Binghamton Researchers Say We’re All Gluttons for Movie Sequels
When I think of a movie franchise that has seen more than enough sequels and remakes, Ghostbusters comes to mind immediately. I endured two hours and four minutes of Ghostbusters: Afterlife with my husband and while it wasn't as awful as Ghostbusters: Answer the Call with Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, it still wasn't my favorite.
Hollywood has a way of taking a good thing and then pounding on it until it's limp but for some reason, we seem to like it. Hollywood studio bosses might pump out a sequel that misses the mark completely, but the reason they keep giving us sequels and remakes is that we keep going to see them, and that fact has been backed by science from our own backyard.
Binghamton University Researchers decided to get to the bottom of why Hollywood is constantly throwing sequels and remakes at us and what they found is that non-sequel films, for the most part, don't make as much money at the box office as sequels do.
Researchers say not only do we go to the movies to see the sequels of our favorite films, and in droves, but that the sooner the period between releases, the better. This translates to studio executives pumping out movie sequels as fast as they can and we reward their work by gobbling them up with our eyes.
I suppose it's true what has been said about being comfortable with familiarity. As Americans, we'll pay a ridiculous amount of money to go see a sequel or remake of our favorite film because we liked it the first time and there's a chance we will the second, third, and even fourth time. And have you noticed that even when we don't, if another sequel or remake comes out, we'll go see that one too just in case it's good even though we probably know it won't be?
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