Jump to content

Why Disney's New Movie Franchise Attempts Keep Failing


Recommended Posts

Long article but interesting.

Author has a few good points.

 

https://screenrant.com/disney-movies-franchises-attempts-bad-fail-reason/

 

Couple of excerpts...

 

Disney keeps trying and failing to launch a successful new movie franchise - why is that? Admittedly, it feels a little odd to talk about Disney failing right now. The studio has not only dominated the global box office in recent years thanks to the combined might of the MCU, Star Wars, and Disney and Pixar Animation, their streaming service Disney+ has succeeded beyond their expectations (with more than a little help from people who've signed up while stuck at home during the coronavirus lockdowns), and they're already taking advantage of the various Fox movie and TV assets (like The Simpsons) they acquired in 2019.

 

A lot of these flaws seem to stem from a shared need for these movies to fit the Disney brand, which limits their ability to incorporate different tones/styles and frequently results in films that are messy and flavorless. The Lone Ranger and Artemis Fowl are probably the clearest examples of this. The former plays out as a cross between Pirates of the Caribbean set in the Old West and a weird, deconstructionist take on the western genre in the same vein as director Gore Verbinski's Rango, but fails to satisfy as either of those things. Similarly, due to Disney's worries that its core audience wouldn't turn out for a movie about a boy supervillain, Artemis Fowl transforms its namesake into a more conventional hero, robbing him of any personality in the process. At the end of the day, not everything can or should be "Disney-fied", and even great filmmakers like DuVernay and Raimi can only do so much to try and get around this before the creative limitations imposed by the studio begins to impact their art negatively, as seen here.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I thought one of the reasons behind the Disney purchase of Miramax in the 90's was to allow them to have a studio that they could use to make films that did not conform to the Disney expectations and were more adult in nature. I don't see why they wouldn't still be able to do that today as long as they made sure it wasn't under one of the Disney content divisions and made it clear that the content wasn't your typical Disney fare. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I think people put too much faith in critics.  I know you  have to choose where your money goes, but I don't think these movies are so bad.  I liked John Carter of Mars, and I loved The Lone Ranger.   In fact, that movie was the first one in a long time where I was wanting to watch it again, immediately.  It was fun and unexpectedly different. 

The critic I follow gave Artemis Fowl an F, and I can't understand why.  The movie entertained me, and I was not bored and I enjoyed the story very much.  It's a B in my book.  

I guess I'm easily amused.  I haven't wanted to walk out on a movie since 'The Tale of Despereaux'. 

As for another movie franchise, they need to stop trying to wrangle the old stories into new, more PC versions of the popular tales.   People loved the stories for what they are, and changing them to a 'directors view of what it should have been' ruins it more than anything.  A Wrinkle in Time is a good example.  What the hell was that movie doing?  Everything I loved about the book was gone. 

They should look at popular fantasy / sci fi.  That is where the money is.  Dragonriders of Pern would make a great franchise for a more adult movie set.  The alternative lifestyle in the weyrs is a decent fit for today's crowd, anyway. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, ThemeParkCommando said:

 

They should look at popular fantasy / sci fi.  That is where the money is.  Dragonriders of Pern would make a great franchise for a more adult movie set.  The alternative lifestyle in the weyrs is a decent fit for today's crowd, anyway. 

My favorite book series.  When the ability to make dragons look real on film started I said , Oh boy Pern!   But then I read that Anne McCafery was not in favor of her stories being put on film.  Think it had to do with being able to control the story line. Too many books I've enjoyed reading left a lot to be desired when put on film.   It would take long films to create most of her Pern books.

But wouldn't it be wonderful to see all the people and dragons we've come to love.

I'm re-reading my Pern books during this lockdown, very nice.

Link to post
Share on other sites
18 hours ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

My favorite book series.  When the ability to make dragons look real on film started I said , Oh boy Pern!   But then I read that Anne McCafery was not in favor of her stories being put on film.  Think it had to do with being able to control the story line. Too many books I've enjoyed reading left a lot to be desired when put on film.   It would take long films to create most of her Pern books.

But wouldn't it be wonderful to see all the people and dragons we've come to love.

I'm re-reading my Pern books during this lockdown, very nice.

I would love to see them onscreen.  I fear that Anne McCaffery was probably right.  Her son, Todd McCaffery has written out some books in her world, and while they are good, they don't have quite the same feel to them.  He has been to a number of conventions where I was able to speak with him, and he was once excited that a canadian producer was looking into the books as a possible movie series.  This was just after the 2nd Jurassic Park movie came out, and Todd was dabbling in computer art with the dragons.  I guess nothing ever came from that. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
×
×
  • Create New...