Why Remaking Popular ‘Content’ Flicks Give Dismal Returns?

While it is true every film is a risky venture, there are certain combinations and formulas (depending on the then prevailing trend), that draw an initial. They help reduce the ‘risk’ and provide a safety cushion to the makers.

However, when it comes to a particular type of film, even if they are remakes, they are risks in true sense. The ‘risk’ here is a lack of audience and thereby severely affecting its commercial prospects. These are the kind of movies which usually get heavy patronization in the online world. We are talking about niche content-oriented flicks.

Ideally, films with strong content should do well across the different audience spectrum. They do so with biggies. One can give several examples of big blockbusters that are remade across the industries. But when it comes to similar attempts with ‘content-oriented’ flicks, more often than not they fail.

The reason is a straightforward one. The target audience is limited, to begin with. It is the same case with the original, but the sheer extraordinary positive word of mouth does the trick. It works so because of its ‘originality’ and ‘novelty’ factor. Quite simply, they happen to be the best version.

These ‘originals’ are then seen by a similar set of appreciative audiences across the languages. It means, the ‘limited audience’ to begin with has already seen them. When these films are remade, as it is, the ‘originality, novelty and nativity’ all are found lacking. Hence the remakes come across as inferior.

In the best case, it could be a faithful remake like we saw with Jaanu. But, its target audience has already seen the original multiple times. No matter how well made, they can’t erase the ‘original’ out of their mind. It is the reason for the lack of interest from the beginning itself.

The US numbers of Jaanu, therefore, don’t come as a surprise. The final figure will now depend on the new audience the movie manages to attract. Let’s see where it ends eventually.

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