Film Reboots

Through a set of vibrant case studies, this collection investigates rebooting as a practice that seeks to remake an entire film series or franchise, with ambitions that are at once respectful and revisionary.

A dynamic investigation of processes of cultural reproduction – remaking and remodelling – which considers a wide range of film adaptations, remakes and fan productions from various industrial, textual and critical perspectives.

What happens when a film is remade in another national context? How do notions of translation, adaptation and localisation help us understand the cultural dynamics of these shifts, and in what ways does a transnational perspective offer us a deeper understanding of film remaking? Bringing together a range of international scholars, Transnational Film Remakes is the first edited collection to specifically focus on the phenomenon of cross-cultural remakes. Using a variety of case studies, from Hong Kong remakes of Japanese cinema to Bollywood remakes of Australian television, this book provides an analysis of cinematic remaking that moves beyond Hollywood to address the truly global nature of this phenomenon. Looking at iconic contemporary titles such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Oldboy, as well as classics like La Bete Humaine and La Chienne, this book interrogates the fluid and dynamic ways in which texts are adapted and reworked across national borders to provide a distinctive new model for understanding these global cultural borrowings.

Bringing together the latest developments in the study of serial formatting practices - remakes, sequels, series - Film Reboots is the first edited collection to specifically focus on the new millennial phenomenon of rebooting. Through a set of vibrant case studies, this collection investigates rebooting as a practice that seeks to remake an entire film series or franchise, with ambitions that are at once respectful and revisionary. Examining such notable examples as Batman, Ghostbusters, and Star Trek, among others, this collection contends with some of the most important features of contemporary film and media culture today.

Since the release of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins in 2005, there has been a pronounced surge in alternative uses of the computer term ‘reboot,’ a surge that has witnessed the term deployed in new contexts and new signifying practices, involving politics, fashion, sex, nature, sport, business, and media. As a narrative concept, however, reboot terminology remains widely misused, misunderstood, and misinterpreted across popular, journalistic, and academic discourses, being recklessly and relentlessly solicited as a way to describe a broad range of narrative operations and contradictory groupings, including prequels, sequels, adaptations, revivals, re-launches, generic ‘refreshes,’ and enactments of retroactive continuity. Adopting an inter-disciplinary approach that fuses cultural studies, media archaeology, and discursive approaches, this book challenges existing scholarship on the topic by providing new frameworks and taxonomies that illustrate key differences between reboots and other ‘strategies of regeneration,’ helping to spotlight the various ways in which the culture industries mine their intellectual properties in distinct and novel ways to present them anew. Reboot Culture: Comics, Film, Transmedia is the first academic study to critically explore and interrogate the reboot phenomenon as it emerged historically to describe superhero comics that sought to jettison existing narrative continuity in order to ‘begin again’ from scratch.of franchising in the twenty-first century. of franchising in the twenty-first century. /div

This is the first book to provide a comprehensive and systematic account of the phenomenon of cinematic remaking. Drawing upon recent theories of genre and intertextuality, Film Remakes describes remaking as both an elastic concept and a complex situation, one enabled and limited by the interrelated roles and practices of industry, critics, and audiences. This approach to remaking is developed across three broad sections: the first deals with issues of production, including commerce and authors; the second considers genre, plots, and structures; and the third investigates issues of reception, including audiences and institutions.

Contemporary media seems incredibly unoriginal, as Hollywood produces an endless flood of remakes, sequels, reboots, and franchises. We watch as the same stories, characters, and images appear again and again in different films, on new platforms, and as toys and other merchandise. Are these works simply crass commercial products, utterly devoid of creativity, or do they offer filmmakers a unique opportunity to reimagine iconic characters and modern myths? Film Remakes and Franchises examines how remakes and sequels have been central to the film industry from its very inception, yet also considers how the recent trends toward reboots and transmedia franchises depart from those historical precedents. Film scholar Daniel Herbert not only analyzes the film industry’s increasing reliance on recycled product, but also asks why audiences are currently so drawn to such movies. In addition, he explores how contemporary filmmakers have used reboots and franchise movies to inject timely social commentary and diversity into established media properties. A lively and accessible overview that covers everything from You’ve Got Mail to The Force Awakens, Film Remakes and Franchises raises important questions about the intersection of business and creativity in Hollywood today.

About Reboot! "Reboot to work; retirement is a disease." "It's better to wear out than rust out." That is the message of Reboot! While American culture glamorizes the "Golden Years" of endless leisure and amusement, Phil Burgess rejects retirement, as he makes the case for returning to work in the post-career years, a time he calls later life. Based on solid research from the social and medical sciences, the author says, "It is better to die with your boots on, fully engaged in helping others and repairing the world." Reboot! is partly autobiographical. Indeed, the author is working well into his own post-career years, following two failed retirements. He is also convincing in his eye-opening, historically rooted, and hope-filled arguments for engaging in life-long work that is productive and satisfying. Reboot! identifies five different types of work: in-kind, volunteer, Samaritan, enrichment, and paid work. Booters who incorporate one or more of these types of work into their post-career lifestyle will, according to Burgess, live longer, live better, and die faster - avoiding boredom, aimless busy-ness, diminished self-worth and the anguish (and cost) of lingering death. With America's 78 million boomers turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day for the next 18 years, Reboot! provides a timely and provocative alternative to the conventional idea of retirement. With the promises of Social Security and Medicare about to be broken, Reboot! provides an upbeat and constructive way to deal with new financial realities. For men and women navigating life's transitions, striving to finish well, Reboot! provides a roadmap for living a life of meaning, challenging the reader to be a booter, not a retiree. Burgess boldly asserts that retirement is a deadly disease, and that work after a life of work is the best option for post-career years that are meaningful, productive, healthy, and satisfying. See www.BooterNation.com Excerpts: On retirement: "Not all ideas are good ideas. Some are bad ideas. Retirement is one of those bad ideas - it makes no sense...Retirement is not natural. It is not historic. It is not healthy. It is not, for most people, fulfilling. For many, retirement is a widow maker." On the value of work: "The social engagement and satisfaction that come from working in later life are keys to successful aging...There is much work to do in this world where we are but temporary inhabitants. We should find it and do it...at least for as long as we're able. In many ways, our life depends on it." On work and money: "Work is not only about money. Even if you don't need the money and your financial situation is stable and comfortable, returning to work in your post-career life is the smart thing to do - at least until sidelined by frailty or disability. It's smart because good health and satisfaction in later-life are most likely to come from working." On different types of work: "For most of us, post-career work will be tailored work, work customized to reflect our needs, our deepest desires, and the highest and best use of our gifts - especially time, talent, and treasure. Work tailored to our gifts will be productive and satisfying."...