Can Forcing Franchises Backfire?

So I had a random thought the other day. You know how Hollywood's obsessed with franchises? We've got new Star Wars movies coming out (ugh), Spiderman's getting a soft reboot of its current reboot, and I've lost count of all the superhero movies we get every summer. Sometimes Hollywood takes a script and forces it into some recognizable product to make it a franchise film. Take Battleship (2012) for example.

Everyone I know, myself included, saw this idea and thought how stupid of a stretch it is to turn a board game into an alien action blockbuster. We dismissed any sliver of credibility it could ever hope to have. A Battleship movie? Really? But what if it did something different and went into theatres as a, follow me here, original movie?

Take out the tie to the Battleship property. What we've got left is a movie about a small Navy fleet fighting an alien invasion. I'd see that trailer and think "Huh. I've never thought of an alien invasion coming from the sea. That's a pretty cool twist!" If I saw the movie, sure I'd be disappointed, but I'd give that movie so much more credit for having a new idea.  Seems like throwing that property onto it might have backfired in terms of public opinion.

Speaking of original movies, I really gotta check out John Wick. I've heard nothing but good things about that movie and I've wanted to see Keanu Reeves in a cool action movie again for quite some time.