So I see that FOX is in talks with David Slade to direct a reboot of Daredevil. I'm kind of torn on this. On one hand, Slade is good with dark characters and themes. Look at how well he handled the beak setting of 30 Days of Night. On the other hand though, I'm frustrated because Marvel could have taken this series back under their wing.
I guess it is a sign of the times in Hollywood. A while ago, if a movie or it's sequels did poorly, the studios behind them just stopped making more of the same. Why bother with something, that does not make money, right?
Things have changed though as of late. Rather than throwing in the towel after a failed attempt, alot of studios have the route of rebooting their franchises with fresh faces attached so as not to link it with the older films that the audiences did not enjoy.
This is both a good thing and a bad thing all at once. I was really happy with the results that director Chris Nolan and actor Christian Bale got with Batman Begins. And I was equally satisfied with how well Casino Royale turned out with Martin Campbell's direction and Daniel Craig's portrayal of James Bond. These were 2 franchises that had some really good movies in the past but got sluggish in their later years. They by no means though deserved to be discontinued and the reboots gave them a shot in the arm to reinvigorate them and keep them going with a fresh new vision.
Batman Begins and Casino Royale are exapmples of the idea of a reboot being put to good use. What FOX is doing with their reboots of the super hero franchises they own really just seem selfish. Why is FOX even bothering with a reboots of Daredevil and The Fantastic Four. Neither were sucsessful. Fantastic Four tried a sequle which also failed. Elektra a spin off of Daredevil met a similar fate at the box office. The reason they are trying again in my eyes is simple. It's all about making a profit. There is no passion on the part of the studio and any passion the director has gets squandered and micro managed by the studio. Marvel would actually treat these franchises with respect, but FOX can not stand the idea of another studio making money off of thses projects, so they are content with putting out crap. Hopefully their semi reboot(thats what it seems to be) of Wolverine will work out well. A reboot should be done, if a studio and director are pasionate about the ideas they have. Instead all too often, studios like FOX are using reboots just for the sake of making a buck off a failed idea.
Not all future reboots seem bad though. Cage, Nelverdine, and Taylor really seem to have a good idea of what went wrong on Mark Steven Johnson's Ghost Rider and are trying to make a good film. I really think Nic Cage could do something great with this one. The Amazing Spider-Man seems like it could be fun. Again, I would prefer these to be be at Marvel but Sony seems a bit more respectful of their super hero movies than FOX, and I don't think this editorial is the place for that arguement. Oh, and I think that the right director could truly do something great with RoboCop.
So please Hollywood. I know you guys have to make money in Hollywood, but put thought into reboots and stop using as get out of jail free cards.