Stepping in the Right Direction

Many franchises, celebrated in the 1980's and 1990's, have evolved into fodder for parodies, disasterous sequels and awful spin-offs.  The "Alien" and "Terminator" movies were once highly regarded, as difficult to believe as that may now be.  Both have continued trudging along the trenches of box-office blow ups, releasing sub standard films that dissapointed audiences and tarnished the brand name.  The "Alien vs. Predator" series, with limitless potential to become a great addition to the original films, was a let-down to fans and an industry dud.  The post-Arnold Terminator sequels have been bland and boring (I haven't seen the most recent, but judging by criticism in the media it hasn't broken any new ground.)Standing out from the crowd is the squeaky clean Ghostbusters name, untarnished since the second film was released in 1989.  The original was a smash, raking in hundreds of millions, and cementing the careers of a few roustabouts from Saturday Night Live.  The second film was a good sequel - as Dan Akroyd has called it - good, but not great.  And that's where the story ended.  The proprietors didn't attempt to line their pockets  by punching out lame follow-ups, one after another.  There were no attempts to hybridize the Ghostbusters with some other franchise - no Ghosbusters and E.T. sailing together to the moon, on Ecto-1.  Because of the restraint exercised by the invested parties, the franchise has lived on without implosion.So now, 20 years since the last film hit theaters, an untraditional and long-awated sequel has arrived - but it's not a movie.  Ghostbusters: The Game, released this week, featuers an all-new storyline, voice acting from all the original cast members, and all the quirky psuedo-science laughs that fans loved in the originals.   Without claiming to know why a third movie wasn't pushed out a few years after the second, one can hope it was because the producers were waiting for a moment when something truly original could be created.  That moment is now - a moment when game companies are selling more units than any studios could dream about.  The videogame industry surpassed box office income a few years ago and hasn't relented.  Last year's "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" sold 13 million units in its first 12 months, each retailing for about $50 a pop.  Do the math, and it's obvious that any storyteller who wants to do something  original, and financially lucrative is going to go for the console, and not the big screen.I commend the Ghostbusters creative team for sticking it out for 20 years.  By holding off on a sub-par sequel, they allowed themselves the opportunity to bring the franchise into a new medium and tell a new story.  And miraculously, they've beaten one of Hollywood's most dangerous enemies - aging.  The characters in the game all look and sound exactly as they did in 1989.   No white-haired Bill Murray or pot-bellied Harold Ramis to be seen.  Breaking ground in this new medium is going to keep the Ghostbusters going strong for many, many years.