OPINION: The era of remakes and sequels

Last week, Netflix announced a new animated show based on “Midnight Sun,” aka “Twilight” written from Edward’s perspective. This comes after rumors of a “Twilight” movie remake earlier this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I love “Twilight.” I read the books in middle school and loved them. The movies hold a special place in my heart, despite how awful they are. I even saw the last film in theaters with my dad (yes, weird at certain times, but really sweet of him to take me). The only sticker I have on my entire car is a “Twilight” one.

And yet, despite all of this, the announcement disappointed me. There are already five movies devoted to this world. The last one came out more than 10 years ago. Since then, the only place actively invested in this world has been online fan pages. As the teens and preteens who loved “Twilight” became adults, they enjoyed sharing their love for this world with each other in different ways, like vacations to Washington and homemade merch.

And, as is bound to happen when something becomes popular again, major companies decided to come back into the game. Makeup brand Colourpop came out with a “Twilight”-themed line, giving no credit when they took ideas and phrases from popular fan accounts. Suddenly, stores such as Target and Hot Topic started selling T-shirts devoted to the series. And now, here comes Netflix with a new adaption.

What these companies don’t seem to realize is, most of us don’t actually want this. Our love of the world now is largely based on nostalgia and old memories. One of the biggest fan pages, Twilight S**tposting, goes out of its way to acknowledge how bad both the books and movies are, as well as try to make up for actual harm the creators have done with donations to the actual Quileute tribe in Washington.

With the new Netflix show, I’m sure plenty of people will have the chance to get their creative juices flowing, but this isn’t original content. It’s not even a regular book-to-movie adaptation. This is just a company trying to capitalize on a fanbase that already exists.

Of course, this isn’t the only case of ideas being recycled. HBO has announced a remake of the “Harry Potter” series, coming to Max in 2026 as a TV show. And then there’s Disney, who has been creating live-action adaptations for their movies for years.

I’m not going to say adaptations are always bad. Some, like “Cruella” and “Maleficent,” tell a new story. Others, like “Mulan” and “Christopher Robin,” put a new twist on a classic story, or even go back to the story’s origins. But then there’s the others: “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” “The Little Mermaid.” These are the exact same stories, maybe a new song or two being added, but nothing more. And in the case of “The Lion King,” there’s no actual live actors, it’s just creepy CGI lions with soulless eyes.

Rather than coming up with creative new ideas, Disney is just recycling movies that have done well in the past. That’s not why we love Disney. We love the heartwarming new stories that they bring.

And if it’s not a remake, it’s another sequel. Again, some sequels are good or make sense. The first three “Toy Story” movies make an excellent trilogy. The new “Inside Out” movie adds to the first story. Some stories are meant to have multiple chapters. However, there is such a thing as too much.

In my opinion, “Toy Story” should have ended after number three. Do we really need another “Shrek?” And how many more “Jurassic Parks” are there going to be? If I look at the AMC theater lineup, of the 19 films listed, at least nine of them are remakes, remasters or sequels. This includes all the child-friendly movies.

So yes, we love nostalgia, we love movies and shows from when we were younger, but we also want new media to enjoy. I’m hoping we get out of this era of media and start bringing in new ideas soon.