If you had trouble coming up with one, it isn’t necessarily your fault. Hollywood has a sequel addiction -an irrational fear of new ideas. Out of the top-10 grossing films of 2012, only two were original screenplays: “Brave” and “Ted.”
Out of the other eight, three were prequels or sequels and five were adaptations of previous works. One could argue that production companies are simply making what the people want. After all, “The Avengers” smashed box office records in its opening weekend. If consumers don’t seem to mind the lack of original ideas, why bother?
To get to the bottom of this I compared some box office stats from BoxOfficeMojo.comfor 2012, 2002, 1992 and 1982. The data seems to confirm my fears that original movies are going the way of the buffalo. The leader of the pack was 1982 with six original movies. By 1992, the number had dropped to four. In 2002, the only original movies were “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Signs” and “Ice Age.”  The worst of the lot was 2012 with a measly count of only two original movies.
The numbers don’t lie. Original ideas are taking the backseat in the movie industry. What’s equally interesting is how well these original films did as the years progressed. Out of the four years, 1982 was the only year that had an original movie as its highest grossing film (“E.T.”).  After that, no original film made the top five. The worst year for these films out of the four was 2012, where the highest an original film achieved was the number eight spot.
One might assume Hollywood makes so many sequels and adaptations because these films make more money. The truth is, it’s actually the opposite. Ticket prices in 1982 were a little over a dollar cheaper than the average ticket today. The film industry was raking a lot of money, and this was reflected in the price of the tickets.
As a general business principle, a company is more likely to take risks in the presence of a strong market, and a film with an original story is a big risk. Sequels and adaptations, on the other hand, are fairly safe bets. When the movie industry hits a slump, like it has in the past decade, studios are far less likely to gamble their capitol on something that doesn’t have a predecessor that can predict its success.
There is still hope for original films though. 2012 showed a 6.1 percent increase in ticket sales from the previous year. This increase in box office turnout coupled with a steadily recovering United States economy may make for an economic environment that encourages Hollywood to gamble on more original ideas. If not, you may have to settle for “Generic Superhero Movie 4” or “Bestselling Teen Book: The Movie.”