Terminator. Robocop. True Grit. Star Trek. Most people think all these reboots are a sign that Hollywood is out of original ideas. However, these movie remakes have all made billions of dollars worldwide, meaning it is less about creativity and more about making money.

Most of this money is coming from China, but the United States government only allows for 34 Western films to be released in china every year. This means that studios have to pick movies that are guaranteed successes and can be simply translated to Chinese audiences. Remaking another Spider-man movie, for example, might seem overdone to American audiences, but overseas many people might have hear the name “Spider-man” with few people ever actually seeing it.

Names hold a lot of power in advertising. Movies with recognizable names are guaranteed to bring in an audience before studio’s even release a trailer. Even people loyal to the original film will most likely see a remake just to create their own judgement on it.

So are reboots a sign that Hollywood is getting cheaper? Hollywood has been getting greedier for a while now, but recreating the things that they know will work is something almost understandable.

When done right, reboots can be used to bring honor to the original content and nostalgia to the original fans, as well as open a door for new fans.

When done wrong, we are left with remakes like Arthur, which not only risk ruining the original film, but show a glimpse of Hollywood’s true colors. Hollywood itself does not care about honoring the original content, only about what will bring in money.

Reboots show that with every year, Hollywood becomes more driven by money and less driven by releasing original and creative content.