Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Franchise Projects Shouldn't be a Makeover

21/01/2025

Franchise Projects Shouldn't be a Makeover

Andy Marken January 20, 2025

0 Comments

I'm going to tell you a story. It's going to sound ridiculous. The longer I talk, the more rational it's going to appear. Cage, Edge of Tomorrow, Warner Bros, 2014

On a recent long flight, we didn't find a film that really turned us on so we went with what should be a shoo-in for us, two long-time sequel hero joining forces Godzilla vs Kong.

We've been enthralled with Godzilla since we saw the special effects Eiji Tsuburaya did for his first 1954 film and how Godzilla has improved over the 38 films.

We thought Kong was humorous the first time we saw him in his 1933 debut but hanging atop the Empire State building and watching biplanes fly around was so-so. He has had a mixed run since then when it comes to scripts and special effects.

Trust us, Godzilla vs Kong didn't add anything to either one of their portfolios.

If we really get into a project, we want to see the sequel, prequel and spin-off to see how the storylines improve, how the actors develop and how the FX gets better to make everything better.

That's especially true of Alien, Terminator, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, John Wick, Matrix, James Bond, Mad Max, Despicable Me, Avatar, Rocky/Creed and Planet of the Apes. Oh, sure, there are a ton more and some of them we liked somewhat but there were only a few we really had to see a couple of times.

What really blew us away was Planet of the Apes and Alien.

The production and post crews were outstanding with the Apes series, it was like each team was hellbent on being better than the one before. And they were.

The latest release makes you really believe you're actually watching apes going through all of the action, complete with realistic lines and ape sounds. Seeing the raw cut along with the final makes the film even more special.

Each new VFX artist was involved and their move to CGI was mindboggling because the gorillas, monkeys, baboons, etc. looked and acted more intelligent, more real, more natural in each film.

With three more Planet of the Apes on the calendar, the franchise is going to make everyone involved in the project feel as though they have really done something special and will set a high bar for other franchise projects.

Yeah, we liked the latest a lot!

Alien was a different beast all together (pun intended).

Loved the shock of the baby popping out of the guy's chest in the first and the close-up drools of the alien. In fact, the drooling got better with each new release even though we did sorta miss Sigourney Weaver facing off with the big ugly dude this time.

That has to be really tough on anyone involved in the first or second film and then have to sit through future versions whether it is as a writer, producer/director, electrician, DP, lighting tech, video/sound editor, VFX/animation artist, actor or whatever.

Some people spend the time, talking/hollering at the screen telling em how they would have done it better.

Fortunately, we only sit and enjoy/marvel what the master crafts persons do.

That's when we decided to take a closer look at the whole sequel/prequel game because there shouldn't be that many right? Heck, everyone wants to do projects that are original, fresh, new. It turns out we're wrong, so wrong.

Good n Plenty - There are a lot of good film franchises with creative people cranking out sequels, prequels, spin-offs and remakes; but they shouldn't be bad and only rest on their past successes.

There's also Dark Knight + Joker + Penguin (same family), Moana, Lion King, Terminator, John Wick, MI, Venom, Captain America/Spiderman/Avengers (family), LotR, Jurassic, Shrek, Frozen Bond, Mad Max, Despicable, Deadpool, Fast Five, Avatar, Rocky/Creed and more.

But the constant stream of sequels, remakes and spinoffs aren't a sure bet to make a bundle.

Some shouldn't have been or shouldn't be done. You know, Black Panther after the loss of Chad Boseman, Crow after Brandon Lee's death, Roadhouse after Patrick Swayze passed; heck, even Fast & Furious after Paul Walker's accident.

Everything that followed the loss of a major actor just didn't feel the same. Almost as though the studios were dancing on the graves.

Okay, not that bad but just sayin'

We'll See - Even without today's technical advances, the Creature from the Black Lagoon made us wonder what if or maybe, which made swimming in non-swimming pools challenging for years.

Jaws and all the shark movies that have followed, never kept us out of the ocean but there was always a certain wariness about rivers, ponds and lakes after watching The Creature from the Black Lagoon. We'll see if the remake has the same effect but doubt it.

With all of the upcoming franchise releases coming up, some folks like to say the industry is running out of good story ideas, so they fall back on the sure things the stuff that worked/made money in the past.

Actually, a sequel/prequel/spinoff is tougher to pull off because you know the latest chapter the others based on the same premise, storyline, actors.

Talk about pressure.

Your work is always being compared to the other guy's, even when the other guy (or gal) is you.

Warner Bros has been shelving and writing down the value of many of it's superhero/adventure series by hundreds of millions but expects a couple of Barbie spinoffs, copies in the near future.

Paramount has done the same with a bunch of their franchises that didn't fare well.

Sony did okay with a number of their IP franchise projects, as did Universal.

Disney is faring well at the box office, on their streaming service and in their family locations.

A number of tracking experts - and especially industry publications - lament the new seque
LINK: https://creativecow.net/franchise-projects-shouldnt-be-a-makeover/...
See more stories from creativecow

North America Stories

12/08/2026

Op-Ed: The Versioning Playbook - How Rights Holders are Getting More From Live Events

Traditional live sports production has focused on creating the best possible pro...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: FOR-A to Demonstrate Production and Processing Solutions

FOR-A will showcase a range of broadcast and production products at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, September 11-14), including software-based switching, A...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: AMWA and EBU to Demo NMOS BCP-008 Multi-Vendor IP Status Reporting

The Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and EBU will host live demonstrations of NMOS BCP-008 Minimum Status Reporting at IBC2026 (September 11-14) on th...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: Dalet Launches Solution Suites for Media Production and Archive Management

Dalet has announced Dalet Solution Suites, a portfolio of cloud-native solutions...

12/08/2026

Net Insight Enables Centralized Remote Production of Blinkfestivalen 2026 for NRK

Net Insight has announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live ...

12/08/2026

Zixi Appoints Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales

Zixi has appointed Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales. Stewart will be responsible for direct sales and partnerships, with a focus on broadcasters, medi...

12/08/2026

LiveU Powers Host Broadcast Operations at 2026 Glasgow Games

LiveU's LU900Q intelligent production unit was deployed as part of the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23-August 2, 2026). Host broa...

12/08/2026

Disney+ and ESPN Acquire Multi-Year Formula E Rights Beginning 2026/27 Season

Disney , ESPN, and Formula E have announced a multi-year deal bringing all Formula E races to Disney and ESPN in the U.S. and to Disney in most international...

12/08/2026

PSSI Launches X-LIVE Managed Service for Live Event Transmission

PSSI has launched X-LIVE, a managed service offering dedicated engineering resources and Appear encoding infrastructure for live event signal processing and tra...

12/08/2026

MoonPay X Games League Draws 18.3 Million Viewers in Inaugural Summer Season

The inaugural MoonPay X Games League Summer Season reached 18.3 million unique live viewers across three stops on ABC and ESPN, a 78.5% increase compared to the...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: BBright Adds RIST Support to IP-Gateway

BBright will showcase an expanded IP-Gateway at IBC2026, adding support for all RIST profiles to its existing support for MPEG Transport Stream over IP with SMP...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: BBright Adds EBU OGraf Graphics Support to UHD and ST 2110 Playout Platform

BBright will demonstrate EBU OGraf animated graphics support in its software-bas...

12/08/2026

Interra Systems to Showcase QC and Monitoring Solutions at SET Expo 2026

Interra Systems will demonstrate its ORION, BATON, BATON Captions, and VEGA solutions at SET Expo 2026 (August 17-20, Distrito Anhembi, S o Paulo) at partner Li...

12/08/2026

DPA Microphones Appoints Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager

DPA Microphones has appointed Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In the role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships througho...

12/08/2026

Save the Date: SVG LIVE! Returns to LA Nov. 10 to Spotlight Sports & Entertainment Production

Live spectacles ranging from the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup to the Oscars and...

12/08/2026

Love, Separation, and the Cost of Comfort in How to Divorce During the War

Writer-Director Andrius Bla evi ius and crew attend the premiere of How to Divorce During the War at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park City, UT. (P...

12/08/2026

Nielsen Introduces Groundbreaking Streaming Ad Measurement in Brazil

Nielsen is cementing Digital Ad Intel as the new go-to currency for digital ad intelligence in Brazil-now with streaming monitoring in the mix. S o Paulo, Augu...

12/08/2026

LPTV Advocates Petition FCC for Voluntary 5G Broadcasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Tubi Media Group Inks Content Discovery Deal with Gracenote

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matrox Video Showcases IP-Based and Software-Defined Tech...

As Matrox Video celebrates 50 years of trusted innovation, the company will showcase its portfolio of interoperable IP technologies and software-defined innovat...

12/08/2026

SMPTE Showcases AI and Open Media Workflows and Industry...

SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced a program of expert-led sessions, professional workshops and networking eve...

12/08/2026

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next to Fenway Park

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next ...

12/08/2026

ACLU Requests ABC Station Probe Documents from FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Roger Keating To Retire from Hearst Television

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Netflix Closes U.S. Upfronts, Nearly Doubles Ad Commitments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

CBS Pittsburgh Debuts New AR/VR News Studio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matthews Intros T-Go Extreme Rigging Solutions

Matthews Studio Equipment introduces T-Go Mounting Solutions extreme camera rigging systems, engineered for the most demanding environments in motion picture pr...

12/08/2026

Anton Bauers EDEN Becomes Only Mobile Power Station in it...

Anton/Bauer, a Videndum brand and the industry leader in mobile power solutions for broadcast and cinematic production, announces that the EDEN Mobile Power Sta...

12/08/2026

TAG Video Systems Cuts Hardware Costs for Customers with...

TAG Video Systems, the global leader in software-based IP monitoring and multiviewer solutions, today announced a memory usage optimization that lowers the tota...

12/08/2026

Unified Streaming Launches Trusted Media - C2PA in Dynami...

Unified Streaming announces Trusted Media, a new solution that enables broadcasters, streaming platforms, and premium content owners to attach verifiable authen...

12/08/2026

Tedial Powers the AI-Driven Media Supply Chain at IBC 202...

Combining intelligent automation, composable business services and user-centric experiences The media industry is entering a new phase where AI intelligence is...

12/08/2026

DPA Microphones Appoints Raul Contreras as West Coast Reg...

DPA Microphones welcomes Raul Contreras as its new West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In this role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships thro...

12/08/2026

Weather is Not a Factor for Marshall Electronics New CV57...

Marshall Electronics' first all-weather, all-IP 4K POV camera, the CV574-WP, makes its European debut at IBC 2026 (Stand 10.C11). Built for the elements, th...

12/08/2026

A double off-switch helps cells respond to stress

LA JOLLA, CA-Scientists at Scripps Research have discovered that two seemingly unrelated cellular enzymes become locked together during times of stress, simulta...

12/08/2026

NVIDIA CEO Tops Glassdoor's 2026 List of Best CEOs

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 1 on Glassdoor's Best CEOs list for 2026. In the just-released ranking, recognition is earned directly fr...

11/08/2026

Apple To Bring Friday Night Baseball Live to Apple Immersive on Vision Pro Beginning Aug. 28

Weekly immersive broadcasts will feature 8K 3D video, a 180-degree field of view...

11/08/2026

Looking for a New Cameraperson? ProductionHUB Guide Lays Out Considerations, Pitfalls

By Briana Brady, Social Media Manager, Production Hub Sports content is having ...

11/08/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Backlight CEO Kathleen Barrett on Building Media Infrastructure for a Global, AI-Driven Sports Landscape

She addresses why media organizations need more than asset storage, how sports t...

11/08/2026

FloSports Dennis LeMire on Implementing Cloud-Based Workflows on Lower Tier Sports

Remote commentary has improved significantly on these broadcasts At a clip of ...

11/08/2026

Miami HEAT's Revamped IP-Based Control Room Coordinates Workflows With Meinberg Intelligent Modular Synchronization System

A pair of LANTIME IMS M2000 PTP Grandmasters deliver resilient timing infrastruc...

11/08/2026

LTN Expands Live Event Master Control Capabilities for Sports Organizations

LTN has announced expanded capabilities for its Live Event Master Control offering, providing sports broadcasters, leagues, rights holders, and content owners w...

11/08/2026

WTA Ventures Appoints IMG as Managed Production Services Partner

WTA Ventures has appointed IMG as its managed production services partner in a multi-year agreement commencing with the 2027 season. The partnership is the late...

11/08/2026

New York Jets and CBS New York Extend Multi-Year Partnership

The New York Jets and CBS New York have agreed to a multi-year extension of their partnership, keeping CBS New York as the official broadcast home of the team. ...

11/08/2026

Nielsen Acquires DoubleVerify to Create New Combined Media Intelligence Platform

Nielsen Holdings and DoubleVerify have announced a definitive agreement under which Nielsen will acquire DoubleVerify in an all-cash transaction with an enterpr...

11/08/2026

AES Elects David v.R. Bowles as President-Elect for 2027, Unveils Other Election Results

The Audio Engineering Society has announced the results of its 2026 Board of Dir...

11/08/2026

SVG Sit-Down Creator Sports Network's Barrick Prince on Building the Next Layer of the Live-Sports Rights Stack

The CSN co-founder details its network and affiliate' model, how creator wi...

11/08/2026

Gravity Media Providing Host Broadcast Operations for Esports World Cup 2026

Gravity Media is providing host broadcast operations for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026, supporting ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) in delivering the tournament to glo...

11/08/2026

TAG Video Systems Reduces Memory Requirements for Compressed Workflows

TAG Video Systems has released a memory usage optimization for its MCM software that reduces the cost per channel by up to two-thirds for compressed workflows. ...

11/08/2026

SMT Expands LED Production and Scoring Services at 2026 Cincinnati Open

SMT is expanding its technology partnership with the Cincinnati Open this year, adding new LED displays, production capabilities, and fan-facing experiences at ...

11/08/2026

Pac-12 to Stream Fall Olympic Sports Home Events Free on YouTube

The Pac-12 has announced that home Olympic sports broadcasts throughout the fall season will be available free on the conference's YouTube channel at youtub...