Hollywood's New Tactic: Remake Duds

The Ben Affleck-helmed Daredevil was a flop, but it may be getting a reboot, compliments of 20th Century Fox. Ditto for Judge Dredd (coming in September as just Dredd, and minus Sylvester Stallone), the moderately successful Fantastic Four, and the often re-interpreted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sure, Hollywood has long embraced remakes and sequels, but this is something new: a focus on rebooting relatively recent franchises or total duds, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Other coming reboots include Total Recall (in theaters in August), Superman (this time called Man of Steel), Highlander, Ghostbusters, and RoboCop ... and the list goes on (and on and on). And it could be paying off. The Journal notes that The Amazing Spider-Man raked in $140 million in just under a week in the US, calling that a "respectable start" for a film that rehashes a story that was so recently told. (More movie franchises stories.)