How important are film franchises for audiences and producers?

How important are film franchises for audiences and producers?

Franchises are definitely important to producers as they generate a large chunk of the money made from the film. Most studios today use Horizontal integration to make money for the studio and the producers; this means that there are series of companies and industries involved with creating products for the franchise, establishing synergy. This is also important for audiences as it means that the film and the franchise remain in the public consciousness even if there has not been a movie for a long time. An example of this is the Alien film that was released in 1979 but because of the franchise is still recognizable today, even to those who have not seen any of the films.

An example of a film franchise is Pirates of The Caribbean, this franchise is successful because the first film, The Curse of The Black Pearl was released at time when action and adventure films became popular in 2003 (such as Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring which was released in 2001) and also because it was quite unique in the way it is a pirate film.  The movie made over $600 mil in worldwide box office rev. whereas the budget was $125 mil, which is quite a significant gain. Audiences will have expectations of what they think a pirate should be like, but there has not been a franchise quite as successful in the modern day film industry that was set around pirates. This means that although our expectations were met, something new was brought to the public eye. Arguably, Pirates of The Caribbean may have even created a ‘pirate’ sub genre. The second film, Dead Man’s chest offers continuity as it is based around the same characters. This is important to audiences as it offers familiarity.

The film series was based on a ride at one of the Walt Disney resorts, this could establish a connection between audiences who have experienced the ride and even motivate them to go and see it, especially younger audience members as it creates a sense of realism. Audiences achieve escapism through watching the films and do so out of pure entertainment needs, making the franchise important to them as it may act as a break from everyday life. There are also aspects of Male Gaze included in the film with Kiera Knightley’s character, Elizabeth. This means that the film is appealing to a larger range of audiences. All the films are aesthetic, they are easy enough to follow but still remain interesting to watch and follow.

The franchise is important to audiences as it means that audiences can remain familiar with Pirates of the Caribbean even between film releases. The characters remain in the public consciousness through the power of different media outlets such as video games, clothing products and merchandise. An example of a franchise video game is ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl’ named after the film and released in 2003. This conveys how successful the film was.

To summarise, franchise are important to both audiences and producers as it means that the product will remain in the public consciousness throughout a longer period of time and possibly even after the studios stop producing the films. They are also important to producers as there is a lot more money made.