American Film
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A quick glance at the movies opening this month turns up 22 JUMP STREET, sequel to the 2012 film starring Johnny Depp; HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, the second film of a planned trilogy; and TRANSFORMERS 4: AGE OF EXTINCTION, a franchise that proves it can reassemble its parts almost as quickly as its eponymous "mecha" creations. Do we detect a trend here? Well, call it the sequel to a trend. The original movement inspired this piece in the July-August 1978 issue of American Film. "Hollywood Cloning: Sequels, Prequels, Remakes, and Spin-Offs" by Stephen M Silverman discusses film recycling in the '70s and traces its origins back to the earliest days of filmmaking in America. Since "To Be Continued Next Week is nearly as old as the art form itself," according to Silverman, we thought we'd recycle "Hollywood Cloning", too, as, um, "Hollywood Cloning 2."