Will King at 2015-08-08 00:00:20:

I would add one further "re-": The Regurgitation Definition: When a franchise continues to churn out films after it has moved past its prime. Example: The original Planet of the Apes franchise. I think there's a line between "there's more story to be told, here" and "we need another film in this series." To me, the first is organic; the second feels contrived. In the original Planet of the Apes (1968), the constantly escalating conflict between Taylor, Cornelius, Zira and Dr. Zaius is really the drive behind the story. Taylor falls out of the sky and upsets the apes' world view. There's an organic conflict among the characters and how they each respond to the situation. As the franchise progressed, the films became more about the situations than the characters. The characters did what they needed to do to make the plot work, but they felt hollow, contrived. When a franchise moves from good storytelling to "let's make another one of these," it's regurgitation.

chatterton at 2015-08-08 12:32:50:

The timing for this post couldn't be more relevant, since this weekend belongs to the Fantastic Four debacle. I view it as a property that no one has ever tried to do properly, and propose we coin a new term for this latest attempt: The Re-Regurgitate.

Scott at 2015-08-08 13:06:05:

Paul, the latest iteration of Bond, delving much more into his psychological experiences rather than focusing almost solely on plot machinations, certainly would qualify as a revised take on this iconic figure. But at least with this current take, whether you like the movies or not, it represents an attempt to take the character into new narrative territory, so at least in that regard it's 'new'.

Scott at 2015-08-08 13:08:08:

chatteron, so would Re-Regurgitate extend to the next round of Spider-Man movies? That's the 3rd iteration of that franchise, yes? You know when everyone's heads are going to explode? In about 5 years time when Warner Bros. announces a reboot of the Harry Potter series. Remake all of the movies with new actors. You just know it's coming...

chatterton at 2015-08-08 13:49:33:

Scott, I think we could definitely apply Re-Regurgitate to the next round of Spiderman films. However, if the next one just happens to be the best one ever (could happen, since Marvel is handling creative), we might need another appellation. If it's even worse that the last film, it might have to be designated as: Re-Abominate. As far as the inevitable "new, edgier take" on Harry Potter: Finally, we'll be able to watch the entire student body of Hogwarts wander the halls with their eyes glued to their magical smart-phone screens.

Scott at 2015-08-08 13:58:00:

I'm guessing the new Spider-Man will be better than the last iteration in part due to Marvel's involvement and the conventional wisdom about V2 being so bad, the new ones should soar by comparison. Re HP: Much of when that happens -- and it's when, not if -- depends on the success (or not) of the DC Comics franchises, particularly BM v SM. For a decade, WB went to the bank with franchises like HP, LOTR. Then they hit a big gap. I'm sure they have bean counters looking at calendars stretching into the mid 2020s, plotting out when they can schedule big franchise films precisely to avoid a repeat of those down times. But yes, smartphones at Hogwarts. Periscope. Instagram. The mind boggles...