bluefire579 said:

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YouBet said:

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TCTTS said:

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The Porkchop Express said:

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TCTTS said:

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Basically, this...

In all sincerity it’s very sad that the people with the most money to spend on artistic production increasingly appear to believe that it’s not worth investing any resources in the development of new characters, new stories, new fictional worlds for audiences to fall in love with https://t.co/N4Nwg5Kfds

— Maddie (@maddiewhittle) February 24, 2023

(and I actually like Rings of Power, but dear god we don't need any more of this world)

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Are you and this person basing this on what's come out on film or based on reading the books and thinking that the rest wouldn't make good movies?

I think there are a few stories that could become 2 hour movies that haven't been realized on film - Beren & Luthien, the Children of Hurin, the Battles of the North during the War of the Ring, Earendil's Odyssey-esque voyage, the Fall of Gondolin, etc.

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It's less about the LOTR franchise itself and more about Warner Bros going back to the same wells over and over again. The new ownership is under a crazy amount of pressure to reduce their massive debt, so they're milking every franchise they own for all their worth. LOTR, Harry Potter, DC, etc. On one hand, maximizing the potential of all your various properties is obviously smart business, but it's also cynical as hell, and instead of anything original we're just to get more LOTR movies after those terrible Hobbit movies, more Harry Potter movies after those terrible Fantastic Beasts movies, and so on and so on. The Hobbit trilogy was a sad imitation of the original trilogy, the Fantastic Beasts movies were a sad imitation of the Harry Potter movies, and now they're attempting to iterate yet again, for a third time each, and these movies will all inevitably pale in comparison to even the second round. Throw in the Amazon of it all with Rings of Power, and it just feels like they're picking at scraps.

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Sidebar: I've never seen a video game with as much mainstream advertising as this new Harry Potter game. I've seen banner ads for it during live sporting events, news programs, etc. Crosses the gamut. Kind of goes to the point that these studios just keep going back to the well but then it also sounds like it may prove the point that video games are now a more creative medium than movies for these big properties. Apparently the game is really good for those that care about such things.

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I think this is more a combination of frequency and recency bias. Plenty of big time games get mainstream advertising, especially ones that are part of transmedia franchises looking to capitaize on an existing fanbases. Hell, a middling FPS I worked on published by a small, now defunct, publisher got TV spots over a decade ago. That game in particular has gotten so much outside attention that I imagine you're just really noticing it because it's more front of mind to you.

I also find it interesting that folks in this thread are speaking about the games industry like it's any different from the movie industry. There are a ton of parallels, not least of which being the focus on established IPs and sequels due to the large upfront investment required. Maybe it's because there's not the same level of outward facing star power, maybe it's that games require a much larger investment than TV or movies in terms of both time and money so folks are more selective, or maybe it's just because it's a much younger industry than movies, but seems to be a lot of rose-colored takes.

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Maybe so but I've never seen video game banner ads overlaying live programming across multiple different channels. I believe that is new but maybe it isn't.

As the bar has risen for movie production, graphics, interconnectivity, and all that, risk has gone up for studios. Using properties that have a minimum engagement thanks to existing fanbases mitigates risk. And audiences have shown time and time again that they prefer existing properties instead of new.

It sucks but I'm not sure the solution. I know I'm part of the problem. I'm super unlikely to take a chance on something new, and if I do, it's from a director or actor I already know and like. My leisure time is just too limited to take a lot of chances on wasting hours on an unknown... and I just don't have the emotional energy to invest in new things except for very rarely.

Whatever they do, I hope they have the balls to make a trilogy of movies at the same time like the original LOTR was. So that we get a new movie every year instead of one every three years.

Kampfers said:

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I mean, I think you make some decent points, but I also think you can return to existing franchises without it being "cynical", or a cash grab, or repetitive/unoriginal.


Was The Batman suddenly not a good movie because it was a return to a tried and true DC property?

Was Peacemaker just your casual ordinary superhero garbage that gets churned out by Marvel?

Sure the later fantastic beasts movies were craptastic. Why is that not a criticism of the writers/producers? Why does all of that blame fall on WB? There are clearly compelling stories that can be told in that IP beyond the original story about Harry Potter.

Andor won a lot of praise from you - yet it is a part of one of the most overcommercialized franchises that goes "back to the well" and survives off fan service more than anything else out there! Does that take away from the shows quality?

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All great points, and the passion on the part of the filmmakers they hire can absolutely make or break these things. It's not all bad, and some of it can be quite good. You're right.

I think this instance, in particular, feels especially cynical due to the fact that this is the first time we've seen a studio take a stab at extending a franchise (WB with the Hobbit movie), another studio take a stab at extending a different part of it (Amazon with RoP), and now the original studio going, "Oh yeah, well then we're going to extend yet another part of it!" It's exhausting. But I agree that if WB hires the right people, with the right ideas, this has every chance of bucking the trend and being something worthy of being made.

AliasMan02 said:

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As the bar has risen for movie production, graphics, interconnectivity, and all that, risk has gone up for studios. Using properties that have a minimum engagement thanks to existing fanbases mitigates risk. And audiences have shown time and time again that they prefer existing properties instead of new.

It sucks but I'm not sure the solution. I know I'm part of the problem. I'm super unlikely to take a chance on something new, and if I do, it's from a director or actor I already know and like. My leisure time is just too limited to take a lot of chances on wasting hours on an unknown... and I just don't have the emotional energy to invest in new things except for very rarely.

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Trust me, no one understands this more than me. I'm the guy knocking on the doors of these studios, trying to get them to make (my) original stuff, only to read about them instead tackling LOTR for the umpteenth time. I admittedly take it a bit more personal than most. Then there's also the existential aspect, wondering what pop culture is going to be like in 20 or 30 years, when every drop of these franchises has been squeezed dry, and we haven't made anything new and original to fill the void or build upon in the way we're still building on stuff now from 20, 30, even 40 years ago.

Meh... we should be seeing some Sanderson stories brought to the screen in the next few years, so hopefully that turns out good. He retains complete artistic control of either movies or TV shows.

One can hope, at least...

Seems like the best hope is having creators with tons of power, like how Nolan was able to make The Prestige as a condition of continuing to make Batman movies.

It's happening . GIF

'BOMBADIL', a musical set in Middle-Earth, is in the works at Warner Bros with James Corden in talks to star pic.twitter.com/0Iaa8NCIFI

— Evan Washington (@evanewashington) February 25, 2023

jeffk said:

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It's happening . GIF

'BOMBADIL', a musical set in Middle-Earth, is in the works at Warner Bros with James Corden in talks to star pic.twitter.com/0Iaa8NCIFI

— Evan Washington (@evanewashington) February 25, 2023

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jeffk said:

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It's happening . GIF

'BOMBADIL', a musical set in Middle-Earth, is in the works at Warner Bros with James Corden in talks to star pic.twitter.com/0Iaa8NCIFI

— Evan Washington (@evanewashington) February 25, 2023

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Called it! (Kind of).

PatAg said:

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This tweet was created in a lab to create the most angery possible

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Must have been a lab in Wuhan.

This is a joke right?

DTP02 said:

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jeffk said:

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It's happening . GIF

'BOMBADIL', a musical set in Middle-Earth, is in the works at Warner Bros with James Corden in talks to star pic.twitter.com/0Iaa8NCIFI

— Evan Washington (@evanewashington) February 25, 2023

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If this is serious, "Springtime for Hitler" has some competition.

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I preferred Hitler on Ice.

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The Porkchop Express said:
We need a Forum 13 and 3/4 called I Hate Everything.

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C@LAg said:
or even simpler, you do not like a given thread go find another one.It doesn't work. People will go onto every thread about something they don't like just to tell you they don't like it.

By the same token, if you write about something you didn't like, and didn't watch the whole entire thing, then you will be called out because "you didn't watch the whole thing... Obviously you missed the best part of Ep 1, from 25:34 to 27:43."

Crap is crap. Sometimes it doesn't take watching the complete pile of shy*e to know it's a total pile of sh*te.