Current Events > Why did 2001: A Space Oddessy failed to spawn a franchise like Star Wars

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or Dune. Where did it go wrong?

Because Kubrick said no.
That said, it got 3 more novels and another movie.

Dune might now.

Because it was boring and can't sell toys to kids?

I remember when it came on TV and I was like cool, I love space movies.

Then literally fell asleep.

Can you really say that Dune didnt spawn a franchise?

At the risk of being labeled an 'Unpopular Opinionist', 2001 was a boring-ass movie.

Foppe posted...

Can you really say that Dune didnt spawn a franchise?

It did, but I think that's what he meant.

It never tried to be a franchise.

008Zulu posted...

At the risk of being labeled an 'Unpopular Opinionist', 2001 was a boring-ass movie.

it totally is

I imagine a space fetus action figure would have sold millions.

Not enough of action or boom or explosion to keep majority of their audience entertain.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

I imagine a space fetus action figure would have sold millions.

I want that black monolith figurine

008Zulu posted...

At the risk of being labeled an 'Unpopular Opinionist', 2001 was a boring-ass movie.

This is not an unpopular opinion.

Boring and pretentious movie

008Zulu posted...

At the risk of being labeled an 'Unpopular Opinionist', 2001 was a boring-ass movie.

It's always the movie I cite when illustrating the difference between objective quality vs. personal preference. I would never suggest that 2001: A Space Odyssey is anything less than a groundbreaking work of art, but I'd rather watch Surf Ninjas any day of the week over it.

Why did Citizen Kane fail to be a franchise guys?

TC never seen 2010?

Yeah guys where the fuck is Barry Lyndon 2

Film franchises largely weren't a thing until the 1980s.

Sure, there were movies that had sequels. And there were low budget films that continuous sequels over the years. But they mostly didn't go all out on special effects driven films and put them out at annual or biannual intervals. The closest thing we had to that before Star Wars would have been Planet of the Apes or James Bond.

Star Wars had a tremendous impact on the film industry as a whole. Planet of the Apes had a Dr. Zaius doll. Star Wars had action figures, vehicles, and playsets -- and grew from there. Science fiction wasn't really seen as something merchandise-friendly. The major toy companies passed on the Star Wars license and so a smaller company named Kenner was able to pick up the rights for cheap. Once it proved to be a success, people started seeing the potential in marketing and merchandising the hell out of science fiction.

Sequels werent a thing until The Godfather showed it could be successful.

Cuz it was a total snooze.Boring and lame film

I love the movie, but it doesn't lend itself to being a blockbuster franchise

BlueTigerLion posted...

Sequels werent a thing until The Godfather showed it could be successful.

The original Planet of the Apes series of five films had wrapped up before the second Godfather movie came out.

Funny thing about Planet of the Apes ..
Charlton Heston (George Taylor) didnt want to return in the sequel because sequels wasnt really a thing that "serious" movies did.
He agreed to record a few scenes for the end of the movie.
He got angry when he learned that the scenes would be used at the beginning of the movie, but was convinced to continue when he learned that not only would his character die at the end of the movie, the whole planet would explode, thus making it impossible to make any more sequels.
...until they figured out a way to send some apes back to the past and continue the story from there.
The fifth movie had some nice references to the second movie, sadly it got cut away.