Why does nostalgia drive so much of modern entertainment - reboots, remakes, and legacy sequels?

The answer

The dominance of reboots, remakes, and legacy sequels in modern entertainment - from Top Gun: Maverick ($1.49 billion, 2022) to Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.9 billion, 2021) - is driven by both neuroscience and economics. Research published in the journal Memory & Cognition shows that nostalgia activates the brain's reward system, releasing dopamine similarly to comfort foods. Studios exploit this: familiar intellectual property reduces financial risk in an era where original films increasingly struggle at the box office. Between 2010 and 2023, sequels, reboots, and adaptations accounted for approximately 80% of the top 10 highest-grossing films each year. The trend accelerated as millennials - the first generation to grow up with franchise entertainment - reached peak spending age and parenting years, creating a desire to share childhood favorites with their own children. Media scholar Henry Jenkins calls this 'transmedia nostalgia.'