Five directors who've successfully continued movie franchises

 

Andrew Robinson, Gleaner Writer

Earlier this week, the Internet has erupted with noise - as it always does - after hearing that Jon Favreau will not be directing 'Iron Man 3'. Favreau has had a very odd career as a director so far. His credentials include films such as: 'Made', 'Zathura' and 'Elf'. All films have more of a fun, 'just-run-with-it' feel than anything else.

He eventually hit his directorial high with the release of 'Iron Man' in the summer of 2008 and ended up getting a lot of criticism from fans after the release of the sequel earlier this year. However, there's one thing that can be assured at this point: Marvel won't be scrapping this multimillion-dollar franchise. The show will go on, as it did when Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as Lt Col James Rhodes in the sequel this year.

So to settle all the fanboys out there claiming that this is the end of 'Iron Man' as we know it, take a look at these franchises that did just fine without the director that kicked it off:

5. J.J. Abrams - Mission: Impossible III (2006)

In 1996, Brian De Palma brought the '60s spy television show to the big screen in a way that made it not only stunning but also faithful to the original material. A decade later, and with already one sequel in the bag, television producer expert Abrams ('Alias', 'LOST') was given the opportunity to take a crack at the franchise.

He pretty much knocked it out of the park. He did bring a lot action/adventure to a franchise that started out as more of spy-vs-spy film, but it still worked as a great action movie that kept you guessing who the bad guy really was.

4. Lee Unkrich - Toy Story 3 (2010)

The flagship film for Pixar was finally going to become a full-blown trilogy. More than 15 years prior, John Lasseter had created the movie that would put Pixar on the map as the studio to redefine what a children's movie is.

Lasseter eventually had to pass on the torch after he took over the animation department at Disney and decided to do so to someone who's been with Pixar for more than a decade and worked as an assistant director on four of their previous films, including 'Toy Story 2' and 'Monsters Inc'.

Unkrich was able to bring a satisfying conclusion to a franchise that all fans were afraid was going to eventually become more of an episodic series than anything else.

3. Paul Greengrass - 'The Bourne Supremacy' (2004)

Doug Liman began the tale of Jason Bourne, a spy with amnesia. When it came time to enter the following chapters, Greengrass was called on. Many complained of his inability to use a steady camera, but for those of us who paid attention, we could see what a realistic, interesting addition it brought to an already gritty spy film that had one man face off against an entire government.

2. Irvin Kershner - 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' (1980)

So if you didn't know that Lucas only really directed the first film ('A New Hope'), you're not a real 'Star Wars' fan. It's known that Lucas couldn't manage the stress of making a film like this again as a director, so he delegated his work to Kershner, who made the film even grander. After the introduction, Kershner was able to take us to more grand worlds, like the planet Hoth, and introduce us to characters such as Yoda and Lando Calrissian. It's the franchise's best film to date, and it wasn't even directed by its creator. Thank God.

1. David Yates - 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' (2009)

The British director who to this point not many film fans had even heard of was able to take what was already on paper and in previous films and create a much darker, more dramatic world of wizardry for us to enjoy in the last three chapters of the Harry Potter franchise.

He managed to tone down the action and focus more on character development, in turn not only making the franchise more epic than it ever was before, but stamping his mark on the world of film. I'm actually quite interested in what he's going to end up making once the Harry Potter films are over, when he can make something original, or if he's going to latch on to another already existing property.

Is there anyone I missed? Which other director took on an existing franchise and did it justice?

Email feedback to saturdaylife@gleanerjm.com. You can find more of Andrew's ramblings at www.gmanreviews.com and on Twitter @gmanreviews.