Failure to Franchise

Trev & Chris 2020•failuretofranchise.libsyn.com

A bi-weekly podcast devoted to infamous examples of failed film-franchise starters. In a Hollywood landscape dominated by giant tentpole movies, not all attempted franchises can succeed. Many intended first entries of a series fail to generate the planned sequels due to low box office, poor judgement, or, simply put... utter incompetence. This show is a celebration of (or perhaps a memorial for) those failures, as hosts Trev and Chris dissect what went wrong with these cinematic misfires. @F2Fpod on all the socials! Like us there, Like us everywhere!

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Episodes

Failure to Series #1 - Wonder Woman

This is a show about franchises, and we all know a big part of franchises is spin-offs. So here then is the first installment of our occasional bonus spin-off series, in which we take a brief look at failed TV pilots that never made it to series. Just in time for the release of WW84, we're kicking off with a look at the 2011 WONDER WOMAN pilot, from writer David E. Kelley and starring Adrianne Palicki as the Amazonian superhero (and, interestingly enough, WW84's Pedro Pascal in a supporting role...

Dec 29, 2020•50 min

Episode Ten - Catwoman (2004)

When is a Batman movie NOT a Batman movie? How literal can a movie's title be? Can you convince an Academy Award winning actress at the height of her stardom to rub her face in catnip and swat at insects? Is there anything sexier than an alley pick-up game of one-on-one basketball? And who is the mysterious man known only as...Pitof?? In this episode, we answer these questions and more, as we take a look at the ill-fated 2004 attempt to create a new version of an iconic DC comic character. Our T...

Dec 22, 2020•1 hr 41 min

Episode Nine - Wild Wild West (1999)

One of the biggest movie stars of the moment, re-teaming with the director of his recent mega-success sci-fi comedy blockbuster for ANOTHER sci-fi comedy blockbuster. What could possibly go wrong? Well, clearly something did, or else we wouldn't be talking about 1999's WILD WILD WEST on this show. So join us as we try to get to the bottom of this infamous mess, with all the misplaced sexual innuendo, casual racism, and giant mechanical spiders it entails. It will be a "wicky-wicky-wild" time. Ou...

Dec 08, 2020•1 hr 42 min

Episode Eight - Dredd 3D (2012)

While the failure of 1995's JUDGE DREDD might have left some believing the character's cinematic journey was over, time has shown that Hollywood will let no IP with a substantial enough fanbase be left alone forever. And so, in 2012, we were given a brand-new attempt at bringing Mega-City One's toughest Judge to the screen...and this time, the helmet stays on. But how does the movie stack up even beyond that one crucial detail? Why isn't Karl Urban a bigger star? When is a director maybe NOT a d...

Nov 24, 2020•1 hr 56 min

Episode Seven - Judge Dredd (1995)

"He takes off the helmet?!" This became the go-to, angry exclamation of JUDGE DREDD fans around the world when the cult favorite British comic book series was adapted into a 1995 Hollywood summer blockbuster. For these "Dredd-heads," this betrayal of an iconic visual tradition was indicative of a larger sense that the film didn't understand the spirit of their beloved character. But IS the movie really as bad as the comic fans (and, to be fair, most of the rest of the world, too) claimed at the ...

Nov 10, 2020•1 hr 51 min

Episode Six - A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

In the wake the financial success of 2009's FRIDAY THE 13th reboot, New Line and Platinum Dunes were eager to revive the other slasher icon of the '80s. But this time, they faced different significant challenges...is it possible to recast Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger? Could a music video director making his feature debut bring the same class and style as horror master Wes Craven? And what would audiences expect to see from a more modern take on the franchise, with a bigger budget and an alle...

Oct 27, 2020•1 hr 36 min

Episode Five - Friday the 13th (2009)

After dominating the slasher sub-genre throughout the '80s, and heading to space and then doing battle with his biggest box-office rival Freddy in the early 2000's, what else was left for everyone's favorite hockey-masked, homicidal mama's boy to do? Why, take part in the horror remake craze of the mid-'00s, of course! This episode, we take a look at Platinum Dunes' 2009 reboot of FRIDAY THE 13th, discussing both its worth as an overall entry in the franchise, and why, despite financial success,...

Oct 13, 2020•1 hr 51 min

Episode Four - Super Mario Bros. (1993)

"Video game movie." This three-word phrase has sent a shudder down the spine of gamers and movie fans alike for almost three decades. To say this particular sub-genre has a spotty track record is an understatement. And it all started with a failed attempt to begin a new cinematic series featuring the most popular video game franchise of them all. In terms of pop culture in 1993, it didn't get much hotter than Super Mario Brothers...so what exactly went wrong with the movie? In this episode, we t...

Sep 29, 2020•1 hr 29 min

Episode Three - Waterworld (1995)

After a wave of independent and foreign MAD MAX rip-off films dominated video store shelves throughout the 1980s, Hollywood finally took its own shot, in a big way, at the post-apocalyptic wasteland action genre in the mid-90s. Swapping vast desert for a flooded earth, and starring mega-star (at the time) Kevin Costner, WATERWORLD arrived in theaters amidst bad behind-the-scenes buzz and a reputation as the most expensive movie ever made. But would it be able to overcome all that and still launc...

Sep 15, 2020•1 hr 32 min

Episode Two - Ghostbusters (2016)

How could the reboot of a beloved '80s comedy classic, coming from the filmmaker behind one of the 2010's most successful comedies and starring a number of popular performers, end up one of the most controversial films in recent memory? The hysteria and heated debates surrounding 2016's GHOSTBUSTERS might be one of the elements it is ultimately best remembered for...but are they really the only reasons this attempted franchise relaunch didn't take off? Join us as we attempt to find out, cause we...

Sep 01, 2020•1 hr 25 min

Episode One - John Carter (2012)

An iconic character that influenced 100 years of storytelling. An award-winning, critically-acclaimed filmmaker. A rising star in the lead role. All in the hands of the biggest movie studio in the world. When Disney's JOHN CARTER arrived in 2012, it seemed to have a lot going for it. And yet, it ended up arguably the most infamous bomb in recent cinematic history. So what happened? In our first episode, we investigate the behind-the-scenes decisions that may have sunk the film fans had been wait...

Aug 18, 2020•1 hr 30 min

Episode Zero - Introductions

Before embarking on a bi-weekly quest to chronicle some of Hollywood's most infamous failures, we take a moment to introduce ourselves, and explain what lies ahead. How will we go about discussing the movies we cover? What do we think constitutes a franchise non-starter in the first place? And how do we feel about the modern day dependence on franchise film-making in general? All these questions and more are covered, as we gear up for Failure to Franchise. Our Twitter Our Facebook Our Instagram ...

Aug 09, 2020•1 hr 8 min

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