The Case for Franchise

Franchises mostly turn to shite. Star Wars, Terminator, Aliens, Lord of the Rings. After 2-3 sequels, everything that made the original wonderful is lost. Studio greed seems to be the culprit,  the desire for quick profit with minimal narrative risk. "Make it mediocre!" seems to be the overarching mandate. Nobody seems inspired or motivated to do their best work, be they writers, directors or actors. Maybe the vfx and crew are low level enough to care, but the franchise principals inevitably deliver dismal results. Perhaps the consistent disappointment fans experience is a feature not a bug. Anything authentic and uplifting must be made, eventually, to suck.

Is this the fate of cinematic franchises for the forseeable? Can a franchise be designed to bloom with time rather than wither? Surely. Breaking Bad was a tough watch, but it hung together to the bitter end. I'm not a Harry Potter fanatic, but the vision was pretty consistent for 7 feature films, likely because the books preceded the productions and JK Rowling kept a contractual eye on the productions. Bully for her.

So, is the Daughter of God universe franchisable? Can the film be segemented and released as episodes? Can released episodes be retooled to jive with future developments? More, more, more!