Friday, March 24, 2017

The Updated Classic Movie

Amanda Schoenecker
Reuter
Economics
19 March 2017

The Updated Classic Movie

With the pressure of coming out with new movies, Disney decided to produce a remake of Beauty and the Beast which was released on March 17th, 2017. With remakes, there are always modifications from the original which sometimes turn out good, otherwise not so much. At least with this classic plotline, the new remake did exceed consumer expectations compared to the original movie which was released in theatres on September 29th, 1991.  

For those who don’t know the plotline, it’s about a superficial, selfish prince who becomes cursed. The curse makes the prince an ugly beast due to his treatment towards others. In order to reverse the spell, the beast must find true love from a young woman.That’s when Belle, a girl from the village, comes along. She was captured by the beast when trying to save her father and became a prisoner. Eventually, the two fall in love and the curse is broken which is shown by the beast returning to his original looks.
The tradeoff between his behavior and looks was definitely worth it because the opportunity cost was changing his selfishness to kindness which is a positive gain. Of course, the plotline between the old and new film were the same, but there were some changes. The most dramatic change between the two movies was the animation vs. real life depiction. Other than that, there were some minor alterations that weren’t too pertinent.

In terms of economic success, the new movie exceeded the old movie in regards to domestic opening weekend sales. The original had ticket sales of $162,146 compared to the new movie with sales of $174.750,616. Despite the fact that people would have more drawn since they knew the plotline, people still went to see the new version due to the real life depiction and a more modern take on the story.

Part of the higher quality for the new movie could have been due to the factors of production. The new movie had a budget of $100,000,000, while the old movie had a budget of $20,000,000. In addition to the higher budget, there are also more innovative techniques and technologies that allow films to be produced with better features. The difference in quality is shown in the link which is a preview of each movie. Otherwise, the picture demonstrates the variation between the animation and real life characters.



In conclusion, it is a good idea for producers to remake older films because in our free market economy we encourage competition. It is always interesting to watch an older film in a more modern way and compare the two to see which is better. The supply of these movie films will only increase due to the new technological updates which will improve the quality of movies and increase the desire of consumers to watch these films. In my opinion, I think the new version was more intriguing than the original animated film. I may be slightly bias because I typically am not a huge fan of animated movies. It will be interesting to watch more recreations of classic movies in the future.




Works Cited

Erbland, Film / By Kate, Film / By Tim League, Television / By Hanh Nguyen, Film / By Steve Greene, Film / By Jude Dry, Television / By Yoselin Acevedo, Film / By Zack Sharf, Film / By Yoselin Acevedo, and Film / By Eric Kohn. "IndieWire." IndieWire. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

"Movie Comparison: Beauty and the Beast (1991) vs. Beauty and the Beast (2017)." The Numbers. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

"Beauty and The Beast." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

45 comments:

  1. It was an interesting article. I liked how you involved the factors of production. It was interesting to see the difference in the budget cost for the two movies and the drastic difference. I would have focused more on the business side and less on the opinion on which movie will be better. I agree that the further tech. gets that the movies will appear better. The movies could still fail though if the consumer expectations are not met to what they think the movie should have been like.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think that some advertising from the previous movie also created an increase in demand for this movie. People knew the story from the animated film and therefore were excited to see this classic come to life. I think it is amazing that they can make so much money from these movies because they are in such high demand especially as the adults who watched the animated version as kids want to share that magic with their own young children.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had no idea of the budget difference between both of the movies. Although I haven’t seen the new version, I remember seeing the older one and really enjoying it. I think it’s really interesting that people would pay to see a newer version of such an iconic movie that almost everyone knows the plotline to. You’d think that since it’s such a well known plotline, people wouldn’t want to see a different version of it, however I think it’s cool that people are interested in seeing this new version.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Although I do agree with the statement that the new Beauty and The Beast movie is more popular than the older, cartoon version, I do not believe that that is the main cause in the increase in opening sales. Since the original 1991 release of Beauty and The Beast, movie ticket prices have inflated and are more expensive now than they were 26 years ago. This inflation in costs probably had a large effect on how much sales the movie made.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's pretty interesting that a remake of a classic can have that much more opening sales than the original. It seems like consumers are actually more likely to fork money over for something they're more familiar with, than giving a new property a chance, hence why certain sequels are so much more successful compared to the originals.

    In general, it seems like movie going is at an all time high in popularity, and remakes and sequels seem to gain the most hype, causing them to do extremely well. Unfortunately, these productions seem to take advantage of this and don't always put much effort towards making the actual film that memorable. If they already know it'll be successful by name, through opportunity cost,they can just focus on the marketing rather than producing a 10/10 film.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This a a very interesting topic. It is very interesting that the budget for the new movie is so much higher than for the first movie. The new movie is great for adults who used to watch the original when they were kids. The budget for the second movie is so much higher because there were many more people involved in making the movie. I really liked your post!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's interesting that the success of the remake of the movie has been so successful because people tend to like what they know--the originals. However, the differentiation between animated and real life characters likely played a significant role in the resultant profit made from the movie. In instances such as this, where animated classics are remade with real actors/actresses, the movies are created with the goal of high consumer enjoyment, which in turn generates more profit because more people will want to see the movie.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I enjoyed your post thoroughly, mostly because I loved this movie too. The fact that you were able to apply the concepts of opportunity cost and trade-offs to the actual plot of the movie was very creative and shows the extensive applications of economics in real life. The only suggestion I have is that I think it would also be interesting to read about the actual breakdown in budget for the movie, such as how much went towards costumes, animation, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Remaking classic movies is always a risk, because people hold them to such high expectations. If people don’t like how one part of the movie was changed or removed, it could cause backlash, leading to a decrease in sales.
    It was interesting to see from your article the differences in budget and ticket sales. I was amazed by how much more in ticket sales the new movie made than the original ($174,588,470 more to be exact!). All of the hype about this remake also made it so successful; diffidently with all of the advertising. I know for sure this Halloween, Bell will be a popular costume, leading for a further increase in sales for Disney. By being smart about their advertising techniques and how they remade the movie, lead for a great success for the company.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It is very interesting to see the similarities and differences between the old animation and the new movie. The most interesting factor that went into making the movies were the different budgets. I think that because prices were lower in the early 1990's, they didn't need as much money to produce the film. Also with today's film that had to create costumes, add effects, and hire actresses and actors to play the characters rather than having just the voices. If they recreated the movie as an animation I think they would have changed the character's appearance drastically, which is why I am glad they filmed it with real people.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I saw the movie last week and I also really enjoyed it. Remakes of old movies can be very tricky, either they are a huge success or a failure. Disney was very smart in giving it a more modern twist (real life) which would attract more viewers, but also kept fairly true to the storyline. Especially with the Disney princesses, a lot of people like the classic story, so just having a few minor changes was smart.
    I think inflation is a big factor in how much this movie made since movie tickets are now obviously more expensive than they were in 1991. Therefore it's harder to see how much more successful this version was than the first. However, I think they will end up getting a great return on their investment of $100 million. With all of the technology and editing that they've incorporated in the new version, there's no doubt that the price was higher. In the end, I think this movie will turn out to be a huge pay-off.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I was interested to see how much remakes are demanded by people. I do agree with your statement that more movies should be remade in order to increase competition between the market. However, there is some risk involved. Some original movies may not be favored in the first place, so as more remakes are being made for today's love and joy, some people may not like it as much as they did with Beauty And The Beast. As long as there is a significant demand for remakes, then there would definitely be successful outcomes.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I agree too that it is a good idea to make a remake of an original movie if that movie was so popular. In this case it was obviously proved to be true. When they determined to make the picture from animation to real life I think that had a substantial impact on the consumers taste because they already loved this Disney classic, but seeing a real version of it made it even better which proved to be true with the opening weekend revenue. I think more Disney classics should be recreated because it is a great way to reconnect with all former and current Disney fans, and would be a great way to continue to produce revenue without having to create new content.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had no idea that the original animated movie had such a small budget. The cost of production for the newer film is literally five times greater than the original. $100,000,000 seems like a lot of money for a movie, however they've already gained more than that back in ticket sales so in the longrun their profit is larger than the inital cost.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I enjoyed reading this because UI thought to myelf, I wonder who is going to write an essay about the new beauty and the beast movie. when remaking classic movies like Beauty and the beast, can always turn into a huge risk, because people hold the producers to high expectation and are hoping that they didn't waste $18 to see the premier and be disappointed, there are more movies that are being remade from an old animation to a real life depiction, like Mulan.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Disney is very smart for remaking all their old movies because it reaches a wide variety of consumer interests. The older people who grew up with the classic Disney are excited to compare the two and see what else they came up with, while, the younger kids will enjoy a new classic that they'll grow up with and love. Without coming up with something new, Disney can excite consumers and increase revenue, just by updating an old story. It's interesting to see the budget difference between the two movies based on when they were created and the technology used. Overall, it's worth it for Disney and other companies to continue to create remakes for many reasons, and not many disadvantages.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes they revamped movies would bring money and my cause new people to even watch the old version of the movie which would bring in more money But wouldn't new plots bring my even more money in since people would wonder that the movie is about and that would draw in people more that an already done plot.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Even though the budgets of the two movies and the ticket sales during the opening weekend varied greatly, I think they may be closer than we think. The average ticket price in 1991 was only $4.21, where today is is $8.65. Yes, that does mean that more people have gone and seen this one, but it isn’t as large of a difference. I think you are totally right as to why this movie had more success, the fan base from the first movie followed into the remake - I know my parents went to go see this remake because they had seen the original. Especially for teenagers, we grew up watching those movies and they are part of our childhood, so it makes sense that we will go and see the remake. Having a higher budget, the factors of production definitely did allow the profit made by the movie to increase.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love seeing new ways a film or performance can be presented, so I thought it was a really cool idea for Disney to redo this in a more modern light. Although I do love new ideas and new films, much more, I think it's acceptable and interesting to see new adaptations. I think the risk Disney and other film companies have to take is that the new movie may not be as good as the old film. I think if it surpasses or meets the quality of the old film, then it's worth it, otherwise I think it's best to entertain with new bold ideas instead of used ones. Overall, I'm very pleased with the new Beauty and the Beast and applaud Disney for making it, but in short, I think it would draw in more public when it's something they've never seen before.

    ReplyDelete
  20. It's interesting that the remake film had such a great success than the original film. I can see why it would do better than the original, because more people are going to the movies and it's interesting to see the movie in an updated/ modern way. However, I kind of thought that the success would be lower than it is because if the original didn't do so well, why would an updated version do better? Maybe because they changed the plot around and characters in the new one? I was surprised hearing on the news how well it did in the box office, all the hype for the movie must have worked. Another thing that I found interesting was the budget for the original movie compared to new movie. The original film had such a low budget compared to the new one. I figured that the new movie would have a higher budget because they have to deal with creating a set, costumes, actors and such but I never expected it to be so high. Overall, I want to see the movie so I will be contributing to the ticket sales!

    ReplyDelete
  21. This was a very interesting post, and having seen the new movie as well as the original, I could definitely relate to the ideas and thoughts expressed in your piece. Its very fascinating that you used the concepts of opportunity cost and trade-offs that we learned in class and related them back to the plot line that the movie follows, that was something that had not previously occurred to me, but just proves that economics can be found in anything. I think it would be interesting to include individual budget items, such as Belle's yellow dress or items similar, just to further prove your point and determine major budget differences. Since I enjoy doing musicals, I really enjoyed the songs that we also added and incorporated throughout the movie. I wonder who exactly wrote the new music and how much they were paid for their efforts. Lastly, it might've been cool to reflect on the casting portion of the movie, and evaluate certain trade-offs and opportunity costs that actors and actresses might face when deciding to partake in a very popular remake such as this one, or how the directors chose them for the parts. Overall, very well done and it definitely got me thinking about many different aspects of the economy and its role in our lives.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Typically when releasing a product that's already known, there isn't much hype about it. With Beauty and the Beast it was quite the opposite. Such a classic story allowed for a remake, and because there were improvements made to the movie, the demand for it increased more than it usually would have. It's risky to remake movies because if a movie is good the first time, it's hard to live up to it a second time. The opportunity cost of it tanking or gaining success is large, but in this case it was worth it.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The modern take on "Beauty and the Beast" was truly something to see. Though -- like you said -- Disney may have taken a risk in potentially tarnishing one of their most beloved movies, they truly did a great job of making an old classic come to life. I recently saw the remake with my sister, and can definitely say that they brought the movie to the modern age in the best way possible. Clearly, others agree, since "Beauty and the Beast" has broken box office records both domestically and worldwide. I'm glad that Disney managed to make such a profitable movie, and look forward to their re-imagining of other popular films-- such as "Aladdin" and "Mulan"-- in the near future.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I think that coming out with remakes of movies is a great idea. Remakes of movies not only allows children to have a good time watching the movie but also parents and teenagers. As a kid majority of us watched beauty and the beast, lets be real it was a classic. Belle was honestly my favorite princess. More tickets were sold for this film because people want to see what will be different from the last movie. I am sure many teenagers went to see this movie too because a lot of us watched this movie as a kid. I believe Disney should continue to recreate movies that a lot of older kids and adults watched as we grew up.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The remake of this movie is absolutely genius. The movie is obviously aimed at younger aged children. However, since the original movie came out when we were kids this helps for us to enjoy the movie as well. We all want to take a look at the movie to see what changed and what has stayed the same. This is why the hype stayed up so high for this movie and market box prices and attendance is good. Disney has done this before will a few other movies such as, Cinderella, and got a similar outlook for the same reason. Disney profited yet again off of the same idea they had in the past, and I believe they should go on to create more remakes off movies I watched when I was a kid.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I thought that the movie was fantastic, and the main reason why I saw it, was like you had said was because of the classic plot line. The amount of ticket sales they pulled in were tremendous, and I can't wait to to see the number to continue growing. Disney has been doing a great job with their remakes, and I think this one was more popular than "Cinderella." Good movie, just didn't do too well in theaters. With Disney doing even more remakes, and long waited sequels, like "The Incredibles 2" and "Finding Dory" I think Disney is going to be raking in the money for the next few years.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I am a very big princess fan and I will always be in support of the new movies that Disney remakes. Disney is so trusted by its consumers that if it releases any sort of movie, rather that be a remake or original, people will always flock in to see it. However, the remakes have a nostalgic factor I think and also can teach kids about the history of Disney. Overall, the combination with Disney's strong fan base and nostalgic factors that come along with remakes, they should keep being produced.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The difference in opening sales is astonishing, however, I think it's easily explainable by the updated technology and growth of the Disney empire as a whole. The original Beauty and the Beast was released in 1991, and after adjusting for inflation the $20 million budget of the movie today would be worth around $37 million. There is still a huge gap between the budget of both movies, but the gap is much smaller than one would initially perceive. Also, though Disney was still a powerhouse back when the original Beauty and the Beast was released, they have only grown since then. On top of this, the remake will be a great watch for children, for obvious reasons, as well as adults who want to relive their childhood nostalgia in a new way. In this way, the remake hits a wider demographic than the original movie so it only makes sense that the opening crowds which were drawn to it were much larger than that of the original.

    ReplyDelete
  29. The cost change in the production of these movies is reliant the increase in technology. The 2017 movie is significantly more expensive, however, the movie is significantly more advanced. There is a seamless blend between animation and reality that can't be cheap. This insane movie innovations in the past 25 years have made this movie way cheaper than how much it would have costed them back in 1991 to create this 2017 movie. In 1991 they probably would have liked to make the movie realistic, but the technology was less advanced, thus costing an insane amount of money to try to produce the movie. Since technology has changed you see in a change in the supply curve. More movies with higher quality can be made with the added movie technology, allowing people to efficiently create a wider range of movies.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I agree that we should remake older movies because the world has changed a lot from the past 10 years. Remaking a older movie can have the positives of better, more realistic movies. Also it gives people a refreshing feeling and memories. The opportunity cost of making these movies is a lot but in the end can come back to be something good. The remakes of movies gives people a different view or idea of what the true meaning of the movie is.

    ReplyDelete
  31. The success of the remake is most likely aided by the wide span of audiences it reaches. It is a movie that appeals to all ages, because the generation that grew up with the original animated Beauty and the Beast was drawn to the new remake. Additionally the parents of that generation that grew up with the original, I'm sure, saw the movie the first time and were most likely drawn to the remake as well. And then, of course, you have the current children and parents in which princess movies appeal. With this broad audience the movie was likely to draw more success than the first and many movies that are out now that are not remakes. Disney has done this a lot in the recent past, and I'm sure they will continue to remake classics with the success of the is one and the ones before it. Though they ran the risk of it not being as good as the original, the opportunity cost of not making it was much greater so it was considered to be worth the risk. The success of this movie, and other remakes like it, can most likely be attributed to the wide audience it appeals to.

    ReplyDelete
  32. First of all I like you made made something so simple and related it closely with economics. More reasons this movie is such a success is because it is already a product that is highly valued by most of the public, and having an updated/new version of the product years later brings in a wider audience along with those who already had loved the story. The same thing can also be found with iphones and android phones, advancing their own product that is already highly demanded will bring in more consumers and more money.

    ReplyDelete
  33. This post was interesting to read and think about costs of remaking a movie. Disney is smart for remaking their old movies because it helps reach a variety of consumer expectations. Older people grew up with the classic animated versions of Disney and might be excited for it to 1. come out of the vault and 2. see how it is interpreted in today's age. Kids will enjoy the movie like their parents did and grow up to love this classic live action version. Disney is able excite consumers and increase revenue, by creating a live action version of an old story using actors that most people already know. The budget difference of the two movies is interesting based on when they time period they were created and what new technology there has been since the original. Overall, it is a good idea for companies such as Disney to create remakes in order to increase demand for their companies products.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I think remaking old movies into new more modern style is a good idea because people enjoy comparing the same movies to remakes or like with music people like to cover song already out there and to make it different because that's what people like they like options and having an opinion. This is also like books to movie people like to read the book and watch the movie to see the difference. I think a lot of people went to see the movie because its a childhood memory for most but also I lot of the new generation don't know the old movie to it kinda giving new meaning to an old story. I like how you used the econ terms I think they fit really well and flowed nice with the subject.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Before a friend of mine had said anything about the movie, I hadn't known a remake of Beauty and the Beast was coming out. At first I wasn't interested in seeing the movie due to negative stereotypes that remakes and sequels tend to have, but now I'm glad I did. I was impressed with how similar the 1991 version and the 2017 version were. With our more modern and advanced technology producers are able to supply viewers with higher quality films. Additionally, while movies by themselves bring in a lot of profit, when a soundtrack is paired even more money can be made. Movies such as Beauty and the Beast, 50 Shades, and Moana have soundtracks that rank in the top albums on iTunes, increasing profits made along with these films.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Disney was an essential part of my childhood, so seeing the remakes of my childhood movies like "The Lion King" brings me nostalgia and provides me with higher expectations for their live action remakes. I have heard that the Beauty and the Beast exceeds many people's expectations. I'm looking forward to watching it, whether in theaters or on the TV, and hoping that it's just as good as everyone says. As it is looking, Disney is due to make a lot of revenue from these remakes of classic Disney movies.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Updating classic movies are a smart idea because they not only produce good revenue, but they draw in more viewers. As most classic movies were first created when our generation was younger, these newer movies are bringing in more viewers of an older age. Not only parents going with their children, but high schoolers and college students who are attempting to relive parts of their childhood. I agree with your opinion here in how Disney or other movie companies should start to recreate these classic movies because they will end up making more money and they will most likely uphold consumer expectations.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Disney does a really good job of recreating the films our generation watched as kids. The idea is genius, because our generation wants to dive back into these childhood memories sometimes, and these recreations provides us the opportunity to do so. Personally, I won't watch this film because the original wasn't a big part of my childhood, but I will watch The Incredibles 2 for sure. All in all, these remakes is a way for Disney to generate more revenue and they do this by digging into our childhood memories.

    ReplyDelete
  39. I am a very big princess fan and I will always be in support of the new movies that Disney remakes. Disney is so trusted by its consumers that if it releases any sort of movie, rather that be a remake or original, people will always flock in to see it. However, the remakes have a nostalgic factor I think and also can teach kids about the history of Disney. Overall, the combination with Disney's strong fan base and nostalgic factors that come along with remakes, they should keep being produced.

    ReplyDelete
  40. The Beauty and the Beast remake was fantastic in my opinion, though I heard many opposing thoughts on the movie and its updates. Many people felt that there was no point to remaking it and that the cost of the movie could have been put toward another project. However, the movie made so much money on its opening night that I’m sure it offset the cost of production. Not to mention that movies stay in theaters for a few weeks to months which would bring in more revenue and ultimately result in profit.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Although I have not had the opportunity to see the new production of Beauty and the Beast, I have always been a fan of Disney movies. Many children of the 1990's - 200's grew up with the Disney Princess' as their role models like I did and thus I will definitely be seeing the movie when I can. There were some opposing thoughts and some believed this was a waste of a movie but the increasing revenue of this production is truly showing the critics wrong as it continues to make more and more profit.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Although I haven't yet seen the new production of Beauty and the Beast, I have always been a fan of Disney movies. Since each movie is a classical children's movie the demand is always going to stay high. So the reproduction, with the better quality is bound to make a huge profit as children tend to get born everyday. Another huge market for Disney is the old timers that were kids around the time the originals were released; many people tend to re-watch the movies to relive their childhoods.

    ReplyDelete
  43. After reading this it makes me want to go see the new movie, but I have also heard really good things about it and some negative things. But most of those comments don't matter because as you said in your post that this movie increased demand bringing in so much money even though it was just a remake. I also think that if Disney was smart they would remake all the Disney movies which would then bring in more money.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Disney is faced with the challenge of delivering new and exciting movies to both children and older audiences that fit in with their very well-defined brand and aesthetic. Disney's recent strategy has been to deliver a series of live-action remakes of classic favorites. Live action remakes can be risky if they do not capture the charisma of the original films as seen by the dismal 22% Rotten Tomatoes rating that 2014's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has received. Disney must invest large amounts of production money to ensure that their animated elements, sets, costuming, and cast acting abilities are at a high-enough caliber to capture the magic of the original films. For Beauty and the Beast, Disney felt the that this value was worth a budget of $160 Million. Disney can confidently predict that this cost will reap a greater reward in the future due to the astronomical success of their other endeavors. Disney also owns theme parks, production companies, and television networks that ensure that the company will succeed financially even if one project ends up losing money. This diverse portfolio helps Disney to be more confident, pursue more projects, and take higher risks.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I think it is a very smart decision for Disney to remake their original movies. They are the classics that older people grew up with, but also attract the eye of young children. The variety of people that fit this target market increases profit tremendously. The only downfall to remaking an animation is the production cost. However with a film like Beauty and the Best, more advanced technology comes with a price. Even though the production cost from 1991 and 2017 are significantly different, it would have been much more expensive to create this type of film back in 1991. Due to the blend of animation and reality, I fully expected the price to be as high as it was since the details and characteristics were very thought out over the course of the entire movie.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...