Tom DeSanto, the producer of Transformers, X-Men and X2 (paradoxically) says:
“The studios are so dependent on pre-existing brands, they’re not allowing anything new into the pipeline,” he said. “They want to know what was the video game or what was the comic book. It’s shortsighted. But what’s being missed is the next generation of new stuff. Because nostalgia is creative death.” #
The success of the mediocrity-fest that is Live Free or Die Hard/Die Hard 4.0 only strengthens this strategy with the studios.
It seems to me like it might not be so paradoxically. Maybe he’s just speaking from experience. Perhaps it’s really a complaint on his part because he’s tried to introduce newer ideas and found that studios will only fund his movies if he can attach pre-existing brands like X-Men and Transformers.
Eh, Transformers was kick ass. Characters may be flat – excessively so – and the plot may seem stretched to the limits and slightly, well, rudimentary, but the action, CG and aurora that the film gave off overrode the critic in me that wanted to berate the character and plot shortcomings. And that’s saying something.
Creative Death or not. I Cant wait to see Indy 4 :
) :) :-).But i can also say i want to see something new, by NEW I do not demand something totally new, just that the studios take up a good novel and make a movie of it. MAybe the warhammer 40.000 universe would be a nice idea.
i agree, i want to see new films. things other than old “brands” regurgitated into a new movie, although, i saw Transformers the other night, and i think its a great movie! so i guess what im saying is: bring out new, good films, and if your going to make a movie on a pre-existing “brand” than make it worth going to see!!!!!
Movies, music and games have been doing this for years, years and years. I guess it makes money, but creative death? Come on! When was the last time you looked towards big studios for something new? They don’t have any creativity to begin with, so how can it die? They’re just vultures looking for the next dead thing to eat its eyes out and leave a skeleton.
Oops, I forgot my main point:
Nostalgia is NOT creative death if you actually make something new out of it. ->Battlestar Galactica