Has Hollywood figured out the long term value of their franchises?

[Dave Gray]

Though I've not seen the movie yet, it sounds like the new Bond movie, SKYFALL, is among the (if not THE) best of the series.

With franchises like Star Trek, Mission Impossible, the Avengers films, Batman, and X-Men completely reborn and relevant, and big news with Star Wars, Superman, Lord of the Rings, etc. -- it seems like big Hollywood studios might finally understand the value of their franchises.  For the longest time, they'd skin the sheep with every release, forcing out crappy films to make a buck, but leaving fans pissed off. 

Now, though there are exceptions, I think that the financiers might finally understand that it's worth the investment in both money and time to get it right, because it returns huge dividends.  Are there any franchises you're looking forward to that think could benefit from a more serious take?

[Spider-Dan]

Sorry, can't agree with your take on this one.

Amazing Spider-Man was a naked money grab.  MI:4 was the answer to a question unasked.  Superman Returns was horrible and when you try to reboot more than once in 20 years, it generally ends up looking desperate (see: the Hulk movies).  The Star Trek movie franchise grew incredibly stale with the TNG cast and the reboot, while entertaining, is far from establishing itself as a brand.  I see The Hobbit as the effective conclusion to a series, not the start of a new one.

Fox seems to know what they're doing with X-Men and Marvel Studios is doing well with their interwoven movie universe.  Outside of that, the Christian Bale Batman universe appears to be done (at best, it is heading for Batman Forever territory) and I don't know anyone that's excited about Walt Disney's Star Wars VII.

[SCFinfan]

[...] and I don't know anyone that's excited about Walt Disney's Star Wars VII.

I'm excited.

[Dave Gray]

Yeah, in terms of Star Wars, I don't know anyone who was upset with the news.  At worst the franchise still sucks.

In regard to MI4, I think it was the best of the series.

The Amazing Spider-man was a moneygrab due to contractual obligations, yes -- but again, considerably better than the previous installment.  And with Superman, I'm not talking about Superman Returns (which was not a re-boot), but instead Man of Steel, which looks to be a really good direction (or at least a serious shot at getting it right.)

[SportsChick]

you have to remember that The Avengers was made after Disney bought Marvel - something to think about

[Spider-Dan]

Avengers was already well underway when Disney bought Marvel, and the changeover didn't affect any of the pieces that had already been set in place.  The only thing that changed was the distributor, from Paramount to Buena Vista (Disney).