Is Hollywood out of ideas?

When you look at the top grossing films of 2011, you find one thing. Most of them are from movie franchises. Thirteen of the top twenty grossing movies are sequels or prequels. (Box Office MoJo 2011 Domestic Grosses)

Who's to blame for the lack of originality at the top? Is Hollywood out of ideas? Look, when it comes to who Hollywood can count on to go to the movies, they know it's one demographic. Teenagers. (NPR story on who goes to movies.) That's why you have the top eight films out of the top ten to be science fiction-fantasy genre. But is it bad? Not if you like science fiction or fantasy. The bad part is that more original science fiction should be made. Of course, there is always a concern that Hollywood will skip producing movies like "The King's Speech." (2010) Let's hope that doesn't happen. Last thing I would like to see is a Twilight movie nominated for Best Picture.

One last note on my favorite franchise, Star Trek. I know that Simon Pegg who plays Scotty in the new Star Trek reboot, got in a wee bit of trouble when he labeled Star Trek as a result of "execs favoring familiarity." Of course Star Trek does have brand name recognition. But that doesn't mean you can't have quality with a franchise. Star Trek is intelligent science fiction. It's creator Gene Roddenberry's vision. His vision was to make a series that was an entertainment and smart. It was to be serious with big ideas.

THE TOP TEN GROSSING FILMS FOR 2011 Figures rounded.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 381.0 million.

2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon. 352.4 million.

3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 279.8 million

4. The Hangover Part II 254.5 Million

5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. 241.1 million.

6. Fast Five. 209.8 Million.

7. Cars 2. 191.5 Million

8. Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol. 189.5.

9. Thor. 181 Million.

10. Rise of the Planet of Apes. 176.8 Million.