What Director Should Take Over a Franchise?
With the recent announcement of David Fincher joining “World War Z”, the CineNation writers picked who they thought should be given the reins of an existing franchise.
This past week, it was announced that David Fincher is in talks to direct the long in-development World War Z 2 for Paramount Pictures. This is a very interesting decision for David Fincher, and one that has definitely intrigued us here at CineNation for the upcoming sequel. With this news, and the past news of directors like Mel Gibson and Matthew Vaughn being eyed for Suicide Squad 2 and Man of Steel 2, we began to wonder what other directors should get the chance to take over a franchise. Here are a few of our choices.
Ben Wheatley — James Bond Franchise
Not to spend too much time on my argument as to why the Bond franchise is in need of yet another hard reboot (you can find those arguments here and here), the short answer is that Bond needs desperately to return to his suave, less serious roots. Casino Royale was a welcome relief from the ridiculousness of Die Another Day, but now the franchise needs more From Russia with Love and less Quantum of Solace. It needs to be stylish, it needs to be cool, and it needs to be fun.
The most obvious answer of who should helm this return to Bond tradition is Matthew Vaughn, because he’s already making better James Bond movies over with the Kingsman franchise. But I’m even more excited of what could happen with someone even more stylish, even more wild, and especially more weird than Vaughn. That person is Ben Wheatley.
One of the most important thing Bond needs back is his sense of humor. No matter what genre Wheatley is working in, and he’s worked in many during his short career, he always has a sense of humor. It can be dark, twisted, strange, but that sense of fun is always there in his films. He’s not afraid to get weird, as evidenced by A Field in England or High Rise, or even tread the border of goofy, having directed episodes of Doctor Who and next helming Freakshift, which he describes as “women with shotguns fighting giant crabs.” Wheatley could bring back some of the more ridiculous aspects of the Bond franchise in a way that still makes a fun story. This could be the risky, refreshing take the franchise needs to break from its current “British Jason Bourne” vibes.
The franchise also needs its style back. Mendes made huge steps in returning Bond’s suaveness in Skyfall by bringing back some subtle aspects of Bond’s older style, but one look at the characters in Wheatley’s fun and stylish chamber piece Free Fire shows that he can pull off period style with super cool vibes. So let’s get Wheatley a fresh-faced new actor and let him put his twisted mind to work creating a fun, exciting hybrid of old and new Bond.
Christopher Nolan — Star Wars Franchise
by Sean Randall
I will actually be talking about throwing a couple of directors into the Marvel Cinematic Universe later this week, but Star Wars is Disney’s other major franchise constantly looking for new directing talent. My immediate second choice for this was actually Kathryn Bigelow, since Rogue One showed Star Wars is willing to go the route of the more traditional war film and Bigelow is one of the best at making those nuanced movies, but I have far less experience with her work than with Christopher Nolan’s.
Nolan is easily the most competent and visually stunning science fiction director currently working, and it’s so subtle you hardly realize it. Interstellar was perhaps his most blatant sci-fi film, and it was so visually well-made that people have had major discussions on whether the black hole was scientifically accurate, or if it was just super close. The Batman trilogy took the science-fiction elements of the comic book universe and created a grounded world for them. Plus, beyond science fiction, now that he’s handling Dunkirk to great reviews, he may emerge as a competent war film director as well.
Originally, I was going to say that was all a recipe for Nolan to direct Star Wars — Episode IX. I mean, they’ve already announced Colin Trevorrow, but I was not the biggest fan of Jurassic World, particularly its direction. Still, I figure give the younger, more unknown director a shot and let’s just be vague. The benefit of the current Star Wars universe is that they’re exploring films beyond the main storyline, through prequels and spin-off films, and that area is ripe for Nolan’s deft touch. After the darker and more realistic elements of Rogue One, Nolan’s sensibilities and visually-stunning effects would feel right at home in the Star Wars universe, bringing a new and different voice, but one that still melds with the world at large. Plus, with Nolan, you’re guaranteed a decent writing team to tag along and help tell his character-driven stories. Perhaps you could see the Nolan touch on a character’s backstory, the way the Han Solo films are going, or let him create a completely new and untold story within the universe.
Nolan’s movies are ones I will always end up seeing, especially in theaters, and Star Wars is another series that loves a theatrical experience. The combination of the two could potentially be the most cinematic and amazing movie on the big screen. That thought alone is worth the price of admission.
Robert Eggers — Halloween
by Alex Bauer
In 2016, The Witch creeped out audiences when it was released. The film, written and directed by Robert Eggers, details the life of a Puritan family and their hysteria for witches in 1600s New England. The film is amazingly effective in scares, creepy moments and haunting imagery. Eggers brilliantly showcased the fear witches created for families during that time period.
That is why, in an ideal world, I would love to see Eggers tackle Michael Myers and Halloween (even though I know David Gordon Green is currently helming the reboot).
The Halloween franchise is my favorite of the horror franchises, mainly because those films are mostly effective in scaring and entertaining. The Witch is, for lack of a better term, a ghost story. The scares derive from suspense and imagination. Mastering those aspects make Eggers a brilliant choice for Halloween.
Michael Myers, at least at first, was not all in on the kills. The strength of his “scariness” was the suspense and the play with light and shadow. Sure he was on a murdering rampage, but Myers wanted to scare first. He would set elaborate traps or hide in the shadows to scare, before killing. Eggers could have some real fun with this concept. Like he did with creating the hysteria around The Witch, Eggers can create similar spooky suspense around serial killer Michael Myers to great effect. Audiences also want to see a payoff, which means people have to die. I would like to believe that Eggers would film his kills that do not depend on blood and guts. He is not that “let’s show it all” type of director. Again, he would let the audience’s imagination dictate how a character was killed.
With Eggers directing, I believe the series would not lose its most effective bargaining chip in debates over the best horror franchise: Halloween can actually be scary.
Steven Spielberg — The Expendables 4
by Dan LeVine
I found watching The Expendables films infuriating — not because they were a waste of time, but because they had such great potential. Look up “star-studded cast” in Webster’s Phrase Dictionary (I made that up) and you’ll find the IMDb page for The Expendables 3. It’s impressive that Stallone was able to wrangle such a large cast of stars — who once could each headline any action film — to appear in not one film, but three!
Yes, Arnold’s not as muscular as he once was, Lundgren isn’t as dashing and Stallone’s speech isn’t as intelligible (was it ever?), but the cast can still act. It’s a shame that the movies were as bad as they were. I believe that with a better script and director, they could have been good…maybe great…possibly historic.
Enter Steven Spielberg. The celebrated director has found success in many genres, from the campy and fun Hook to the solemn Schindler’s List to the terrifying Jaws. If there’s one thing he does perfectly in nearly all his films — it’s adventure.
E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial. Jurassic Park. War Horse. And, of course, he directed all four Indiana Jones films. (Aside: Yes, the last one was the poorest-reviewed, but it still has a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. You probably hated the giant ants and the helpful monkeys and the aliens. But think about it — is that *really* stranger than the contents of the Ark of the Covenant, the Temple of Doom ceremony & the Holy Grail? End aside.)
If one can judge by the recent successes of Lincoln and Bridge of Spies and the recent failure of The BFG, it seems as though Spielberg is having better success with more serious films with veteran actors. But he’s not done with adventure yet — he has at least one more Indiana Jones lined up.
I think Spielberg would enhance the Expendables franchise by adding stakes that feel real, action sequences that are more satisfying, characters that we care about and a story that feels less predictable. What The Expendables franchise needs isn’t talent — it’s a decent script and good direction. I know Stallone just dropped out of the franchise, but imagine if this actually happened! Imagine the poster: “Stallone. Statham. Li. Lundgren. Willis. Crews. Van Damme. Norris. Couture. Rourke. Banderas. Snipes. Lutz. Rousey. With Gibson. And Ford. And also Schwarzenegger. Oh. And Spielberg.”
I’ve been let down three times. But with Steven onboard, I’d see Expendables 4 in a heartbeat.
Edgar Wright — Ghostbusters
Thomas Horton and I just got to recently see an early screening of Edgar Wright’s upcoming film Baby Driver. It’s amazing and easily one of my favorite films of the year so far. At some point in the film, the thought of “What would have happened if Edgar Wright directed Ant-Man like he was supposed to?” definitely crossed my mind. Then I began to wonder what film franchise could this man knock of out the park. The one that made the most sense was Ghostbusters.
After last year’s lackluster reception of Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot, the franchise’s future is definitely up in the air. Do you continue with what you just set up? Do you ignore it and reboot again? Do you give up completely and never touch it again? These are questions that are definitely going through the minds of Columbia/Sony executives. And I’m not sure what you do either, but I will say that Ghostbusters can be a franchise. You just have to have the right director at the helm, and I think that person is Edgar Wright.
I didn’t hate the newest version of Ghostbusters, but I really didn’t like it either. It was meh, and Ghostbusters should not be meh. This recent film played more just like a straight comedy. People forget that Ghostbusters is a complete mix of genres. Comedy, action, horror, sci-fi. It takes a lot to balance that out. You can’t just put four people in room and have them all try to top each other. Edgar Wright’s filmography shows that he can tackle all of the genres. Shaun of the Dead is a prime example this. It is a comedy, a horror film, and an action film. Wright can balance all of these genres in his films and he makes it look easy.
All of his films have heart, which is something I think the last Ghostbusters was desperately missing. His films deal with friendships and relationships, and they are almost always focused on the outsiders or the uncool people. His films have a visual flare that very few modern comedy directors actually have. When looking at his experience and the mythology of the Ghostbusters franchise, this decision is a no-brainer. It’s a match made in heaven.
