When it comes to the movies that have been released in the past few years, a large number of them are adaptations. Whether it’s Disney making another live-action princess movie or a remake of a cult classic, theaters have been flooded with them. This is not a new phenomenon, however, as remakes have always been around.
When done correctly, there are actually a lot of movie remakes that people enjoy: She’s The Man, Ten Things I Hate About You, and Clueless are just a few classic adaptations. Today’s modern adaptations, on the other hand, are usually disliked or controversial to say the least.
Anyone But You was a recent modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. The movie followed the two on their shaky and reluctant relationship, watching it slowly turn into something real. Similarly, the Shakespearean play follows Benedict and Beatris, and their forced relationship becomes real with a love triangle b-plot.
Romcom RENAISSANCE flop
After years of audiences declaring the romcom genre dead and begging for new material to be made to add to their circulation of classics, you would think that they’d be looking forward to this new movie. After all, it has the same elements as cult favorite romcoms: it’s based on classic literature, stars an attractive main couple, and has hilariously relatable moments. This was not the case, however, as there was a ton of discussion surrounding the casting and writing choices of the film. Meaning that the movie was disliked by many before its release date in December 2023.
The trailer featured a sequence of arguably unfunny moments spliced together with clips of our stars, Sweeney and Powell, with an increasingly low number of clothing items covering them each time, set to “Bad Idea Right?” by Olivia Rodrigo. Many of the early critiques included references to the writing’s “cringe” comedy, and particularly the lead’s lack of chemistry, even with talks of dating rumors following the casted leads up to the release. However, following its debut week in theaters, it is still fair to say that many people enjoyed the movie and agreed that it marked the start of a romcom renaissance, loving the soundtrack and casting of the film.
Now, with the making and trailer release of the new Wuthering Heights adaptation, many people are once more divided when it comes to how the book is being adapted. With one viral tweet stating “Wuthering Heights starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi featuring Charli XCX on the soundtrack is kinda the matcha dubai chocolate labubu of film,” noting the debatably excessive use of pop culture icons in the movie. This lack of excitement and abundance of critique could be because of the source material. Wuthering Heights is a beloved piece of classic literature with many fanatics who feel protective of the work. Imagine if, instead of the masterpiece that is the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie, we had only had Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), many people would have been upset.
‘Anyone but you’ controversy
What about these modern adaptations causes people to be so upset? Why is there not more outrage surrounding the older adaptations? Well, in the case of Anyone But You, I believe that the main reason people were unhappy was because of the quality. They came in expecting a modern adaptation similar to the director Will Gluck’s previous work, Easy A, another modern adaptation turned teen romcom. However, the movie instead followed the path of Friends With Benefits, a lesser-known movie directed by Gluck, full of more adult themes. All of that to say, it is not wrong to include sex in a romcom at all, but that’s not what audiences were expecting.
If we think back to the other adaptations listed previously, they had sex in them. However, there is a difference between having sex in your movie and having a rated R film full of nudity that was at times unnecessary. Usually, within a romcom, there isn’t a lot of nudity. This could be because many of these movies take place in high schools, with students as their stars. Even when romcoms star adults, such as 13 Going on 30, there is sex and even slight nudity, but still not nearly as “in your face” as seen in Anyone But You.
‘Wuthering Heights’ CONTROVERSY
When it comes to Wuthering Heights (2026), the majority of the discourse has to do with the popularity of everyone involved and the themes used in the trailer. People online have started a discourse about Jacob Elordis’ casting as Heathcliff in the film, a man who was described in the book as “dark-skinned,” leading people to be upset at the lack of diversity in the film. However, there is one outstanding difference between this new trailer and the trailer of the 2011 film. The 2026 trailer is extremely sensual, with people online comparing it to a dark romance book.
There is a way to do a historical adaptation well and make it popular with your audiences, just look at Little Women (2019), for example. The highly anticipated book-turned-movie had a star-studded cast and still managed to do well and resonate with its audience. It followed along with the source material well; the film didn’t have to add in any modern elements to make it more popular. The story alone was enough for audiences.
With the lovable book to modern adaptations of the past, one thing is for certain: these adaptations were held with more care for the source material. Clueless is an extremely similar replica of Jane Austen’s Emma. She’s the Man turns Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night into a modern-day classic, and Ten Things I Hate About You speaks to almost every girl in such a relatable way that it’s hard to believe it came from a Shakespeare play. With this new age of adaptations, instead of getting something more rooted in the movies beloved by most in the romcom world, we instead get Fifty Shades of Grey-level erotica in a time where our generation is looking for less nudity on screen.