Adaptations in the franchise era : 2001-16.

Adaptations in Convergence Culture reevaluates adaptation's place in a popular culture marked by the movement of audiences across more media borders than ever before. While adaptation has historically been understood as the transfer of stories from one medium to another (e.g. novels to films), the increased range of media and the growing interconnectedness of media industries in the early 21st century have raised new questions about the forms and functions of adaptation. The term 'convergence culture' refers to the bringing together of old and new media - digital adaptations (apps, video games, e-literature) are now juxtaposed with old media adaptations (board and card games, tie-in toys) with franchises such as The Avengers, The Hunger Games, and Harry Potter (which is also a theme park.) Where do adaptations fit within massive franchises that span comics, novels, films, plays, television series, theme parks and video games? Rising scholar Kyle Meikle illuminates the enduring role that adaptation has played into the 21st Century. On the one hand, the production of adaptations has continued apace-not only in film adaptations of novels but in televisual and film adaptations of entire book and comic series. On the other hand, adaptation has emerged as its own productive strategy for the consumers of convergence culture, in practices like fan fiction, modding and remixing. By looking both at the transmedia franchises in which adaptations have played a part and the fan activities surrounding those franchises, we may glean a clearer picture of adaptation in the first decade of the 2000s.