Is Short-Term Nostalgia Profit Worth Killing Hollywood’s Biggest Franchises?

When considering the films you’ve seen this year, would any of these come to mind: the live-action Lilo & Stitch, Jurassic World Rebirth, Captain America: Brave New World, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon and Snow White, Freakier Friday, and the recently released Tron: Ares?

All of these movies were only released in the past 10 months, yet each one carries a profound sense of familiarity because they’re either based on iconic comic series, classic Disney cartoons, or popular film IPs that have endured for decades. This trend highlights 2025 as a pivotal year in cinematic history, marking the undeniable peak of Hollywood’s reliance on “nostalgia bait,” attempting to gain viewership by tempting them with characters, settings, or franchises from their childhood.

The reason this strategy works initially is deeply psychological, moving far beyond simple brand recognition and into emotional self-care in a stressed-out, turbulent world. Audiences yearn for “simpler times” — a romanticized version of childhood or an earlier period of life that felt less stressful and more predictable. When we buy a ticket to a remake or sequel, we are buying emotional insurance, hoping to connect to “the good things of the past” to compensate for the complexity of the present. However, this dependence on delivering predictable comfort means the movies’ direct connection to the audience is fragile. If the studios violate the emotional guarantee of fidelity and quality, the market’s response is swift and punitive.

Hollywood uses this bait because it’s financially low-risk for major film studios, most of whom are too afraid to bet on an original idea that may or may not succeed. As a result, they are opting for formulaic sequels since audiences reliably “vote with their wallets” for familiar IP, even if the creative well is dry. This addiction to rehashes has led to “franchise fatigue” and the supposed loss of creativity and originality in the industry. Even though the massive grosses brought by these old IPs can mask the issues of profitability, it cements the narrative, often amplified via professional critiques and social media opinions, that the industry is trapped in a “death spiral of nostalgia bait.”

The consequence of this self-destruction is evident in the biggest failures of 2025. Take Disney’s Snow White (2025): the high-stakes live-action remake carried a production budget of $269.4 million USD, yet the film failed at the box office, earning a worldwide gross of only $205.7 million USD. This total failed to even recoup the production cost, resulting in a staggering financial loss.

The failure stemmed from a “fractured vision” that was “torn between nostalgia and modern messaging,” satisfying no one. This creative misalignment was compounded by lead actress Rachel Zegler’s public criticism of the 1937 original film, dismissing its love story and criticizing its depiction of women. This was perceived by the core audience as a disrespect to the original material, thereby shattering their emotional connection with the movie. In addition, the film was widely judged for the actors’ underwhelming performances, weak rewritten storyline, and the CGI of the original Seven Dwarfs. All these factors sucked out the “magic” of the original version, making it an expensive lesson for Disney this year.

@benfarryt Why did the Snow White movie fail? #snowwhite #movie #disney ♬ original sound – Ben Farr

The problem of saturation was also visible in the superhero franchises, as seen in Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World (2025). Despite a production budget of $180 million USD, the movie generated a worldwide gross of just $415.1 million USD — making it only the second-best performing title in the series behind original The First Avenger in 2011. While this box office performance meant the film likely achieved a technical break-even point, it was universally regarded as a disappointment compared to the box office performances of the previous Captain America films. Even if initial social media reactions were generally positive, the box office shows that a decent quality product is no longer enough to overcome the widespread “superhero fatigue” nowadays.

Sometimes, even when the nostalgia play is commercially successful, the creative corrosion is still apparent. The newest installment of the Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World Rebirth, has earned over $887 million USD at the box office so far, yet it’s criticized on social platforms for missing the point. Fan critiques on TikTok complained of the lack of character dimension in the plot, claiming it to be the worst Jurassic Park in history. Critics also noted the plot had devolved into a tired narrative about “big pharma greed” instead of genuine originality, proving commercial success can cover up creative decay.

However, not all attempts at revival end in a crash. One 2025 film proved that nostalgia, when treated with respect and quality, can still produce cultural lightning: Disney’s live-action version of Lilo & Stitch. Released against a moderate $100 million USD production budget, the movie went on to gross over $1.037 billion USD worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 2025 so far.

The reason for this success was simple: quality production and creative fidelity. The film was praised not for aggressive, conflicting revisions, but for hitting “similar beats to the original” while adding significantly more depth to characters like Lilo & Nani, and enhancing the emotional core of the ohana (family) theme. Audiences on Rotten Tomatoes also praised the spotlight of the film and the CGI Stitch as “so well made” and “magical.” Viewers reward high-production integrity and validate the nostalgia they paid for, rather than reject the material outright as they did with Snow White.

Despite a clear model for success like Lilo & Stitch, the film industry persists with low-effort, low-fidelity content. Prioritizing constant, low-risk content over genuine creative vision risks destroying emotional connections and perpetuating this “death spiral of nostalgia bait” through creatively bankrupt remakes.

The mainstream film industry has to consider the risk/reward of these decisions: Is quick nostalgia cash really worth crippling major franchises and the audience’s trust forever?

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