Media franchise
A media franchise refers to all of the works associated with a particular piece of media, such as sequels and remakes, as well as works adapted to different mediums like a book made into a film. A franchise is usually named after the first work of media, but is sometimes named after a derivative work, especially if it greatly overshadows the original.
Becoming bored with a franchise after spending too much time with the works is referred to as "franchise fatigue."
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Expansion
There are a number of different ways in which new works are added to a franchise.
Serials
A serial is when multiple works are meant to be released one after another over time. For the most part, only printed stories and television shows are released serially.
For printed stories, each individual work is called a number, part, or fascicle and they are typically published on their own or in issues of a larger periodical, typically monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly. When the story is complete, all of the parts may be published in a single book called a collection, anthology, or reworked into a novel.
For television shows, each work is called an episode and all of the episodes released over a year are called a season. This is because the episodes are usually written, filmed, and edited over the course of three seasons, then released on television during the fourth season. If the show is popular, it will usually be "picked up" for another season. Typically, each new season of episodes is numbered.
Even if several movies are conceived of ahead of time and meant to be filmed and released in a serial manner, they still do not used the terms of serialized television shows.
Sequels
Sequels are subsequent works in the same medium which expand the story of the original. The term "sequel" applies to books, movies, and video games, and sometimes, though rarely, music. Although television shows may have a new series based on the original, they are typically not called a sequel.
The first work is usually known as the "original" or "O.G.," is made. The original work is often designed to be a standalone, that is, little to no thought is given on sequels. Then, if the original is especially popular or marketable, additional works are created called sequels. There are a variety of names for sequels based on how they relate to the original. If the sequel is meant to follow the story line of the previous work immediately after it ends, it is referred to as a "direct sequel." However, if a significant amount of time has passed, it is called a "legacy sequel." If the subsequent work occurs before the original work, it is called a "prequel." If it occurs during an existing work, it's called a "parallel" (or a paraquels, or sidequel). If it occurs between two existing works, its called an "interquel." If it occurs inside of an existing work its called a "intraquel." Both interquel and intraquel may also be referred to as a "midquel."
If a work has an additional sequel resulting in three total works, they are collectively referred to as a "trilogy" with the third work sometimes being referred to as the "threquel."
If the sequel has the same setting as the original, but doesn't really reference the characters or events of the original, it is called a "standalone sequel." A sequel that isn't directly related to any of the previous works, but uses the same themes and style as the original is called a "spiritual sequel." A work that is not licensed by the owner of the original (usually because it is in the public domain) is called an "unofficial sequel" or, if it was self-published, a "fan sequel."
Re-releases
Works from franchises are often re-released in essentially the same form as the original. There are several reasons for a re-release, it could be to celebrate an anniversary of the original, to try to fix undesirable issued in the original like typos or inaccuracies, to replace the dwindling stock of the original, to make it available on a new medium, etc. Re-releases often have new cover artwork, but are, for all intents and purposes, the same work as the original. Because of this, they don't really count toward the expansion of the franchise.
If a work is released again using its original content, but its fidelity has been increased with modern technology, it is called a "remaster." Due to the nature of printed text, remastering doesn't apply to books, though it could apply to books heavily reliant on illustrations. If a work is re-released using the original content, but is altered to make changes to the story, it may be called a "director's cut" or "special edition." Despite the term, a "director's cut," is often made by someone other than a director.
Remakes
Remakes include recreating an original work with new material and are usually made many years after the original and can apply to all forms of media. The standard remake tells essentially the same story with only minor changes to the writing. When a work is remade and significant changes have been made to the original, it's called a "reboot." If the new work is so different that it only borrows concepts and ideas from the original, it's called a "reimagining."
Demakes
A demake is a recreation of an original work using much lower specifications or weaker hardware than the original used. This is most common in video games and music.
Migrations
Franchises often migrate popular secondary characters into new ones. When a new work is made by taking characters from an established work and putting them into a new setting, it's called a "spin-off." When characters from two independent franchises are put into a single work together, it's called a "crossover."
Licensing
Licensing refers to new works being created, not by the owners of a work, but by third parties. In the early phases of a franchise, all the works might be created by the same person or group of people, however, as a franchise grows, it becomes too large for any one person or group to manage. Also, as time goes by, the original content creators retire and either will the rights to the work to their family or sell it to someone else. In order for a franchise to grow beyond the original creator's work, the new owners will license the work out to new creators. Derivative works that are based on the original and have the approval of the owners are called "licensed," while those not without the approval of the owners are called "unlicensed," or sometimes "fan works."
Licensed works are created by a third party, usually because the owner doesn't have the necessary expertise or staff to create themselves. This is almost always the case when a work is adapted to another form of media, like when a book is adapted to movie or video games, because it is very rare for a book publisher to also own a film studio or video game development team. As a franchise expands into other forms of media it becomes known as a "transmedia" franchise. When an adapted work is being developed during or immediately following the original, it is referred to as a "tie-in" work. Tie-ins are often made to capitalize on the popularity of the original and, because they're produced on such a tight schedule, are typically of poor quality.
Canon
Canon refers to the officially accepted content of a franchise, particularly by individual works. When a franchise is new and small, pretty much everything created for it is viewed as canon, however, as a franchise expands, there are problems with other works which cause the franchise owners to distance them from the franchise and drop them from the official canon. A work from a franchise that is not part of the canon is referred to as "non-canonical." There are many reasons why a work from a franchise may be dropped from the canon. It could be very poorly made, it could contradict earlier works, it could be disowned by the original creator who wasn't consulted, it could be hated by the fans, and so forth. Who gets to decide what is canon is a matter of opinion, but the most weight is typically given to the franchise's owner, then the original creator, then the fans.
When a later work in a franchise contradicts an earlier work, there are a number of ways it can be dealt with. The contradiction can simply be ignored, the original or later work can be dropped from the canon, or what usually happens, the original work is fixed through something called "retroactive continuity" or "retcon." Retcon describes changing the earlier work to bring it inline with the later works. Fans are often divided on whether this should be done, and how it should be done. When the original work is reissued, remastered, or remade, it will often include changes for the retcon. Ironically, retcons often introduce new contradictions.
Works that are dropped canon (or never part of it) are often referred to as a "forgotten title," "lost work," or, if they aren't awful, part of the "extended universe."
As a franchise grows and the number of works become difficult to catalog, it becomes common to refer to the franchise as a "universe" or "metaseries." Works directly related to the franchise are typically viewed as part of the series, while those created as spinoffs, crossovers, reimaginings, and various non-canon works are merely part of the universe.
Non-fiction
Although non-fiction works rarely use terms like "sequel," "canon," and "universe," they still often expand in a manner very similar to fiction franchises and their brand can be added to all sorts of media and products.
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