Are there any movie ideas left?

There’s been a lot of films made, covering a barrage of topics. Sometimes, I’m tempted to wonder if there are any original ideas out there.

In truth, there isn’t anything original. No story is original. Everything is based off of some basic plot idea: revenge, rescue, searching for a lost parent/friend/sibling/answers, leaving home to find success, coming of age, love interest, quest, social commentary… you get the point.

But all that’s not to say that there aren’t ideas left.

My favorite example is Pirates of the Caribbean. In an interview with the writers, I remember a statement of theirs that still follows me today. They were talking about how they came about the idea, and they said, “well, how about we do a pirate movie? When was the last time we’ve seen a good pirate movie?”

They didn’t just make a pirate movie. They glorified pirates by adding romance and mystery and a sly main character. They based it off the ride in Disneyland. They took old myths and put them into play. The idea of a pirate movie wasn’t new, but this combination is. This mixture is what made them infamous.

Too many people decide to make a cop movie. Too many people don’t add anything else to the mixture, and they decide to call it a ‘cop movie’.

There are mixtures and solutions and ideas that haven’t been paired. And all screenwriters need to realize that the mixing and adding of new elements into ideas of old is what counts.

-Rika