As you may have noticed, Hollywood spends a lot of time remaking stuff and making movies out of toys these days.  Hollywood Reporter recently tried to explain the phenomenon, and I’ve copied some of the highlights below, but the short answer is: Moovie peeple don’t reed gud.

The 1980s have turned into a full-fledged garage sale of titles. “Romancing the Stone,” “Footloose,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Dune,” “The Karate Kid,” “Red Dawn,” “RoboCop,” “The Big Chill,” “Arthur,” “Ghostbusters” and “The NeverEnding Story” are but a few of the titles from that decade being developed around town.
When Warners solicited open writing assignments in February, eight of the 10 requests were for projects based on a previous movie or other branded property.
“If you’re trying to get a movie made now, you can push the rock up a mountain or you can push it on flat ground,” said one studio-based producer, explaining the rationale for remake mania [NOTHING]. “And most of us would rather push it on flat ground.”
Neil Moritz, who produced [4 Fast 4 Furious] is developing a new version of “Total Recall” as well as relaunching “XXX,” which first hit the screen just seven years ago. “Lara Croft” is getting a new treatment from Dan Lin and Warner Bros . Fox already is eyeing a relaunch of its “Fantastic Four” franchise.  And at ShoWest last week, Sony said it will bring back “Men in Black” for another escapade.
“For original movies, you need to advertise the idea, the story — it’s about convincing people that it’s worth seeing,” one executive said. “With something that is branded, no education is required.”

*snort*  No education required, ha, sounds like being a studio exec.  *wonders* too subtle?
*Jumps up on desk mouthing “SUCK IT” and thrusting hips*