Freaky Film Franchises

In Episode 5 we look at a variety of random and odd movie franchises, with some that are still going to this day.

We both get utterly baffled and fascinated by the cinematic universes of The Scorpion King, The Land Before Time, Anaconda/Lake Placid, God of Gamblers and Zombi. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to get confusing…

Morgan takes us through the history of the Scorpion King franchise, which began in 2002’s The Mummy Returns starring Dwayne Johnson as the titular warrior. Since then, it has spawned three further films with totally different casts each time.

Then there’s the Lake Placid and Anaconda series, which came to a head when they went up against each other, despite the former being a body of water, but there you go.

The Zombi film series is just downright complicated, as it technically involves two completely different series from different filmmakers taking place at the same time.

The Land Before Time series started off a cute animated film, but has since spawned almost countless spinoffs and sequels that are still going strong.

Then there’s the God of Gamblers series, where Tom simply got lost while trying to explain (we’ll blame the beer).

Developments since episode:

– There’s been another Land Before Time film – Journey of the Brave – released in 2016.

• God of Gamblers has seen two further films: From Vegas to Macau II in 2015 and From Vegas to Macau III in 2016.
• In 2020, it was announced that a reboot of the Anaconda film series was in the works.
• In 2018, a new film came out called Lake Placid: Legacy.
• 2018 also saw the release of the film The Scorpion King: Book of Souls, while a further reboot was announced in 2020, with Dwayne Johnson producing.