Register  |   Log In  |  
Sign up to our weekly newsletter    
Search   
Empire Magazine and iPad
Follow Me on Pinterest
Empire
Trending On Empire
Two free posters with Empire magazine
Subscribe: Get Dead Island: Riptide
Empire's Soundtrack Celebration
90 Years Of Warner Bros.
Vote for your favourite film
Cannes Film Festival 2013
News, photos and more from the Croisette
Feature
Spin-Offs: The Dos and Don'ts
Looking to expand your franchise? Here are some tips based on movies that have tried…

Studios like money. Audiences like certain characters. Or universes. Or ideas. Or actors. So those who can shove the two together must surely be on to a winner, right? Well... Not so much. Spin-offs are tricky propositions and even the biggest franchises can stumble when trying to craft extra adventures. What lessons can be learned from those that flopped and those that flew?

WORDS JAMES WHITE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
  1 of 8 Next
Spin-Offs: The Dos and Don'ts | 1. Do Deliver On Your Promise
1. Do Deliver On Your Promise

Admittedly, Machete is not, in itself, a perfect film. It’s sometimes sloppy, often grungy and silly when it should be badass. But as a delivery system for the pure, wild crazed action promised by the original fake trailer in the middle of Grindhouse? Score. Danny Trejo makes for a compelling hero and is more than able to carry the movie, even if it only requires him to kill or seduce people. Plus, producer Robert Rodriguez and co-director Ethan Maniquis make sure to push it to the limit. It was successful enough to spawn a sequel, next year’s Machete Kills. And there’s still something in the back of our brains that wants Edgar Wright to produce a full film based on horror promo Don’t.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
 
1 of 8
Next

Have Your Say
Register or login now to let us know what you think.

Your Comments

1 spin offs in their own franchises
I do rather like seeing other significant comic characters in movies like wolverine. Reminds me of the actual comics (the comics used to do this for the same cynical "we might get a spin off comic out of this" reason). Besides Wolverine:Origins screwed themselves with Deadpool by removing his voice and then killing him. His annoying banter is his defining characteristic. Continuity does not lend to a stand-alone movie More

Posted by Count Karnstein on Tuesday October 30, 2012, 20:53

2 RE:
L: BelfastBoy .........(See also another waste of Ryan Reynolds' talents in Blade Trinity!) use of the word "talent" I've not seen before More

Posted by gregzebidy on Tuesday October 30, 2012, 01:17

3
Here's another big 'don't', inspired principally by X-Men Origins: Wolverine - When a film is itself a spinoff from an existing franchise, don't further waste (screen) time and effort on minor characters who you want to spin off into their own franchises, thus diluting the main storylines of the actual film. How else to explain the showy but effectively glorified cameos from Gambit and Deadpool? (See also another waste of Ryan Reynolds' talents in Blade Trinity!) More

Posted by BelfastBoy on Monday October 29, 2012, 12:43


CURRENT HIGHLIGHTS
Cannes Film Festival Videblogisode #2
Episode II: Attack Of The Clouds featuring Emma Watson and Paul Haggis

The 20 Soundtracks That Defined The 2000s
The sounds of a dark knight, a mischievous Parisian, a troubled family and one flying house...

Empire's Favourite Music Moments
From The Pixies to Burt Bacharach via Audioslave

Movie Poster Mashups: The Furniture Edition
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be appalled at the punning...

Exclusive: Why Man Of Steel Wasn't Called Superman
Writer and producer David S. Goyer speaks

Dwayne Johnson Talks Fast & Furious 6
'I wanted to come in and frankly dominate the movie.'

Music Celebration: David Holmes On The Making Of The Out Of Sight Soundtrack
'I watched the film... the music was all over the shop'

Subscribe For Only £20
Get Dead Island: Riptide and six issues of Empire for only £20! Subscribe now
Steven Spielberg iPad App
Hollywood's most beloved director in this unique iPad special. Download now
Empire iPad Edition
The world's biggest movie magazine available on iPad Download now
Home  |  News  |  Blogs  |  Reviews  |  Future Films  |  Features  |  Interviews  |  Images  |  Competitions  |  Forum  |  iPad  |  Podcast  |  Magazine Contact Us  |  Empire FAQ  |  Subscribe To Empire  |  Register
© Bauer Consumer Media  |  Terms And Conditions  |  Our Data Promise To You  |  Bauer Entertainment Network
Bauer Consumer Media. Company number 1176085 (England). Registered Office: 21 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2DY