From “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Beauty and the Beast” at the box office this summer to “Fuller House” and “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” streaming on Netflix, we are living in the age of the sequel and the remake.
Admittedly, I always feel a twinge of excitement when I hear that a favorite show or movie of mine is being remade.  It is fun to think about seeing my favorite characters again and imagining all of the ways that the storyline will change or stay the same. However, when the time comes to actually watch the remake, I am almost always disappointed. Most sequels never seem to live up to the quality of their predecessors. The anticipation of the show or movie is oftentimes better than the content itself.   
Sometimes the reuse of old ideas can lead to fantastic content. Without sequels, there would be no “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter” and without remakes, popular films like the 2007 rendition of “Hairspray” and the 2010 rendition of “True Grit” would have never been made. But does the world
really need another ‘90s cartoon remake, “Fast and Furious,” or “Despicable Me?”
Sequels and remakes are popular and profitable, but in the context of every movie ever produced, they are still not as popular as original quality
content. The top ten grossing movies of all time, when adjusted for ticket price inflation, include zero sequels or remakes. Sure, people will line up down the block for the newest sequel or remake, but production studios forget why — viewers loved their original production. It might be much more difficult to achieve massive success with an original production, but it is worth it when it ends up as a smash hit.
There are still some rewards for originality, but it is clear why studios feel it is more lucrative to stick to old ideas. Original 2017 releases like Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” and Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” earned a notable $165 million and $127 million at the box office respectively. However, these figures are dwarfed by the massive profits raked in from live-action remakes like “Beauty and the Beast” and sequels like “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2” that earned $483 million and $342 million respectively.  
Though production studios are the ones actually making movies and shows, they do not hold all of the blame for this age of the remake. Americans, on average, buy only four movie tickets a year and largely choose to use those four tickets on sequels or remakes that ultimately disappoint them. It is easy to see why the average moviegoer or television watcher would choose a remake or sequel over a new production. Many of us feel like sequels and remakes have a lower risk of letdown since we know we already like the basic plot and characters. However, seeing a boring and uninspired movie is oftentimes just as much of a letdown as seeing a new film that you ultimately do not care for.
Whether audiences truly enjoyed the movie or not, buying the tickets to sequels and remakes in the first place gives movie companies the cues that more sequels and unoriginal content is what people want. We need to collectively decide to take the gamble on lesser-known original content. This will not only let studios know that it is okay to take the risk on a new story, but also give us new and exciting things to watch and help end the age of the sequel and remake. 
Anna Coleman is a 19-year-old mass communication junior from Kennesaw, Georgia.