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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
21/01/2026
Wisycom, a global leader in advanced wireless RF solutions, launches its new wideband antenna matrix, MATF, which supports RF and fiber for demanding multi-zone...
21/01/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate how it is powering scalable, future-ready live production at FOMEX 2026, taking place February 2 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Exhibi...
21/01/2026
BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced that OKAST, the monetization-first OTT platform provider, is using BCNEXXT's ...
21/01/2026
Revamped design enables advanced capabilities, leading with powerful IP to HDMI conversion
Magewell, developer of innovative, high-performance video I/O and I...
21/01/2026
Jan 20th 2026, Changsha Kiloview today announced the launch of two major additions to its AV-over-IP ecosystem: the AVX24-4 Media HUB and KiloLink Station, ma...
21/01/2026
Latest version of enterprise-class Buttons brings simple, coherent control to more than 700 professional devices and applications
Bitfocus, the specialist in ...
21/01/2026
Clear-Com is pleased to announce the appointment of Kari Eythorsson as the new Regional Sales Manager (RSM) for Southeast Asia & Australia, based in Singapore,...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
RT News is pleased to announce the appointment of Jackie Fox as its new Washington Correspondent. Jackie is a multimedia journalist with RT News and has repor...
21/01/2026
From skilled trades to startups, AI's rapid expansion is the beginning of th...
20/01/2026
SVG Sit-Down: BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on the Future of Cloud, Remote, Softwar...
20/01/2026
From architecture to reality: What CBC's Milano Cortina 2026 workflows tell ...
20/01/2026
Milano Cortina 2026: Making the Winter Olympics and Paralympics workflow work fo...
20/01/2026
Countdown to Milano Cortina 2026: SVG Launches SportsTechLive Blog in Lead-up to...
20/01/2026
Grand finale: Rally Saudi Arabia pushes WRC to make the most of cameras and dron...
20/01/2026
State of Change: What's Happening in the Remote-Production Business?NEP Group, Game Creek Video, Dome Productions, Mobile TV Group, Program Productions exec...
20/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: A Look Back at SVG's Complete CoverageGo behind the scenes with ESPN, Game Creek Video, Van Wagner, and the champion Indiana...
20/01/2026
The Gotham, Film Independent, and Creators Coalition on AI Join Alliance
by Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director, Sundance Institute's Artist Programs...
20/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
20/01/2026
December, the first month of winter and the holiday season, has traditionally encouraged families to spend time together in front of the television. During this...
20/01/2026
During December, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.3%, an increase of 0.1 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YUMI TV,...
20/01/2026
Christmas Day is Most-Streamed Day Ever with 55 Billion Viewing Minutes, led by...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Disguise and ASB GlassFloor today announced a strategic partnership that turns the arena floor into a fully customizable interactive digital surface. This will ...
20/01/2026
Last summer, ITV celebrated the tenth anniversary of its popular reality dating show, Love Island. To ramp up the excitement of series 12 (launched in the UK on...
20/01/2026
Berklee's Mark Ethier Named One of SPIN's Most Influential People in Mus...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/01/2026
Emergent, a provider of AI-powered media production solutions, today announced its presence at ISE 2026 in Barcelona, taking place February 3 6, where it will u...
20/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery Amend Agreement to All-Cash Transaction
Business
20 January 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
All-C...
20/01/2026
Back to All News
Now You Can Play a Role in Our Live Events With Real-Time Voting
Elmar Nubbemeyer
VP, Member Product
Product
20 January 2026
Global
Link...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Indiana Football's Digital Crew Generate Hyp...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Van Wagner Relies on Experience for Indiana-Miam...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: Game Creek Video Fields Premiere IP Compound for...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: For a Slew of Studio Shows, ESPN Turns Hard Rock...
19/01/2026
CFP National Championship 2026: ESPN's Sweeping Live Game Production Leverag...
19/01/2026
The new L3Harris NOVA binocular system is the every-soldier goggle' - and the beginning of a new era for night-vison capability....
19/01/2026
The Majority of Those Surveyed Prefer to Buy Brands Who Advertise in Content Tha...
19/01/2026
Back to All News
Straight to Hell' Sets April 27 Premiere: Teaser Trailer,...
19/01/2026
New Workflow Enhancements for All Broadcast Pix Systems, Plus 4-Channel ISO Recording for Hybrid and Roadie Tyngsboro, Mass. - January 2025 - Broadcast Pix ann...
19/01/2026
Monday 19 January 2026
Sky News reinvents News at Ten for the modern audience with The Wrap
Sky News today announces The Wrap, a bold evolution of its 10pm ou...
19/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces the Series Nights & Days, Directed by Kamila...
Franchise Projects Shouldn't be a Makeover 
