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

27/05/2026

Telestream Appoints Benjamin Desbois as CEO, Effective July 1

Telestream has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Desbois, currently Teles...

27/05/2026

FOX MLB Leads Live-Event Categories; ESPN Is Tops Overall at 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards

ESPN garnered 10 awards; NBC's Sunday Night Football received the Outstandin...

27/05/2026

Matrox Video Marks 50th Anniversary, Announces New Product Launch for June

Matrox Video is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of operations from its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1976, the company has...

27/05/2026

MLB Announces Fan Engagement Initiatives for Americas 250th Anniversary

Major League Baseball has announced a series of initiatives tied to America's Semiquincentennial, including a national marketing campaign, Fourth of July br...

27/05/2026

Advanced Systems Group Hires Brian Gross as Account Manager for Audio Team

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced that Brian Gross has joined the company as an Account Manager on its Audio team, based in the Burbank office. He will...

27/05/2026

Nielsen Research: Hispanic Fans, Asian Markets Drive Global Soccer Audience Ahead of World Cup 2026

Nielsen has released new research on soccer fandom ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2...

27/05/2026

ESL FACEIT Group Debuts First Ever Esports Vertical Stream Co-Developed With TikTok

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has unveiled a new partnership with TikTok to bring broad...

27/05/2026

Two Weeks Away: FIFA Outlines Production Plans for Highly Anticipated North American-Based World Cup

FIFA's Oscar Sanchez gives a deeper look to how this tournament will be cove...

27/05/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Maggie Lynn, Virginia Tech

The soon-to-be senior from Charlottesville is building her skills in replay, TD, and even creative content for HokieVision and its ACC Network productions In t...

27/05/2026

A Global Festival of Football: FOX Sports Illustrates Strategy to Bring Every FIFA Mens World Cup Match to the U.S. Audience

FOX Sports' Mike Davies breaks down the vision for this summer's showcas...

27/05/2026

Top-Tier Storytelling: Host Broadcast Services Works at Capturing the Atmosphere of the FIFA Mens World Cup

HBS's Paul King, FIFA's Oscar Sanchez preview how the masses at home wil...

27/05/2026

Matt Gangl & Pete Macheska on FOX MLBs Huge Night and an Unforgettable Postseason Run

FOX's MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards...

27/05/2026

FOXs Mike Davies and Team on Outstanding Technical Team Win for 2025 World Series

One of the most memorable Postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...

27/05/2026

NBC Sports Rob Hyland Reflects on an Unforgettable Sunday Night Football Season

NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most decorated and most watched programs in the history of television. It added to its jam-packed trophy case on Tu...

27/05/2026

Prime Videos John Ward and Mike Francis on Groundbreaking NBA on Prime Video Studio

The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...

27/05/2026

Countdown to FIFA World Cup 2026: SVG Launches SportsTechLive Blog in Lead-up to Winter Games

With the Opening Match just over two weeks away, the entire sports-production-te...

27/05/2026

L3Harris Introduces the XL Converge 300P Portable Public Safety Radio

The XL Converge 300P radio system emerges with a groundbreaking feature set enhancing the mission-critical communications of public safety, federal and critica...

27/05/2026

Modernizing Public Safety Communications

Pairing Two47 MCX software with existing LTE networks means tailored system upgrades that can save time, money and lives....

27/05/2026

L3Harris Strengthens Global Solid Rocket Motor Supply Chain With New PAC-3 Propulsion Supplier

PAC-3 MSE offers improved range, speed, and maneuverability, making it an effect...

27/05/2026

Brightcove Adds New Features to Its AI Suite for Video Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Star Trek VFX: Recreating John Knoll's Iconic Warp Stars without a Slitscan Camera

Star Trek VFX: Recreating John Knoll's Iconic Warp Stars without a Slitscan ...

27/05/2026

Adventure World Uses Blackmagic Replay for Marine Live

Adventure World Uses Blackmagic Replay for Marine Live Brie Clayton May 27, 2026 0 Comments Large screen displays and slow motion replays dynamically ...

27/05/2026

Berklee Alumna and Assistant Professor Olivia Prez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona

Berklee Alumna and Assistant Professor Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Origi...

27/05/2026

Gravity Media Expands Into Creative Services With New Agency

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Tegna Names Patrick Paolini as CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Telestream Taps Company Vet Benjamin Desbois as CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

HDR10+ Technologies to Launch Eclipsa Video Certification Program

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

ATSC to Gather in Washington Next Week for Annual Meeting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Telestream Appoints Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive O...

Co-founder Dan Castles to transition to Executive Chair; internal promotion reinforces continuity and long-term growth Telestream, a global leader in media wor...

27/05/2026

Big Blue Marble Announces First End-to-End 5G Broadcast S...

Big Blue Marble today announced that its Nakolos platform is the first end-to-end 5G Broadcast solution worldwide to implement the complete feature set introduc...

27/05/2026

Lightware Continues Its ESG Commitment Through Girls Day...

Lightware recently hosted the Girls' Day event in April at its headquarters in Budapest, welcoming students for an interactive introduction to engineering a...

26/05/2026

Matrox Video Marks 50 Year Milestone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

Roku Expands Premium Subscriptions With Fox One

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

Brian Gross Joins ASG's Audio Team as Account Manager

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

MPA Urges FCC Not to Reclassify vMVPDs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

Cobalt Digital to Showcase End-to-End IPMX Ecosystem at I...

Cobalt Digital to Showcase End-to-End IPMX Ecosystem at InfoComm 2026, Making ST 2110 Easy for Pro AV blueCORE standalone processors headline solutions designe...

26/05/2026

Matrox Video Celebrates 50 Years of Innovation and Looks...

Matrox Video today celebrates its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of innovation, engineering excellence, and customer-focused evolution from its headquar...

26/05/2026

Cuez Helps ITV Studios Run Three Live Shows as One includ...

ITV Studios, the production arm of the UKs largest commercial broadcaster, has deployed the Cuez live production platform to unify the management of three back-...

26/05/2026

CETA Software releases Morpheus, an AI tool for real-time post-production project oversight

CETA Software releases Morpheus, an AI tool for real-time post-production projec...

26/05/2026

Ikegami Accelerates Motorsport Broadcast Innovation with...

In a move set to redefine motorsports coverage across the Asia Pacific region, Ikegami Electronics announces that Two Wheels Motor Racing Sdn Bhd (TWMR), a lead...

26/05/2026

Netflix Releases Official Trailer and Poster for 'The Root Of The Game,' A Documentary Series Premiering June 20

Back to All News Netflix Releases Official Trailer and Poster for The Root Of T...

26/05/2026

'MED,' Production Begins on Netflix's First Medical Drama From Brazil, Starring Clara Moneke

Back to All News MED, Production Begins on Netflixs First Medical Drama From Br...

26/05/2026

Netflix Announces Five New Brazilian Productions and Expands Its Presence at Rio2C 2026

Back to All News Netflix Announces Five New Brazilian Productions and Expands I...

26/05/2026

Netflix Celebrates the Release of the New Animated Series 'Due Spicci' With a Major Event at Circo Massimo in Rome

Back to All News Netflix Celebrates the Release of the New Animated Series Due ...

26/05/2026

Made In New Mexico: Building The Boroughs' From the Ground Up

Back to All News Made In New Mexico: Building The Boroughs' From the Ground Up A photo from The Boroughs.' (Courtesy of Netflix 2026) Entertainme...

26/05/2026

Broadcast Pix Introduces ONix Pro Control Panel

Smart Production Control. Total Confidence. Tyngsborough, MA, May 27, 2026 - Broadcast Pix today announced the ONix Pro Control Panel, its most advanced hard...

26/05/2026

NVIDIA Vera CPU Is Packing a Heavy-Hitting Punch' Against Competition

The shift to agentic AI creates a new CPU requirement for the AI factory: fast cores, massive memory bandwidth and the ability to sustain high performance when ...

25/05/2026

SVG All-Stars: LJ Helbig, Senior Manager, Broadcast Engineering, FloSports

The former University of Wyoming wrestler is essential in helping the rapidly growing streamer delivers more than 50,000 live events per year The sports-produc...

25/05/2026

Enabling Persistent Arctic Surveillance

Image courtesy of GA-ASI...