Brad Bird Uses EDGE OF TOMORROW as an Example of Why Hollywood is Scared of Making Original Films
Whenever we see news of a remake, reboot, or unnecessary sequel, movie fans almost always tend to express their dissatisfaction and they feel that Hollywood needs to be producing original content. We've had conversations like this several times over the years. Hollywood needs more original films! A few years ago I wrote an article that focused on the fact that if we want original films, we have to support them! Unfortunately, original films aren't getting that support so they are afraid to invest money and time in original properties.
Director Brad Bird (The Incredibles 2, Tomorrowland) recently went on a little Twitter rant regarding the reason why Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow may have failed and used it as an indicator of why he thinks that studios are afraid of putting big money into originality.
"GREAT movie, but the audience (who asks for originality in films) failed to show up for it. If it had been released as “LIVE, DIE, REPEAT” it might’ve been the hit it should’ve been. Sadly, it was called EDGE OF TOMORROW... a terrible & bland title for a really entertaining film."
I can see why the title was off-putting, but the movie still got a ton of great word of mouth and positive reviews, so in the end, the title of the film shouldn't have mattered. But, this is one of the main reasons why the studios ended up changing the title when it was released on home entertainment to Live. Die. Repeat.
Now, the film didn't really bomb at the box office, it did pretty well, but Bird explains why it didn't encourage other studios to jump into making original movies.
"To be clear, EDGE OF TOMORROW was a hit, but given production and advertising costs, it didn't show the kind of profit that would encourage other studios to start gambling on originals again. But they ARE planning a sequel..."
Hopefully, that sequel, which is called Live Die Repeat and Repeat, will actually happen. It's been in development for a long time. Everyone is excited about it, but the studio still has yet to pull the trigger and give it the greenlight. When previously talking about the sequel director Doug Liman said:
"It picks up where the last one left off, but then we go backwards in time. I love it way more than the story of the original film."
Anyway, what do you all think about Hollywood's problem with not creating original film content? Do you think it is a problem? Do you think they are producing a good mix of original films? If not, do you think they'll ever change and start trying to make more of them?
Hell, James Cameron's Avatar was an original film that became a huge success so we know that it's possible to make great and successful original movies.