Around 9% of superhero fans disliked the Fantastic Four (2015) that starred Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic and Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch. This is just one of the examples of the effects that rebooted movies/franchises have on the audience and critics alike. Around the globe movies like this had either flopped or gone straight to streaming or dvd deemed to be big failures to studios in which also were made fun of and ridiculed by people from the internet.
One of the reasons why rebooted movies aren’t a good idea is how much movie studios/companies lose over it. According to the Box Office Mojo the movie Fantastic Four (2015) received a budget of 120,000,000 dollars and was released in theaters August 7th of 2015, fans were ecstatic for a movie they believed to be a blockbuster hit, but instead fans of the franchise were shocked on how disappointing the movie turned out to be with a staggering 4.3 out of 10 rating on IMDB and a 9% tomatometer score Brent McBride stated that “This movie was horrendous and that they shouldn’t have rebooted that franchise, but I’m glad that the new one was better.”
The movie was a complete failure only receiving approximately 167.9 million worldwide with an estimated loss of 80 to 100 million in the box office which it failed to recoup the money that was used giving 20th century fox a massive blow in their pocket. This is a good example that rebooted movies, although hyped by fans, when not done right can lead to huge losses in money. Another reason that rebooted movies fail is that the people or studio behind the film doesn’t capture the essence and popularity of the original film. For example Robocop (2014) was a reboot of the classic (1987) Robocop which captured the hearts of many fans of the 80s and 90s earning a staggering 92% rotten tomatoes with a budget of 13 million and in return made around 53.4 million dollars which today is worth $150,717,816 dollars which was a huge box office for Robocop (1987).
Trying to get off the success of the franchise the studio, Columbia Pictures, a studio of Sony wanted to reboot the series by recasting the stars of the original like Joel Kinnaman as Robocop and a supporting cast that consists of Micheal Keaton and Samuel. L. Jackson, with a budget of 100-130 million reported by the article Numbers, that only 242, 981,799 million was received. This wasn’t bad for a rebooted franchise but instead the movie was received with mixed reviews and it mostly wasn’t received well by critics and fans because it didn’t capture the essence of the originals. K Vu quoted that “Movies shouldn’t need a reboot if they don’t have any more story to tell” others mentioned that it didn’t capture the bloodiness and the action that the originals had which during that time was rated r which was the cornerstone of what made the film special, and the movie created in 2014 was Pg-13 which didn’t sit right with many viewers.
All of the reviews and box office profits ultimately made the rebooted franchise discontinued by Sony. Some critics might say that there were many movies rebooted that were good like The Batman (2022) or Superman (2025) Kevin Duriettz quoted saying that the most recent film that came out, Superman (2025), was “Funny, full of action, and it represents hope as Superman” but these type of movies but even though it succeeded by making a lot of profit, it still held on bad reviews as many wanted the dark, and gritty action that Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel had. Zinn Marfori said that “They wished the movie had the same elements as the original.” Movies can be a catastrophe for studios and can anger fans that hoped that these rebooted movies were a new beginning for the franchises that were beloved by many so as a warning from the past can help new upcoming rebooted movies not make the same mistake as their predecessors.
