Imagine sitting down on a winter day. School has been hectic to say the least and it’s time to relax and watch the new sequel of your favorite childhood movie- and it sucks. No matter how attached you are to the characters, it just isn’t the storytelling journey you wished for.  

     

     It's safe to say that film companies like money, and what makes more money than an adaptation of a franchise people already love? Big companies like Disney prioritize “safe” projects,relying more on familiar franchises than investing in new and original stories because they know nostalgia sells. Who can truly blame them though? Let’s take Moana 2 as an example, it made $453.9 million domestically where Disney’s last original piece Wish performed at an underwhelming $255 million. Multiple different articles title the latter  as “a box-office bomb” or “Disney’s death wish”. The charts show that making adaptations usually cost less and make more, exactly what big companies are looking for.

     

     Does this make it at all justified? No. Big corporations have been and will continue to capitalize on their viewers’ nostalgia. It’s a cycle where they will continue to find new adaptations to make and bank off of movies that are mediocre at best. There's a special feeling when you're watching a new film; it’s something different, another fantasy world to indulge in. It’s an opportunity to grow interest in another story. Instead of giving audiences fresh, compelling stories, studios recycle the same plots, repackaging them as live-action adaptations with uninspired CGI.

     

     The audience's nostalgia has become a big cash-grab for most corporations. Even if they are profitable, does that really make the trade off for new and creative storytelling?