the answer to your question is fear. Fear is the reason that we don't get more original drivel.
I think studios know that if the original movie made some certain amount of money, they have a built in follow up audience that will see the sequel whether it is good or not. Plus, if they can build a franchise, have several movies, a cartoon, some straight to DVD spin offs and all the fast food tie ins and toy contracts that go with it, that's just minting money.
