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Opinion Woke goes broke: Why Hollywood’s politically correct remakes are a flop Opinions - Technology | 2 hours ago

Woke goes broke: Why Hollywood’s politically correct remakes are a flop

Two Hollywood-centric headlines recently caught my eye. The first was about the 2025 “woke” remake of “Snow White” from Disney, which reportedly lost a massive $170 million. The second was about a “woke” remake of “The ‘Burbs.” 

With regard to “The ‘Burbs,” I have a couple connections to that 1989 cult-classic film starring Tom Hanks and the late (and truly talented) Carrie Fisher. 

Back in the day, I was the director of communications for former Sen. Bob Dole during the time he was the chairman of the World War II Memorial Campaign. 

Dole, along with the late founder of FedEx, Fred Smith, was the driving force behind the success of a memorial many now believe to be the most moving in all of Washington. As it turned out, the spokesperson for that campaign, which eventually raised almost $200 million, was Tom Hanks.

Hanks, along with Stephen Spielberg, stepped up in the classiest, kindest and most generous of ways back in the late 1990s, when so many in Hollywood — an industry that’s literally made hundreds of millions of dollars off World War II movies — turned their backs on the memorial for partisan or self-serving reasons. Around that time, Hanks had starred in the Spielberg-directed “Saving Private Ryan,” and went above and beyond the call of duty time and again to make the memorial a reality for “The Greatest Generation.”

During one conversation with Hanks, who by that time had won two Academy Awards for “Philadelphia” and “Forest Gump,” and starred in the acclaimed “Apollo 13,” I volunteered that my favorite film of his was “The ‘Burbs.” He looked at me with a bemused smile and said “Well, Doug. You are the first person to tell me that.” 

In August 2004, I wrote a column that today seems prescient in an age of “woke” movies bombing. I argued that if I were writing a film, I would do everything in my power to keep partisan politics out of the script, so as not to alienate half the audience and instead seek to entertain instead of lecture or insult. 

Twenty-two later, I believe there are a host of films from the Disney and Marvel Universes — the aforementioned “Snow White” being but one — that have collectively lost well over a billion dollars and more than proved my point. 

Some will argue — and some have — that “life is political,” so films must be, too. But I’m not talking about the kind of politics that acknowledges the need for art to address how people treat people. I am talking about decades of gratuitous demonization and vile, cheap shots taken in films at Republicans, conservatives and especially people of faith. 

As for the 2026 streaming reboot of “The ‘Burbs”, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. Even if some believe the reboot to be DEI-influenced, others will find much to love about it.  

As Hollywood continues to roll out such “woke” remakes, an obvious question comes to mind. Why doesn’t that industry focus more on original content and less on inferior, politically correct and sanitized versions of older films? Why do they feel so bound to hector us with moral lectures that most Hollywood stars are especially ill-positioned to deliver? 

Script-writing is a skill that one either has or does not have. Assigning someone to write a major script for a studio for reasons other than merit is a recipe for failure. So is gratuitously smearing those who don’t adhere to the Hollywood political and ideological narrative. 

While I might not be the leading expert in all things Hollywood, I do know that investors collectively put up billions of dollars to make films. Most are looking for a return on that money. 

You shouldn’t fire petulant and sophomoric insults at half the potential audience of your film simply because you can — especially when it’s not your money being thrown away. That is no one’s idea of good business or entertainment practices. 

If you like the 2026 version of “The ‘Burbs,” that’s great. As for me, I will stick with the 1989 cult classic, which had a proper and crowd-pleasing blend of politics and entertainment.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.

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