Freakin’ Lazy: Hollywood’s Obsession with Sequels

Last week Disney “blessed” us with a sequel to the early 2000s Freaky Friday. They reunited nineties child star, Lindsay Lohan, and recent Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis (yes, one of the original nepo babies) to star in Freakier Friday, another body-swap comedy which virtually follows the same storyline as before with minor tweaks. For fans, it’s a feel good reunion. For Hollywood, it’s one the oldest tricks in the book: reheating an existing idea which is quick, cheap and just familiar enough to sell.

Studios know exactly how to play this game. First, find an old franchise that hasn’t been active for a while. Next, bring back as many original cast members so fans feel emotionally connected. Third, repackage the plot with just enough “modern updates” (queue Gen-Z slang and reality TV references). Finally, market it to death and watch audiences pay for a story they’ve already seen.

With human attention now a commodity, do studios feel they must give viewers something recognisable in order to stay relevant? In an era of social media noise and infinite streaming choice, perhaps we’re so fatigued we settle for what we know. Oh, and of course, we can’t forget the financial incentives for film companies to capitalise on the existing intellectual property (IP) that they already own, and potentially make a small fortune with minimal risk.

Before you start yelling at the computer screen – there are exceptions to the bad sequel rule. Take The Godfather II for example, which has even been touted as better than the original. This is because it adds to the continuity of the storyline, building something in their own right, rather than recycling the same concept. But when it’s purely built to cash in on nostalgia or to squeeze value out of the IP, it stops being art and simply becomes marketing.

Danny Boyle, director of recently released sequel, 28 Years Later, even spoke out about sequels being a cash grab for studios:

Maybe that’s why the releases this year are packed with familiar names: Happy Gilmore 2, The Naked Gun, another Mission Impossible, Avatar… (trust me, the list goes on).

I’m sure for long time fans of the original, having Lohan back on their screens may feel comforting, even redemptive given her well documented issues over the last twenty years. But did we really need to see her as a music producer finding love, two decades later? It isn’t brilliant or innovative cinema; it is simply lazy!