Franchises

They are on Walmart shelves, candy wrappers and dog costumes. They are in theme parks in Florida and Southern California. They have appeared on Amazon.com Inc. delivery boxes, chickpea snack bags and Tic-Tac containers. They have made cameos in countless Facebook memes, standing in for fans who want to express every conceivable emotion—from back-to-school excitement to calls to indict former President Donald Trump. People have…

Image via Sony Look out, here comes your daily Marvel news roundup! Hopefully you read that to the tune of the ’60s Spider-Man theme, because it’s been something of a Spidey-skewing day today as webheads have realized that No Way Home earned itself another very peculiar record that none of us noticed before. Meanwhile, on the eve of the next episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, we’re being told to expect the unexpected. Spider-Man: No Way These Guys Are Actually American Image via Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios…

Image via Saban Films With horror, just like any other genre, there are hits and misses as far as sequels are concerned. Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is that sequels rarely ever surpass the original, regardless of the circumstances. Although franchises like Scream, Halloween and Friday the 13th have been pumping out sequels and remakes and requels for what feels like centuries, you can never beat the classics. However, even though the odds are against most sequels, it isn’t unheard of for a beloved…

The federal board that oversees labor management relations is proposing a new rule that would make it easier for workers to say they are employed by two employers at once, a move that could open the door to employee claims against businesses that rely on franchisees, contractors or staffing firms.The proposed rule is one of the first significant policy moves by the National Labor Relations Board under the Biden administration and will likely be challenged in court by business groups. The rule would rescind a 2020 rule…

Image via Lucasfilm When it comes to the hierarchy of pop culture, you simply don’t rocket to the heights that Star Wars has without capturing the hearts of countless fans across the globe. Indeed, George Lucas’ flagship space opera has long prided itself on unforgettable characters, a setting that captures the most untamed imaginations, and its claim to some of the most historic moments in cinematic history. And when you’ve managed to capture all of these hearts, it’s customary that you give them a hearty wring…

Image via Universal It seems like the franchise has become the new movie star in the world of cinema; gone are the days where Brad Pitt or Jennifer Lawrence could single-handedly draw a crowd with their name alone and in its place, a slew of films that make a splash at the box office off of the legacy that comes with their predecessors; looking at you, Jurassic World Dominion. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with films as a franchise, and where some cinematic franchises, such as the MCU, continue to hold their…

General Motors Co. GM 1.58% will offer buyouts to U.S. Buick dealers as an alternative for franchise owners who don’t want to make investments that will be needed as the brand goes all-electric, an executive said. Global Buick chief Duncan Aldred confirmed in an interview that all of Buick’s roughly 2,000 U.S. franchise dealers will be given the opportunity to take a buyout. A dealer who takes a buyout…

Restaurant operators and business advocates mobilized Tuesday to try to persuade California Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto a bill that would set wages for fast-food workers, a move they said could increase costs and set a precedent other states and cities might follow. The effort is being pushed by franchise owners, including many who would have to take on the cost of paying workers a minimum wage as high as $22 an hour starting next year, set by a government-run council created by the bill.…

via Warner Bros. With all of the various reconceptions the DCEU has gone through since it began with 2013’s Man of Steel, the franchise has offered up a bunch of post-credits scenes that have gone precisely nowhere. Lex Luthor pitching his idea for a Legion of Doom to Deathstroke in Justice League 2017 springs to mind. Strangely enough, while Shazam! Fury of the Gods is coming to us from the same creative team as the first movie, it’s looking like the sequel will similarly straight-up ignore the 2019 film’s tag…

A number of fan-requested changes and improvements are coming to Battlefield 2042, as EA is planning to integrate Specialists into the old-school class system. Developer EA Dice has detailed what players can expect from this major update to Battlefield 2042, and it includes the reintroduction of classes, map reworks, weapon changes and additions and more. These changes should be coming over the next few seasons of the game, with no concrete release date outlined for them as of yet. Currently, Battlefield 2042 uses a…