Film franchises, a series of
films connected by at least one common element, are incredibly important to
both the fulfilment of audience expectations and to the studios and producers
hoping to make huge sums of money on a single series’ intellectual property.
The audience for these
franchises, after several films and spin-offs or tie-ins, become engrossed in
the world of these films and will emotionally invest heavily in the universe.
For example, the Harry Potter franchise expands beyond the films and this
audience will want to experience each facet of the Potter universe; be it a new
theme park attraction, a studio tour and through many different spin-offs and
tie-ins such as video games. Not through manipulation, but through the careful
expansion of a film franchise producers provide the audience with fulfilment.
They produce new films and continue the story of the characters they are so
involved with over many years and continue to keep the brand alive in the
public consciousness, of course leading to a higher profit in total. The series
becomes a social experience and studios prey upon this sensibility. Producers
provide audiences with entertainment and keep that audience entertained over years
of films, toys, video games, theme parks and other merchandise – a shared bond
with the studio and audience.
For producers in particular,
the success or failure of a single film will either seize the prospect of a
franchise or damage these prospects irrevocably. Walt Disney Pictures’ John
Carter didn’t turn a profit at the box-office and stunted any hope of a huge
scale science fiction franchise such as Star Wars, yet with the immense wealth
of Disney John Carter was merely a blemish on their total profit loss that
year. For some studios, failure means the destruction of the company unlike
Disney. This suggests that studios are willing to spend more on budgets in the
hopes of success, but also spend less in case of a huge flop. Many studios are
known for one single franchise, so making a mark on the industry is very
important to producers in terms of the public awareness of a product. This
awareness allows studios to make even more money than the film series through
synergy, the collaboration of multiple companies owned by the same proprietor
working to promote a single product. Synergy can save a franchise, even if the
film series underperforms. Similarly, a long dormant franchise can still
provide a flow of revenue through merchandise such as the ALIEN and Star Trek
franchises.
Audience expectations are
also incredibly important to a film’s commercial and critical success. The
Batman franchise, one of the highest earning in the entire industry, is no
stranger to this. 1992’s Batman Returns was a sequel to 1989’s Batman and much
darker than its predecessor in terms of graphic violence and tone. The studio,
Warner Bros, holds this as the reason for its underperformance at the
box-office compared with the original film and created much controversy. Batman
Returns was a victim of its own expectations, promising a tone in line with the
first film when its audience were perhaps not children. Audiences expect what
they saw in the first film, but bigger and better – this was why Returns was
such a critical success. 1995’s Batman Forever ditched the director of the
first two films and brought in a new director to produce a more family-friendly
and mainstream film, hoping for a much higher box office performance
comparatively. This film brought in a bigger element of comedy alongside action
and romance prevalent in the franchise so far. Broadening the appeal of the
franchise was a complete commercial success, but alienated critics with the
repetition of the story of the last film. Much lighter, more campy and even
funnier was Batman Forever in its attempt to grab a younger demographic. So, in
the attempt to seize higher profit than the last film and successfully continue
the franchise – the studio meddled and crafted a different experience, perhaps
betraying the original audience. This shows just how important a film franchise
such as Batman is to producers that they would go to drastic lengths to improve
the chance of success.
In conclusion, film
franchises are always going to be important to studios as they provide multiple
streams of revenue not only at the box-office but also through the avenues of tie-ins
and spin-offs. These offshoots expand the brand awareness in the public
consciousness, eventually increasing the status of such a brand and the film
series will flourish. This is an incredible opportunity for studios to build
foundations for multiple films in a series and increased profit in the long
run.
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