Turning Back the Clock: Some Guidelines for Reboots

It’s been a while since I last gave my thoughts on Hollywood’s franchise-building techniques; almost exactly six months, in fact. Back then I talked about when it’s acceptable for Hollywood to remake a film. This time I thought I’d take a broader approach and look at when it’s appropriate for Hollywood to reboot an entire franchise.

Now, technically, even a single film can be viewed as a franchise. But for the purposes of this discussion, I’m looking at those situations where there is either more than one film in the franchise (e.g., Rocky), or where there’s one film but a pre-existing character and story from other media (e.g., The Phantom). (I’ll note that those examples were chosen specifically because I am unaware of any reboots in the making for either… and in the case of Rocky, I hope there never will be. But more on that later.) I’ll also note that I’m not really counting cases like Robin Hood and King Arthur, where there are dozens of films on the same characters, but they aren’t really connected as such.

Rebooting a franchise has a certain logic to it. It’s a known money-maker, or at least is strongly hoped to be. But for one reason or another simply continuing the series as it stands is untenable. So, assuming Hollywood wants to reboot a franchise, what are the things to consider?

News Bites: Star Lords and Wars

It’s Friday morning, time for the weekly dose of news bites. Now, normally I’d just list the few tidbits straight in the post without using a jump cut, but this week the press releases have been coming out in abundance. So for those of you seeing this on the front page instead of a direct link, hit the “Continue Reading” link to see what’s new this week. What’s on the docket? Some big time movie plans, and a whole lot of upcoming TV series.

Weekly Weblinks: Horror and Heathcliff

It’s Friday morning, and as always it’s time for the Weekly Weblinks. I’m going to be out of town for most of the day, so it may take me a while to respond, but fortunately there’s a lot of reading to do out and about on the web. Got a nice assortment of blog posts, including horror movie reviews and more, and a huge slew of news, including a lot out of Marvel Studios. So read on!

Weekly Weblinks: Willis and White Whales

It’s the first Friday in October, and you know what that means! Being Friday means it’s time for the Weekly Weblinks, and being October means there’s a lot of spooky and scary content to be shared. From other bloggers, we have reviews of two spooky flicks for kids, a horror anthology for adults, and an in-depth look at the master of suspense, plus a new sci-fi feature that’s getting a lot of love lately and a whole lotta love for some actors who don’t get the spotlight often.

The press agencies are getting into the Halloween spirit as well, although there aren’t any horror films mentioned in the news bites. No, instead they’re settling for just making the news itself horrifying. You’re sure to find something to scream about, so read on for the Weekly Weblinks!

News: Whedon Back on Board for Avengers 2

Some very welcome news has come out of a conference call with analysts, from Disney chairman Bob Iger. Fans of Joss Whedon and The Avengers were well aware of just how much of an influence the writer/director had on the film, with his style of character development and his way of blending small character moments with larger-than-life events in a plot. Many fans wondered if he would return for the sequel, and whether it could be as good without his input. Now Iger confirms that Whedon has signed on to write and direct The Avengers 2, so fans can expect more of the same quality in the second film. A release date has not yet been mentioned, but with two Avengers-related character films coming out in 2013, and Captain America: the Winter Soldier landing in 2014, we can probably expect a release date of 2015.

This isn’t the only project that Whedon is working on for Marvel/Disney, however. Iger also mentioned that Whedon will be creating a television series for ABC, based on a Marvel Comics property. Which property has not yet been mentioned, but considering there was talk a few months ago about a new Hulk TV series, we have to consider the possibility that we’re looking at an ongoing series based on Whedon’s take on Bruce Banner — which, considering how The Avengers took a character whose movies had lackluster receptions at best and made him the breakout star of the film, could be a very good thing.

Respecting the Source: Some Guidelines For Adaptations

It’s occasionally said that Hollywood is out of ideas. The truth of the matter is that Hollywood has been cheerfully purloining ideas from other media for as long as Hollywood has been around. Novels, cartoons, live-action television shows, comic books, video games, and even the occasional board game have yielded their characters, concepts, and storylines to films. Some of these have been successful, commercially and critically; there’s a reason why the Academy Awards have an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Some of them, however, are successful on no meaningful level. And sometimes even when the adaptation is successful among some of the general public, the fans of the original remain displeased.

There are several reasons why this can happen, with the most basic and obvious being “they just didn’t make a good movie”. But when making an adaptation — especially of a well-loved property — there are additional pitfalls to be avoided beyond the normal concerns of making a good movie. (Of course, if the source material is terrible to begin with, or just has no story whatsoever, your battleship may be sunk from the get-go.) In my eyes, there is a certain basic rule that all adaptations should try to follow: Respect the source material. There are several different factors that go into that, but they’re all important, and while a film can sometimes get away with bending one or two, if it goes too far astray, it will probably get a severe backlash from the fans.

So what does it mean to respect the source material?

News: Hulk to Return to TV?

Hitfix is reporting that a new Incredible Hulk series is on its way to television. A live-action version of the Hulk was successful before, in the 1970s with Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby, and ABC (a Disney subsidiary, along with Marvel) is hoping that after the success of The Avengers, they can carry that success into television. The show isn’t ready for the new fall season, but is expected for 2013.

Personally, I think it would be pretty cool to see the Hulk on the small screen. I wonder, though, how well it’ll work… even though CG effects are getting cheaper all the time, it’s still likely to be prohibitively expensive, and I don’t think the audience is going to cut them any slack if it’s not up to par with the movie appearance. I also wonder what type of storylines it’ll have; will it be more of the “Wandering Stranger” archtype that the Bixby/Ferrigno series used? Regardless, I’m interested in seeing how this turns out.

Hitfix also mentions that a Punisher series is under development for FOX, and that ABC has currently stalled on AKA Jessica Jones, based on Marvel’s Alias series (using a different name than the comic, of course, due to ABC’s earlier series of that title.) Either could be interesting, but I don’t have as much personal enthusiasm for those. The Punisher is unlikely to work as a protagonist for an extended series, in my opinion; if it’s true to his comic book characterization, he’s going to be too dark for mainstream audiences to root for week after week (I suspect this is part of why the Punisher movies have been lackluster successes at best.) AKA Jessica Jones has some definite potential, but it’ll be a lot like the short-lived Human Target series that DC Comics created for FOX; if it gets made, it’ll live or die entirely as its own thing, as most people won’t recognize it as “a comic book property”. That’s not a reflection on its quality, simply a statement that its recognizability is the same as an unknown property to most people.

The Avengers

Six Marvel Comics superheroes, four of whom have had their own film franchises, come together in one great big action adventure movie. Hulk. Iron Man. Thor. Captain America. Black Widow. Hawkeye. Brought together by Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ever since the after-the-credits scene in Iron Man teased the idea, fans have been eagerly awaiting The Avengers, hoping it would live up to its potential.

It’s not an easy task. The film has to balance the different characters, making sure they play off well against each other, making sure each has plenty of screen time and “awesome moments”, and making sure it builds just enough on each characters’ own film franchise. It has to be exciting, it has to be inspiring, it has to be at least a little witty, and it has to have just a bit of emotional depth. It has to make the audience want to see more Avengers films, more films from the established character film franchises, and hopefully films with the characters who didn’t have franchises before. It has to do a lot.

It does it.

News: Mark Ruffalo Signs 6-Movie Deal With Marvel

Mark Ruffalo, who stars as the Hulk in The Avengers, has signed a six-picture deal with Marvel Studios. If you had asked me previously whether Marvel would take advantage of the ensemble film to spin off another attempt at a Hulk movie — after the dubious successes of 2003′s Hulk starring Eric Bana and 2008′s The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton — I would have put it at even odds at best. Neither movie met with the degree of critical or commercial success that Marvel was looking for, and being on the third actor in a decade to play the character could reasonably be taken as a sign of weakness in the franchise. On the other hand, though, a successful launch of The Avengers could ignite and renew interest in any of the characters, whether it’s the ones with successful franchises such as Iron Man, the ones with no franchises at all such as Hawkeye, or the ones with unsuccessful franchises such as Hulk.

It appears that this will indeed be the case, with The Avengers already bringing in blockbuster numbers internationally (in a rarity for Hollywood productions, its U.S. release on May 5th comes after the release dates for many other countries). I don’t know exactly when Ruffalo signed his deal — it’s possible it’s only being revealed now but was signed earlier — but it’s pretty clear Marvel has every confidence in The Avengers priming its audience to see more of Ruffalo as Dr. Banner and more Hulk. After all, it’s not like they’re going to sign him for a six-picture deal and then just stick him in The Avengers Parts 2-7 and nothing else. A new Hulk movie would be a lock just from this news, but there is one more little tidbit: Paul Gitter of Marvel Entertainment has stated outright that they are looking for a big-budget Hulk feature to hit in 2015. I don’t know how good a job Ruffalo does as Banner — as noted, the movie isn’t out here quite yet — but I think the fact that Marvel is actually working on a long-term plan for the character can only be a good thing.

The Focused Filmographer’s Avengers Initiative

With The Avengers coming out in theatres soon, Terrence Faulkner of The Focused Filmographer is running an Avengers Initiative blog-a-thon, featuring bloggers from various sites reviewing and discussing the movies that led up to the series: Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor. We’ll be looking at the roles different Avengers played in the films, how the films set up The Avengers, and what we expect from the characters in the film.

Fogs, of Fogs Movie Reviews leads us off with a look at Iron Man. Be sure to check it out. Also participating are Aidy of Aidy’s Reviews, Ruth and Ted S. of Flixchatter, Jaina from Time Well Spent, and Tajuana from TajGreeneMoviesInReview. You might recognize some of those names from the comments section here, but whether you know them from here, elsewhere, or not at all, be sure to check out their articles as they’re posted. I’m sure they’ll all be good reads. You can check out this page for the schedule of posts.

My own entry in the blog-a-thon will be going up Wednesday, May 2. I’ll be taking a look at the roles Loki and Hawkeye play in Thor, and how they’re set up for their parts in The Avengers. I hope you’ll head over there to see it when it goes up, and follow The Focused Filmographer for the entire blog-a-thon (and beyond! It’s a good site!) as we all get ourselves psyched up for The Avengers.