Quell the Sequels: The Capitalism of Familiarity

There have been so many announcements about upcoming prequels and sequels during the last couple of weeks that it’s hard to keep track. With the marvelous Dune: Part 2 out and Furiosa coming up (with flying colors, judging from the early reviews), studios are on fire to greenlight potential story expansions on existing franchises. While understandable from a business perspective, studios go too far some most of the times. Watching the same characters in the same world do similar things every day creates a sense of familiarity and comfort. That’s how soap operas and sitcoms build a cult following and hook you for years. You fall in love with the characters, feel closeness to their problems, and apply them to your own life. Their pain is yours, their breakup is yours, their child is yours, their joy is yours. You watch, studios earn. It’s as simple as that. Franchizification Chances are that the latest movie you watched was part of a larger franchise or is going to be. It’s just easier to milk existing worlds with existing characters. The business-oriented side of my brain argues: “It’s safe, it’s quick, and it’s efficient.” In the meantime, the part of my brain that loves exciting stories, world exploration, and fun feels deceived most of the time. What’s the new Gollum movie going to be about? Is there an inspired story to be told? Is turning the Gollum into a protagonist of his own movie going to benefit the fantastic world of LOTR when even the source material has very little to say about the period of time during which the movie is set? We’ve seen time and again how rushed development can cripple a franchise. Don’t go too far. The Hobbit movies weren’t too bad, but you could see just where the creators tried to cut corners. The “ multiple features based on the revered works of J.R.R. Tolkien ” mentioned in the WB press release in 2023 sounds to me a lot like a cash grab lullaby for investors. Let’s not forget that “The Rings of Power” is still ongoing, and the “ The War of the Rohirrim ” is about to be released this December. When has overcrowding a franchise ever end badly? Speaking of Disney, how does a new Lion King prequel add value, especially after the not-so-great live-action remake of one of the best cartoons of our childhood? How do the latest additions-that-shall-not-be-named to the Spiderman Sony universe even get green-lit? We all know how. They just have to. They have to make more movies to keep the rights, to show cash flow to investors, to keep the business going. This is why they keep making these movies: business. Don’t get me wrong - business is good. It’s mutually beneficial when a movie does well. Studios are happy, shareholders are happy, audiences are happy, critics are happy. Everyone’s happy. But who’s happy when the resulting entries are uninspired stinky pieces of manure that require an answer to “Who said yes to this?” No one. After the latest WB news, I’m now seriously scared about more than one beloved franchise. Speaking of unnecessary things… Let’s discuss a few slippery techniques studios and marketers use to hype up unassuming audiences. The Office creators announced a new series on Peacock. Fun, right? Indeed, it would be. However, it’s how they serve the announcement that sets my BS detectors off and, naturally, gives the media room to speculate. Their own synopsis goes as follows: “The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.” What’s wrong with expanding a universe, you might ask? I’ll tell you - it’s an obvious marketing ploy to make you care about a new sitcom. While we can only hope it turns out great, there’s absolutely no reason to be excited about the documentary crew (we hardly know anything about them) or the world where Dunder Mifflin exists, for that matter. This sitcom could be set virtually anywhere on the globe (or, better, in space, right? .. right?), and it would be the same. The world of Dunder Mifflin is bland. It’s Michael, Pam, Jim, Dwight, Kevin, and his chili recipe that we’re attached to. There isn’t going to be Michael, or Pam, or Jim in this new one, so the magic is gone—no matter how many interviews the media writes, trying to get Rainn Wilson (Dwight) and Craig Robinson (Daryl) to fondly remember The Office era. Another sneaky way movie teams and media want you to care is to throw in the names of actors and directors from previous entries to hype things up. Whether or not the big names actually have any say during the development doesn’t matter until … the movie flops and the career is stained. In the case of the new "The Office", though, if anything is helping, it is the involvement of Ricky Gervais (not because he was the OG and we love the British "The Office"). It’s gonna help because he’s a genuinely funny guy with enough sarcasm to keep the sitcom fresh and snappy for years. If you’re an audience member… Don’t fall for ploys, lazy storytelling, and cash grabs. Let them fight for your attention - say thanks later, I’ll be here. If you’re a creator… Creating within existing worlds and adding to what came before can be an exciting and creative endeavor, provided that the world gives you that wiggle room and you don’t scrape the barrel of the audience’s goodwill. Looking at you, the New Disney+ show about Vision . Yes, Wanda’s Vision. Yes, the one that ceased to exist somehow a couple of years back and left Wanda and Westview in shambles. Well, well, well… While I’ve been scratching my head over quite a few announcements of late, the intrigue is on for the Dune: Prophecy (a series coming up on MAX). There’s enough balance of known and unknown within the world of Frank Herbert’s masterpiece to tell a new story and flesh out engaging characters. Doesn’t mean they can’t mess it up and frankenstein some implausible relationships to known characters to appeal to the fanbase. Not that it ever happened, right?