When does it make sense to do it again? An empirical investigation of contingency factors of movie remakes

A substantial number of current Hollywood productions are remakes of earlier motion pictures. This research investigates the economic implications of this strategy. It develops a conceptual framework of brand extension success in the movie industry that builds upon the sensations and familiarity that a movie offers and uses this framework to illustrate how remakes differ from other movie brand extensions (e.g., sequels). The sensations-familiarity framework is complemented by a contingency model that identifies factors which influence revenues and risk of movie remakes. Using a dataset of 207 remakes released in North American theaters between 1999 and 2011 and a matched sample of other movies, the authors find that, on average, remakes do not increase revenues but do reduce financial risk. The authors also provide evidence of the contingency role of several factors, including the original movie’s awareness and image and the relationship between the original movie and the remake. These insights should be valuable for the movie industry, as they can guide movie producers in their selection of movie brands that, if remade, should be more successful at the box office than the “average” movie remake. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015