Remember when director Michael Bay made us hope for a better future when he said there wouldn't be a fourth 'Transformers' movie? Well, this week he kicked that dream in the balls by confirming there would be a new instalment in the commercially succesful but creatively bankrupt franchise.
Brand recognition is the key to this decision. The film industry is in a difficult place right now. Their movies can be found on the internet far before the official release date, the 3D gimmick isn't doing as well as before and people stay away from the cinema because of the high prices. What they need is something that will attract lots of people.
What better way to do this than to expand upon brands audiences already love? This is one of the reasons why we have seen so many sequels, prequels, reboots, remakes and adaptations over the last few years. The reasoning behind it is that if people can recognize a film's title they will go and see it. Right now films are being made that are designed to become the first in what studios hope to be a long and succesful series.
It's easy to call productions like these deriative or unoriginal. However the truth is that quality wise these films have an equal chance of succes as a so-called original work. Is it true that some of these franchises stink to high heaven? Yes, it is. But others are good or even manage to improve upon their source material.
The downside is that smaller and perhaps more risky projects don't get the exposure they deserve. Over the years the internet has played a role in spreading the word of these small pictures. Filmmakers on tight budgets are now able to advertise and even display their work thanks to the internet. A medium that hurt the big movies now seems to help the little ones.
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