It's a new year, and a new theme! We're transforming - or should we say "mutating" - the month of January into "The Mutant Gene-uary!" That's right, a month dedicated to mutants, and we're kicking it off with 2020's The New Mutants, the last film released from the original regime of the 20th Century Fox X-Men franchise. Based on a popular X-Men spin-off comic, The New Mutants was meant not only to expand the horizons of what a superhero movie could be, by taking a more horror-based approach, but also to add a new offshoot franchise to the overall X-Men cinematic universe, with a brand new team of young mutant heroes. But after a troubled production and multiple release-date delays, The New Mutants ultimately limply arrived after Disney's purchase of Fox meant the existing X-Men film franchise would be no more. Putting the behind-the-scenes politics aside, did The New Mutants truly deserve its fate? To discuss this, in the spirit of shared universes and comic book crossovers, we're joined in this episode by Joe, Trev's co-host on the Days of Future Podcast: Examining the X-Men podcast, for what promises to be an X-cellent conversation. (get it?)

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"It's Poddin' Time! We're closing out "Failure to Franchise presents Trev & Chris-tmas" with Trev's gift to Chris - a chance to revisit 2017's big-screen blockbuster reboot of Power Rangers. With a team of up-and-coming young actors as the titular heroes, and a couple Hollywood heavy hitters backing them up in supporting roles - including one with an interesting prior connection to the franchise - it sure seemed like Power Rangers was well-suited to cash in on the overall success of the superhero franchise and finally make the long-running kids TV franchise an actual cinematic player. But with criticisms of too-little-action and a perhaps too-serious tone, the film failed to connect in a big way. But do we believe these Rangers deserved another shot at the Morphin' Grid? Stock up on your Krispy Kreme and give a listen. 

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It's once again the most holly, jolly time of the year - "Failure to Franchise presents Trev and Chris-tmas," when we gift each other movies off our long F2F list that we might otherwise not be getting to anytime soon. First up, Chris gifts Trev a notorious box-office and critical flop that Trev has nonetheless always wanted to see ever since it first half-heartedly sputtered into theaters. But...why? Perhaps it has something to do with the film's bizarre origins. After all, how many would-be Hollywood blockbusters can legitimately claim to come from the mind of an actual four-year-old? Well, Monster Trucks can! So strap in and buckle up, as we take this surprisingly star-studded take on the "boy and his pet monster" trope out for a spin around the track. 

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In the return of our "Success to Series" spin-off show, we're taking a look at one of the most popular and unique horror franchises of the 2000s, Final Destination. What is it about the series' pitch-black humor and overly-elaborate death scenes that we find so amusing? We try to get to the bottom of this question, while also exploring the original film's surprising TV origins, sharing our favorite deaths from each installment, ranking the individual films, and paying tribute to the late, great Tony Todd. Plus, we write and share Final Destination-style death scenes for each other! So watch out for falling objects, make sure to step over any tripping hazards, and - whatever you do - don't drive behind any logging trucks while you listen to this in-depth discussion of Final Destination.

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"Noyce-vember," our month-long tribute to journeyman director Phillip Noyce, concludes! So how did Noyce follow up the disappointment of 1997's The Saint (which we looked at last time), you ask? Simple - by recruiting one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Denzel Washington, teaming him with a young starlet on the brink of mega-stardom named Angelina Jolie, and putting them together in an adaptation of a recent hit crime-thriller novel. Sounds like a good plan, right? Except he ended up with another failed franchise starter! What's the deal?? Well, we're taking a look at The Bone Collector to see if it's a truly worthy entry in the "90s serial killer movie" canon, or just another tired Se7en wannabe.

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Here at Failure to Franchise, we love a dependable journeyman. And that's why we're kicking off "Noyce-vember," a one month tribute to one of Hollywood's (well, technically, Australia's) most unsung journeymen directors, Phillip Noyce. First up, his 1997 adaptation of The Saint, a popular vigilante character who had already graced the world of literature, radio, film, and - most notably - a beloved '60s television series starring Roger Moore. For this wannabe movie blockbuster version, Noyce recruited Val Kilmer as the titular master of disguise. After 1995's Batman Forever and Heat culminated a fairly undeniable cinematic run for Kilmer, a few misses in 1996 meant The Saint - the movie he chose to do instead of another Batman film - was an important moment in his career...the moment where moving forward  he would either be confirmed as a legitimate, franchise-launching leading man, or seen more a comeback-seeking former star more known for his alleged difficulty to work with. Well, we all know how that worked out. But should The Saint have elevated Kilmer to another level? We discuss this, and much more!

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An iconic character, beloved around the world. A fairly successful box-office haul. And a creative team including Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Kathleen Kennedy, Peter Jackson, and Steven freakin' Spielberg!! What the hell is this movie doing on our show?! That's what we're here to figure out, as "Animation (3D)evastation" concludes with a look at The Adventures of Tintin. Sought after as a movie project by Spielberg as early as 1983, it may have taken over three decades to finally make it to the big screen, but this meant the project had time for its breathtaking motion-capture CGI technology to catch up to the visions of its filmmakers. Would those technological breakthroughs be enough to satisfy the character's global audience...and win over the less familiar American audience? And if not, why not? We discuss this and much more, as we ask the eternal question, "just what is this Tintin guy's deal, anyway?"

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It's a long held belief in Hollywood that, with only a few exceptions, cinematic adaptations of video games just don't work. So perhaps it's not surprising that the makers of the first big-screen Final Fantasy movie in 2001 thought it would be more beneficial to concentrate on at least creating a groundbreaking technological achievement, rather than worry about sticking to the story elements and tone the popular game series was known for. But when that desire ended up causing a lengthy, over-budget, and complicated production, the question became - and remains - was their ambition applaudable or misguided? Or maybe both? We're kicking off "Animation (3D)evastation" by asking that very question...and pondering the possibilities of fully digital movie stars, with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

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Our "Animation (2D)evastation" month concludes with The Road to El Dorado, Dreamworks Animation's 2000 attempt not only to pay tribute to the classic Bob Hope & Bing Crosby Road To... movies of the past, but also - more importantly - try to beat Disney at their own game with a rollicking, animated musical adventure. And they even went the distance of recruiting Lion King music collaborators Tim Rice and Elton John to try to recapture the same magic again. So what exactly kept Road to El Dorado from enjoying Lion King-level success? Why does it enjoy a cult following today? And how important is it to have everyone involved with the production of a movie trying to make the same kind of movie? We discuss all this, and more!

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"Animation (2D)evastation," a month dedicated to two 2D animated failed franchise starters, kicks off with a look at 1999's Doug's 1st Movie. Based on Doug, the hit series that started as one of the original "Nicktoons" on Nickelodeon, before being bought by Disney and moving to Disney for its later seasons, Doug's 1st Movie was an attempt to see if the series could make the jump to feature length. Though, to be fair, not necessarily theatrical success, at least at first, since the project was first conceived as a straight-to-video effort. So what made Disney change their minds and decide to put it in theaters, and was it a good decision? Well, we're covering it on this show, so you probably know the answer to that, but still, we're here to talk about it! 

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