FEATURE: 3 Keys To A Successful Relaunch

In light of the upcoming relaunch of Star Trek, we here at R&RsIB! are going to take a look at the larger trend of relaunching movie franchises in general and determine what 3 keys are essential to a successful relaunch.

To begin with, we'll first define what qualifies to us as a relaunch:

(1) the title in question must be part of a larger franchise (be it in film or print);
(2) the relaunch must take the story of the franchise in a new direction;
(3) the title must have a widely-released movie in the franchise that predates it (porting it over from another medium like TV, direct-to-video, video game, or print does not count);
and finally,
(4) the relaunch must intend to spawn a sequel or a series of sequels, a continuation of the franchise in the new style established by the relaunch.

Now that we've laid some of the ground rules, here's a look at the five titles that we will be drawing examples from today, whether they turned out successful or not: Batman Begins, Superman Returns, The Incredible Hulk, Casino Royale, and Rob Zombie's Halloween.


So what makes for a successful relaunch? What is it about a specific relaunch that will excite fans and send the industry buzzing with anticipation? We here at R&RsIB! have come up with the following 3 points that a relaunch must do well in order to find the way into the heart of franchise fans:

1. Attaching The Right Talent

The operative word here is "right." Franchises have dedicated legions of fans (usually, anyway), and they need to be assured that the characters they know and love are in good hands. Typically, this starts with casting. The actor not only needs to be good, but they need to feel like they fit. Case in point is Christian Bale's casting in Batman Begins. For the first time in the Batman film series, I felt like we had an actor that could pull off both the charm of Bruce Wayne and the physicality of Batman. He FIT the part.

Another example is Brandon Routh's casting in Superman Returns. His All-American good looks and 6'3" figure epitomize what we have come to associate with Superman. Tack on a more-than-passing resemblance to Christopher Reeve, and you have a solid casting choice for Superman.


Getting cast is one thing - proving you can actually wear the boots is another matter entirely. Routh, a relative unknown when he was cast, ended up being one of the shining beacons of redemption in an otherwise critically-panned movie. Edward Norton, while well known for the quality of his performances, still had to prove to some fans he could pull off a convincing Bruce Banner. With a little help from modern CG graphics to fill out the Hulk-side of things, Norton was free to deliver a layered and emotional portrayal of the long-tormented Banner. Daniel Craig faced perhaps the biggest uphill battle, but he quieted many naysayers with his physical and surprisingly affecting turn as 007.



Equally as important to the casting is the captain of the ship: the director. Sometimes, it's even more important - Rob Zombie is probably the most associated name with the relaunch of Halloween. Though nowhere as unique or focused (or talented, for that matter) a voice as John Carpenter, it is hard to imagine The Weinstein Company co-financing the film without the type of clout and particular fanbase that Zombie brings with him.

Chris Nolan and Bryan Singer had both proven themselves as indie darlings capable of delivering intriguing stories, and their names alone garnered a fair amount of credibility and excitement to their respective projects. Personally, I thought there was a lot to like about Superman Returns, and would like to see Singer take another crack it. Although far from a perfect film, I thought he did a good job re-establishing the character and the relationships around Superman. At one point, both Brett Ratner and McG were attached to the project, and that would've completely changed my interest in the relaunch. On the other hand, look at Batman Begins and The Dark Knight - can you imagine anyone else taking on Gotham City now other than Nolan? More importantly, would you want to?


2. Tell A Story Worth Telling

Typically, franchises have to relaunch for a couple of reasons: either the previous installment was so long ago that it needs to be reintroduced to a new generation of fans, or the last one was so terrible that the only way to get alienated fans back on board is to start over from square one.

For the latter, this means that the new approach to the story must be right. What is it about the new concept that makes it worth tearing down an established character/franchise and starting from scratch? For Batman Begins and Casino Royale, it was to revisit the roots of the character - the origin story. We had not seen either of them on film before, and perhaps that was what made the relaunches so refreshing - we were beginning the journey with the characters we loved.

For The Incredible Hulk, this meant dropping us right in the middle of the action in Bruce Banner's universe. This was especially important, as most fans' complaint about Ang Lee's 2003 interpretation was that it did just the opposite, spending too much time exploring Banner's inner demons and unresolved daddy issues. And this is where Superman Returns failed - an unbalanced character-development-to-action ratio paired with a two-and-a-half hour runtime. Halloween, on the other hand, never strayed far enough from the original, leaving us wondering if Zombie actually had something original to say or just wanted to stroke his ego by putting himself in the company of a true horror legend.

In addition to story, the tone has to be right. Batman SHOULD be dark because that's the nature of the character. I'm glad that WB is making another go at Superman, but this idea that it needs to be "darker" is ridiculous - that's not the vibe of Superman. Superman is a symbol of hope, strength, and good, and requires the clean cut image that goes along with that. To assume that the Batman relaunch was successful because the story took a darker turn is like saying Manny Ramirez is good because of his hair. I mean, it's an integral part of who he is and the image he projects, but it has nothing to do with him being a 12-time All Star. Likewise, Batman has been successful not because it's dark, but because it's compelling story-telling and flat out good.

And finally...


3. Escape The Shadow

The much-maligned 2003 installment of Hulk was seen by many to be too light on action, so Louis Leterrier turned the action way up in his 2008 version. However, the fan-favorite TV series that ran from 1978-1982 saw homage paid to it with the brief cameos of Lou Ferrigno (who played Hulk in the TV series) and Bill Bixby (who played Dr. David Bruce Banner) in the relaunch. Even the theme song from the series was referenced in Craig Armstrong’s score. Seeing a pattern here?

The intrinsic obstacle of relaunching a franchise is how to stay true to the original’s spirit while telling a new story. Superman Returns struggled with this the most, perhaps, as it was meant to be somewhat of a direct sequel to Richard Donner's first two Superman films. The whole point of a relaunch is to take the franchise in a new direction, so staying too close to the original can hurt a project more than it can help.

There has to be a certain reverence paid to the source material, but that doesn't mean there isn't room to be creative. The point is to keep the characters intact - what franchises are built on in the first place - while coming up with a story or situation that hasn't been seen before.

Look at Batman Begins and Casino Royale - both films more or less completely disregarded the other films in the franchise and rebuilt their respective worlds from the ground up. The only thing that was really kept intact were the names of the characters and the traits we loved most about them. Both films turned out extremely successful, creating fresh and dynamic stories that didn't resemble their predecessors much at all. Halloween, on the other hand, just felt like an empty imitation of the original, essentially retelling the same story with a different cast.

The only way to escape the shadow of the old franchise is to be bold; to be unafraid of crafting a wholly original adventure while understanding and retaining what it is about the characters that the fans fell in love with to begin with.


Now, which of the upcoming relaunches look to meet these key points?

- Star Trek looks to have all the right pieces, with feels-right talent (Zachary Quinto's casting as Spock can only be described as spot-on) involved and a story that seems fresh, but still brings back the familiar names that we know and love.
- Punisher: War Zone seems to be a bit of a toss-up. I'm intrigued by Lexi Alexander at the helm and Dominic West cast as villain Jigsaw, but am otherwise ambivalent toward both Ray Stevenson and what little plot can be discerned from the trailer.
- Terminator: Salvation is another one I'm unsure about. The cast is pretty amazing, with the likes of Christian Bale, Anton Yelchin, Sam Worthington (who Cameron himself swears by), Bryce Dallas Howard, Moon Bloodgood, and Common involved, but McG still worries me. I feel as if he has become more confident a director as he has come along, but you can never really call the guy who brought us Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle a sure bet. The direction they're going in though is exciting, taking us away from the tired John-Connor-on-the-run shtick and finally bringing us Judgement Day. I remain hopeful.
- and finally, Friday the 13th. From Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes, the good folks who brought you the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, and The Hitcher remakes, I can't help but feel like this one's going to be hard-pressed to do anything but suck.

So there you have it. What relaunches do you guys think have been successful (or terrible), and why?