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57 Comments
- rivalius13, on 12/03/2008, -0/+20I've always been a fan of the backdoor sluts franchise, I have 1-7 and 9. Number 8 doesn't deserve to carry the backdoor sluts name.
- sjbdallas, on 12/03/2008, -0/+16Because the suits get involved and make it all about promotion tie-ins, best summer release dates, and viral marketing.
- 4Prophecy, on 12/03/2008, -0/+13Because most franchises didn't start out trying or /expecting/ to be franchises? If producers weren't so obsessed about recycling the same ideas and plots over and over, perhaps they'd have more success with original material.
- ghidorahnotweak, on 12/02/2008, -0/+13I would like to order a new franchise, please. It must contain aliens, space battles, and at least one cute, barking robot who makes silly quips at the right moment.
- georgemason01, on 12/03/2008, -0/+12It's easier to not be creative and guarantee making money than it is to be creative and take a risk.
- Hoogs, on 12/03/2008, -0/+8Because people get too distracted with all these shiny new special effects toys and neglect to write a good story, resulting in an ultimately disposable movie.
- jedinate, on 12/03/2008, -0/+8You can't create a franchise. Something, through its' tremendous popularity and demand for more, becomes a franchise. Trying to make a franchise is like saying "I'm gonna have a baby so it will eventually become a Major Leaguer." You can guide that child towards baseball, but in the end, it's not really up to you.
- nunlover, on 12/03/2008, -0/+7i wish someone would write a movie about this team of guys that catch ghosts
- Nintendesert, on 12/03/2008, -0/+7I would like to see two fewer Matrix movies.
- solidus636, on 12/03/2008, -0/+7Viral marketing isn't always bad...sometimes it's just flat out awesome. Like the F.E.A.R. 2 - Project Origin viral marketing campaign going on right now with the metal cases being delivered to random people.
- inactive, on 12/03/2008, -1/+8Yea, 8 was *****. It really stunk. Total crap. Glad that's behind us now.
- Orsenfelt, on 12/03/2008, -0/+5..and proceed to ruin them as much as possible.
Video games never make good movies. It just doesn't happen. - MattNF, on 12/03/2008, -0/+4Half-Life 2?
- jamesmcm, on 12/03/2008, -1/+5Because of things like the cancellation of Firefly.
- heavystone, on 12/03/2008, -0/+4Sounds like the classic Battlestar Galactica.
- n3demonic, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2Futurama?
- Gizza, on 12/04/2008, -0/+2Invader Zim
- mattyboy555, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2different director?
I HATE when that happens!! - Akaziel, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2Did they really make a Galaxy Quest comic?
- Elranzer, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2Farscape > Firefly
- roxya, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2Yes.
- covertbadger, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2"Does anyone really want to see a new matrix film every couple of years."
If they're anything like the last 2, hell no. - Chrysalii, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2unless the movie absolutely sucks, like nearly all movies based on video games.
- Remelox, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2I wouldn't. With Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus dead it's really not any fun any more. I haven't checked things out since Niobe went missing so I don't know if she's back or not. The next movies were supposed to be mainly about Niobe and The Kid and I found The Kid far too irritating to watch.
While the first movie was good and the second was better, the third made some major mistakes. They spent far too much time outside of the matrix, sort of defeating the purpose of the title. They also turned the well-crafted choreography of the fight scenes into a bunch of shock wave inducing head-on collisions. They did little with the exiles and I was really looking forward to seeing one of the "alien" exiles.
Everything after the third movie went downhill from there. - inactive, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2I won't pretend that it's good, but Species is up to number 4.
- kevgallacher, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2This article is hardly fair, what does it take to make a franchise exactly?
The Matrix has 3 films, a collection of short films in the Animatrix, 3 computer games and god knows how many comic books. If this isn't a franchise then what is? Does anyone really want to see a new matrix film every couple of years.
Riddick had 2 films a computer game (a good one at that) a short film and alos has comics.
There are plenty of franchises in the computer games media. - t4m5t3r, on 12/03/2008, -0/+2its not that its hard, or they dont succeed its because the primary goal when making, music, movies, tv shows and games is PROFIT, thats ALL the matters, nothing else, not what you think, what i think, only profit, that is literaly all that matters.
It has to be safe. and it has to be garanteed to make money or it gets nowhere, simple as that, the sad thing is the people that decide what is "cool" and what is not are a bunch of fancy suite wearing talentless leeches who couldnt find their own heads up their own asses. hense movies like "Twilight" and other such bollocks, well most movies realy, all the same movies, same actors, its all got to be "safe"!
**thats why dark knight was so well received, its one the first not-a-carbon-copy movies theres been in a while!!** (sad thing is thats what their all gonna copy now!!) - cfuse, on 12/04/2008, -0/+1Scary Movie series, disaster/etc movie series - this stuff is easy to start provided your expectations are low enough.
- inactive, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1Because sequels generally suck ass and are generally just action flicks dressed in sci-fi. How about some decent sci-fi that doesn't involve A) Random campy vampire / supernatural / B movie plot line. B) A "faithful" adaptation of a true sci-fi authors work Asimov etc. (I know Foundation is in the works, but I'm not holding my breath, see "A"). Television has traditionally been the worst in the past 7-9 years for sci-fi. All we've seen is derivative
vampire flicks or Star Trek knock offs (Andromeda, any given CSI like show on Sci-Fi). Battle Star Galactica being a notable exception of course. - Wilsomatic, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1IF someone gets the guts to try to begin a new franchise everyone starts to jump on it going "It's too much like [similar franchise]". You could be far from the closest thing, but people will still find similarities and latch on to them, claiming the new movie to be a copy. In some cases, however it can be a blatantly obvious rip-off and therefore the hate is justified.
It ends up being more of a risk of potentially upsetting loyal customers to similar franchises by "copying" as it is to just add on to the current franchise. - Ratteler, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1Franchises are killed off because suits are compleatly out of touch with what their customers wants.
X-Files!!!! Without Aliens and secret government conspiracies!!!! *****!!! We've had REAL government conspiracies since X-Files went off the air, and THIS is what they give us. A really long, not especially good, non-canon, episode. Bitch... that is what TV is for. You want to sell us a movie, forget the $12 ticket prices... at least make it worth fighting for parking. - PhilMoskowitz, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1It's not hard to launch a franchise at all. The douchebags in creative are making sure they have their ass covered. They'll take low downside risk with a poor to moderate profit vector over a new franchise with high downside risk and game changing levels of potential profit.
These people are the work-a-day ass covering morons who are destroying entertainment. - TMTurtle, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1Halo the "next" franchise? It's already a franchise. Franchise implies all media.
- antdude, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1No astrophe!
- Orsenfelt, on 12/03/2008, -1/+2Maybe the idea of a franchise is over?
There is only so much you can pull from 1 idea or 1 universe. In modern times people get bored quickly, after the first or second movie set in -insert fantasy world here- they want to see something different. - Rhendal, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1was I the only one who first read that as "drowning in retards?"
- erichh, on 12/03/2008, -1/+2They won't make a newer Firefly without Joss' involvement or, at the very least, whole-hearted consent because I will find all involved and stop that beast from being made. Seriously, it's one of my fondest childhood shows that wasn't butchered for cash.
- mwilhelm, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1They aren't providing a service for percieved demand, they are creating percieved demand.
Shake your magic ball and roll your 12 sided die. If you come up with any 3 of the following, you have a movie:
1. animated talking animal
2. Asian or or other cultural competence.
3. Really famous voice talent that got famous from making Mob or "Adult" Movies (DeNiro)
4. Kung Fu
5. Lasers
6. Cars
7. Robots
Kids didn't know they wanted to watch a Talking Panda bounce all over the screen until it was shoved down their throats.
You are right that this is all about bottom line dollars though. It works the same as every other industrial model - projected sales volume times revenue per unit less material costs and overhead.
The overhead is standardized, based on the type of film - big budget blockbuster, Hollywood romatic-comedy, indie, etc. so they have that modeled.
The only true variable which affects sales volume is the material cost, or the costs of creating new material and that only gets so far to a break even point. If you spend an extra 10 mil to make a good movie great and only bring in 11 mil in extra revenue, the profit margin is too low to justify doing the effort. So it's much better to recycle last years material into something new - you jsut saved yourself alot of headaches.
Anyone can ***** in a box and mark it "guaranteed"
This is what happens when we let business profit become our governing principle. - Remelox, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1To say Andromeda is a knock off of Star Trek is basically accusing Gene Roddenberry of stealing from himself. To be honest, I'm not sure which idea was first. I assume Star Trek was first and Andromeda was the, "Okay, now what if the Federation just went to crap." response.
- Remelox, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1Yes, "Global Warning" I believe. My comic book store did not carry it. I was mildly disappointed. I say mildly because I could think of anything appropriate between mildly and not.
- BabyWookie, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1BSG is just a young adult drama dressed in sci-fi.
- Elranzer, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1Farscape?
::sob:: - Elranzer, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1Matrix 4 would likely star Will Smith's wife and equally annoying son.
- vurdillac, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1The article made a good point about niche fan bases for potential franchises these days. The way movies and TV works now a lot of movies or shows don't have time to find an audience. Older TV shows benefitted from less competition - I doubt the original Star Trek would have lasted as long in an era of 100s of cable TV channels. It found an audience because there were only a handful of channels and fewer programming options for syndication.
Likewise, movies could last weeks in a theater in the past, but now they must pull in an audience the first two weekends or they're out. We can still find things on cable, DVD, or the internet, but it's going to be a lot fewer of us so it's going to be harder to justify an investment in a new installment to a franchise. So we are stuck with a bunch of retreads from the 1960s and 70s (or before) from stuff that did have the time to develop. - mwilhelm, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1Innovate or Replicate -
Hollywood franchises chose to Replicate.
Matrix is a perfect example. One Innovative movie was replicated into 9,000,000,000 video games, 2 movies and a collector's edition burger-king cup.
Real Innovation and creative thought can't happen at the franchise level. The very nature of that beast weeds out any original or contradictory thought at first glance. - Meocross, on 12/03/2008, -0/+1Matrix 5 : Permanent boot into reality
- andyd273, on 12/03/2008, -1/+1I think it has to do with nostalgia.
The baby boomers and gen x ers look back at their childhoods and say, "movies just aren't what they used to be... remember (movie from 20 years ago), now that was a good movie... lets remake that one, or maybe do a sequel."
Just wait, in 20-30 years people will look back and say, "You remember Riddick, now that was a good movie. way better than the crap they are making today. Lets make a sequel to that one." - BabyWookie, on 12/03/2008, -1/+1Firefly sucked ass. It wasn't even sci-fi.
- xsmasher, on 12/03/2008, -0/+0Yes, apparently filled with missleppings. Evacuate the parameter?
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