Content Insider #892 – Rinse, Repeat
By Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com
“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 sequels released every year while at the same time talking about how they are doing well in a down market.
We enjoy reading the trades’ headlines how the latest franchise release barely surpassed the earlier project, but is doing exceptionally well, and the international numbers should enable it to surpass the success of the last “chapter.”
The only problem with this is:
That’s all great, but how do you decide to set out to not just create a money-/award-making film but one that you can keep adding layers to so it fosters (and audiences demand) another chapter and another chapter and…
Okay, now that we established that filmmaking is a business and the goal for any/every business is to make money.
Not Really – We admit that almost every other film you see seems to be another franchise project; but the number of rise, repeat and do-overs have remained relatively constant over the years.
We realize it feels like every other new film in the theater or streaming to your screen is part of a franchise, but the statistics just don’t bear that out.
According to film industry analyst Stephen Follows, the ratio of stand-alone or original films and franchise projects has been relatively constant for the past 40 years.
Around 6 – Sequels, prequels and spinoffs of projects have gone up/down in recent years but they still only count for about six percent of the total films made each year.
There’s only about six percent of the releases per year but there has been a slight increase in the franchises in the past five plus years.
During the 1980s, the volume of franchise projects released annually was higher than it is today. In fact, almost double the number of releases over the past two years.
That tracking covers sequels, prequels, spin-offs, remakes/reboots and adaptations.
But if it’s any consolation, their box office and streaming value have steadily grown.
Rising – The number of franchise projects have increased with each new chapter and each passing year. At the same time, franchise profits have risen because each new film is better and more polished. In addition, people really like to see the story expand and unfold.
The box office was just 11.7 per cent back before the turn of the century; and for the past ten years, it has averaged 41.7percent of theaters’ annual film income.
Despite making up less than five percent of the films shown in theaters, they brought in 45.8 percent of the cinema income (and no, the total doesn’t include concessions).
Showrunner Shane Snow noted in a study on the subject that as a rule, sequels make less in theater ticket sales than the original; and depending on the creativity of the CFO, will still make a good profit.
Of course, there are always exceptions, but the good news is sequels make more than the average movie so that’s something to bank on. You see, sequels only get made after the first was a huge success, so the sequel starts life at a higher plane rather than having to invest so heavily on marketing of an original.
As anyone in the industry will tell you, the chance of an original film becoming a big hit, surprises damn near everyone including the producer, director, actor (don’t let them kid you they were holding their breath just like the investors).
But the stories do sound great on the late-night shows.
However, sequels are a better bet if you have the right storyline, one you can build on.
More project budget is available when investors see an opportunity for significant profits or significant write-offs (hey, some folks – not you or me – but some need them).
If you’re in the content creation/production/distribution industry and are expecting a great surprise during award season … ferget it!
Few are nominated for best picture and fewer yet win … Godfather Part II, 1974 and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, 2003.
But remember, it’s all about the audience and making some money.
After studying a large number of sequels, Snow came up with the reality of what makes a sustainable/profitable sequel.
The Formula – Researchers and educators have spent years analyzing the success and shortcomings (in their opinions) of films across the board; but Shane Snow, who actually got his hands dirty doing projects, determined a formula that may help others thread the franchise needle for project success.
The best storylines, the ones that sustain a solid market appeal, are those that mix safety and excitement, novelty and familiarity.
In other words, the story continues, expands and blooms with just enough hooks to keep the audience involved and thinking.
Gee, not too difficult at all.
Both Reeves and Cruise have done more than their fair share of exciting, breathtaking and wild stuff to keep you guessing what the next chapter will hold.
People tend to connect with a storyline and slip back into the adventure/flow that is both “comfortable” but also with a certain amount of anticipation/trepidation.
So no, Hollywood and the other film creation centers around the globe haven’t run out of creative “new” ideas but likewise, few bosses are going to greenlight an unproven idea, even if AI nudges them to get the creative teams to work.
Right now, AI is just to reinforce, or sanity check a decision she/he was already going to make.
That’s increasingly why we’re seeing more projects resurrected, dusted off and polished up.
And for the most part, we rather like about 50 percent of the films, tolerate about 30 percent and ignore the rest.
Our major complaint is that we’re finally abandoning any hope of continuing to develop a franchise that could have really turned into something big … huge even!
Yeah, it’s … Ta Da…
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze
There have been whispers, rumors cropping up every year about a scripted series of set of films that will chronicle Doc’s adventures.
Doc first appeared in pulp magazines in the 1930s. In about the ‘80s, our family went to see his first movie in a theater. It/he was so camp, funny and cool all at the same time. We positively went bananas over it.
Got home, went online and found that there had been a Doc Savage Magazine back in the day followed by a series of minor books that sold in the millions (check Wikipedia).
We read a bunch of them, and he was a real man’s man. Scientifically brilliant, loyal to his crew and 15 seconds into a fight his shirt was in shreds.
Our daughter knew how much we enjoyed the film so she went to the store and bought a copy for us (VHS tape).
No, it’s never been opened because we started with DVDs and Red Envelopes.
But ever so often, a rumor will pop up that Sony or one of the other studios are scheduling the production of a Doc Savage series.
We keep hoping because with the growing demand for more great video stories to tell and the need to keep more folks hooked on their streaming service Sarandos or Cook may just greenlight a camp project that could last … forever.
Come on, weirder things happen in this industry so we’ll just keep pressing forward because tomorrow we may succeed. Quiting isn’t an option and as Cage said, “I don’t know. We’ve never gotten this far.”
2025 just could be Doc’s year!
Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com – is an author of more than 800 articles on management, marketing, communications, industry trends in media & entertainment, consumer electronics, software, and applications. An internationally recognized marketing/communications consultant with a broad range of technical and industry expertise especially in storage, storage management and film/video production fields; he has an extended range of relationships with business, industry trade press, online media, and industry analysts/consultants.
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