By David Weiner
Face it. We live in a world where if a film becomes a box-office hit, a sequel is mandatory. Like it or not, it just makes good business sense for Hollywood studios to plant their golden tentpole if they make a killing on a new release and can turn it into a franchise.
There have been so many memorable trilogies on movie screens, and if a franchise can make it to a fourth entry, odds are likely (based on the law of diminishing returns) that No. 4 will stumble critically and financially at the box office — if not become the proverbial nail in the coffin (SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, I’m looking at you; sorry, Christopher Reeve, I still think you’re amazing).
But sometimes a fourth entry can surprisingly be the best of the bunch, or a serious contender for one of the top chapters of a franchise. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD and STAR TREK: THE VOYAGE HOME immediately come to mind.
Some of my favorite films in long-running franchises just happen to be the fourth entries. I have no shame championing the likes of JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, JURASSIC WORLD, BRIDE OF CHUCKY, FRIDAY THE 13: THE FINAL CHAPTER, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA, and THUNDERBALL.
Which is why I couldn’t wait to dive into Movies Go Fourth: 4th Films in Fantastic Franchises, the new book by Mark Edlitz that explores the fourth entries of film franchises going back all the way to the 1960s.
“Granted, it is a strange topic for a book, but hear me out,” Edlitz tells me. “Trilogies used to be the brass ring of franchises. They also mirrored a three-act structure. But what happens when the story concludes, and the studio or filmmakers want the story to continue? There are so many interesting fourth films.”
Edlitz is a fellow certified geek who has written such tomes as How to Be a Superhero, The Many Lives of James Bond, and The Lost Adventures of James Bond (which dives into the different scenarios for Timothy Dalton’s abandoned third and fourth 007 movies). He also has written for television, and in 2010 he wrote and directed the fun STAR WARS fan documentary JEDI JUNKIES. His new book is packed with interviews with the writers and directors and other craftspersons of the titular fourth films, revealing firsthand insight into the making of these memorable — or infamous — entries.
Edlitz breaks down his task by organizing his titles by genre: Action (James Bond, Rambo, Dirty Harry, DIE HARD), Superhero movies (Batman, Superman, Spider-Man), Horror (HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13TH, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, JAWS, PSYCHO), Sci-Fi (STAR WARS — think Ewoks, not Jar Jar Binks), STAR TREK, THE TERMINATOR, PLANET OF THE APES, etc.), and Comedy (POLICE ACADEMY, ERNEST movies, HOME ALONE, and MEATBALLS).
“MEATBALLS 4 did not become a MEATBALLS movie until after the movie started production,” reports Edlitz. “It started out as an indie film called HAPPY CAMPERS, with Corey Feldman. But then the producers informed the writer-director that everyone was now making a MEATBALLSmovie. Needless to say, Corey Feldman wasn’t happy.”
Some of the notables Edlitz chats with in his book include SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE co-writer Mark Rosenthal; THUNDERBALL star Luciana Paluzzi; SUDDEN IMPACT writer Joe Stinson; HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS writer Alan McElroy; A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER writer Ken Wheat; THE EWOK ADVENTURE writer Bob Carrau; JAWS: THE REVENGE star Lance Guest; PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING director Mick Garris, and the late, great Joel Schumacher, director of BATMAN FOREVER (with Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as the caped crusader) and the infamous BATMAN & ROBIN (with George Clooney donning the cape and cowl).
“[It’s] one of the last interviews with Joel Schumacher,” says Edlitz. “It is a touching, funny, and revealing conversation. BATMAN 3 and BATMAN 4 were made by the same creative team. But one movie worked and the other one ‘killed’ the franchise. We discuss why.”
And then there’s unmade projects discussed in the book. I am particularly fond of discovering the stories behind unmade projects — what could have been, and why they ultimately fell apart.
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, the fourth film in the Bruce Willis action franchise, originally had a very different premise and Edlitz got the lowdown from DIE HARD 2 co-writer Doug Richardson. “Bruce Wills and Richardson were kicking around ideas for a very different version of DIE HARD 4,” says Edlitz. “[They] jokingly called their film DIE REALLY F-ING HARD. Although, as Rocket Racoon might say, ‘They didn’t say F’ing.’ In their version, John McClane was trapped in a crashed helicopter and has to saw his own hand off to escape. Their DIE HARD 4 would have been very different from the PG-13 film that they made.”
Movies Go Fourth: 4th Films in Fantastic Franchises has interesting info on everything from an unmade GODFATHER spinoff (Ed Falco talking about turning his continuation novel The Family Corleone into a screenplay and its connections to the GODFATHER saga) to a buried “ashcan copy” of PORKY’s fourth-quel (PORKY’S PIMPIN’ PEE WEE, anyone?).
Plus, we get the lowdown on Sam Raimi’s fabled SPIDER-MAN 4. Tobey Maguire was originally set to go up against John Malkovich as the villainous Vulture (the baddie later used for SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING). The film went into pre-production, but Raimi walked away due to creative differences and then the entire project was scrapped.
Edlitz says he would have loved to have seen the fourth Sam Raimi SPIDER-MAN film: “If Raimi were able to make that film, he would have been able to end Peter Parker’s story on his terms. It would have been epic. I’m really excited to share those details with the readers of the book.”
For that entry, Edlitz spoke with SPIDER-MAN 4 storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson, who worked intimately with Raimi during pre-production of the film. As Raimi fans know, the director loves to have a great cameo from his longtime EVIL DEAD pal Bruce Campbell, and Henderson reveals that the character Campbell was set to play in SPIDER-MAN 4 was going to be a doozy.
Find out more in Movies Go Fourth: 4th Films in Fantastic Franchises, available now. The book is filled with wonderful illustrations by Pat Carbajal, and features a fun cover design by Robert Ball.
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