Many historians argue over who truly invented the ‘moving picture’. Whether it was Louis Le Prince in 1888, ordained the ‘Father of Cinematography’, or Thomas Edison, who popularised commercial moving images in the US, we cannot be certain. However, what we do know is that TV culture has been around for over 100 years. Therefore, we have millions and millions of stories produced into our entertainment industry, some grossing up to $2.92 billion, while others never make it past production.
In a world constantly evolving, where the current generations’ short attention span leads to the struggle of producing engaging media, where does this leave the entertainment industry?
In recent media, we’ve seen a heavy return of book to film adaptations, which may lead viewers to believe that we have run out of original ideas. For example, the many Colleen Hoover adaptations alongside classic remakes, such as Sense and Sensibility and Wuthering Heights.
While the book community are very grateful to see their favourite books hit the screen, myself included, it’s interesting to see what this means for big production companies. These stories are already out in the world and therefore already have their own fanbase. This may mean when production companies pick up these stories, they have an awareness that there will be an increase in viewership. However, the book community has strict expectations, and if they are not met, production companies may not profit. Would it then be a risk to pick up and adapt these stories?
Netflix and Amazon Prime seem to be at the forefront of these adaptations. Specifically with Netflix, we rarely see Netflix originals anymore, or at least, they aren’t as popular as the adaptations. This furthers my point that this industry may have lost all it’s original thought, and new ideas aren’t often favoured, even often referred to as repetitive. I would say the only exception at the moment would be ‘Voicemails for Isabelle’, but this storyline is very similar to the book ‘You’ve Reached Sam’ by Dustin Thao.
With this industry being around for over 100 years, it is difficult to constantly be able to entertain the new youth without repeating or retelling the same stories. Are book adaptations the current trend or will this become the new norm?