The much ballyhooed remake came in a close second to ‘Real Steel’ at the box office, with a “prequel” to the 1982 horror hit ‘The Thing’ trailing behind in third place.

Will that stop – or even slow down – the number of remakes getting greenlit? Likely not, but it should. This year has already seen remakes of ‘Arthur,’ ‘The Mechanic,’ ‘Fright Night,’ ‘Conan the Barbarian’ and ‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’ flop. The public has spoken – remakes are even less likely to succeed than original fare, so why bother?

The success of the 2011 prequel ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ suggests a better way to squeeze every last drop out of an existing film franchise.

‘Apes’ built on the name recognition of that film series while instigating a fresh spin on the material. And ‘Apes’ bullied the box office competition for a $175 million haul, and counting. Compare that to director Tim Burton’s straightforward ‘Apes’ remake from 2001 which failed to recapture that “damn, dirty ape” movie magic.

Prequels, when done properly, let Hollywood bask in brand recognition – and the ability to repackage previous franchise installments on Blu-ray – while audiences savor original storytelling in a familiar package.

‘The Thing’ bumbled its attempt at franchise rejuvenation. It arrived in theaters billed as a prequel, but it essentially hit the same story beats from the 1982 ‘Thing’ feature. Audiences aren’t dumb. The trailers told us ‘Apes’ was a new story while ‘The Thing’ was a rehash, plain and simple.

Now, let’s see if Hollywood suits can accept the news that ticket buyers don’t want remakes when the originals are likely collecting dust in their movie collections – or awaiting an instant download.

What’s to Like

As a fan of James Franco, I’m usually interested in seeing him onscreen. He’s made some interesting choices in his career so I’m curious to see why he would sign up for this sci-fi prequel. Hopefully, his role is more interesting than the bland character seen in the trailer spouting cliches. In terms of the visual effects, I’m impressed by the image of the man with two floors of apes rising above him.

What’s to Dislike

Everything else. I don’t think that anyone is clamoring for another “Planet of the Apes” movie and if they were, this one doesn’t look too impressive. The apes just look like smaller versions of Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” and the ape sequences don’t look that exciting. The shot of an ape jumping into the helicopter is particularly unimpressive.

The Verdict

I’m not really looking forward to this one. If the trailer is the best that the movie can offer, it might be viewers who are cursing the apes, not Charlton Heston.

Release Date: August 5,2011

Of course, should Ewoks arrive to aid John Connor, all bets are off.

My love for “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003) puts me in the minority, I know, but you have to embrace how different the three installments are from each other to truly appreciate it. “Terminator” (1984) is a brilliant piece of storytelling, but also a gloriously 80’s action film from soundtrack to clothes to hairstyles to mandatory gratuitous sex scene. “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” on the other hand, is arty and existential, with mind-blowing, big budget action scenes. But let’s just admit out loud that a certain viewing mood is required in order to avoid using the word “overlong.” Finally, the third chapter shakes off everything that made two so special, but not necessarily in a bad way. The action scenes are still outstanding, but the plot is simpler and had the casting of John Connor been stronger, people might have warmed up more towards the Governor of California’s final starring role.

What “Terminator 3″ deserves enormous credit for is honoring the time logic and mythology that came before. In that respect, screenwriters John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris wrote an ingenious script that hit with a huge surprise at the end that not only pulled the whole story together but the whole franchise, brilliantly setting up  4 – and the good news is that these guys are back for 4.

Telling a compelling, exciting story while respecting what came before is crucial to the survival of the series. The moment we feel the filmmakers cheated, it’s over. Oh, we may still drop our ten bucks like the lemmings we can sometimes be, but we won’t respect ourselves for it, and this act of paying for movies you know you’ll hate is known as George Lucas of the Caribbean Syndrome.

Until “Terminator Salvation” hits May 21st, if you’re hungry for a timeline franchise that never dropped the ball, check out the original five “Planet of the Apes” films. 1, 3 and 4, are just damn fine films, 2 is salvaged by James Franciscus, and 5 is admittedly weak though entertaining in a TV movie kind of way,  but taken as a whole the way the series moves around in time telling different pieces of a larger, over-arching story is amazingly innovative storytelling.

Here’s hoping we can say the same after May 21.