Film | July 26, 2021 | As the box office returns to ‘normal,’ we once again see those big brands and familiar IPs front and center. It’s all about the sequels, franchises, and relatively familiar names that can be milked into oblivion. This week, we had that content but not in the way you may have expected. A new G.I. Joe movie, Old, which is technically a comic book adaptation but not sold as such. Its brand power comes from its director, M. Night Shyamalan. For all of the crap the filmmaker has had thrown at him over the past two decades, it’s still exciting to see how a director can make hit after hit, usually with original stories and the sort of mid-budget productions that we’re seeing less of in the franchise era.