How important are film franchises for audiences and producers?

Franchises are a positive for audiences because they bring a more demanding experience for the audience as they now have to pick up information as they go through different films with one narrative. Franchises offer a more demanding experience by creating a universe in their films in which is discovered through out their films which helps make it more engaging and interesting for the audience as they will find out about the universe through watching a sequel of films from the franchise.

This causes franchises to become a lot more popular than stand alone films, to prove this the majority of films in the 2013 box office charts are franchises which shows how popular they are. Franchises bring a journey for the audience giving them a universe to explore with characters they follow through out the franchise and meet audiences expectations as if they watch one film and they enjoy it they would be encouraged further to watch the sequel of the film as they have a good expectation. This has been proven in the Iron Man franchise as the first film was popular and attracted a wide audience who then watched the second film, this is proven due to the first film making $582,443,126, the second film making $623,561,331 and the third film making $1,172,805,920. Also with the Avengers films they meet the audiences expectations perfectly as the audience want to see their heroes join together and fight against a unbeatable villain to save humanity and peace, which is exactly what the Avengers film gives them and why it has made over $1.5 Billion.

Franchises have also become more engaging for audiences by creating games, theme parks, etc. Doing this brings another dimension all together as franchises reach out to a wider audience who may not enjoy films can now engage through other medias. Franchises offer a social experience for the audience as they would see each of the films which the same group of people as a sort of social gathering or event. For a example from my own experiences I have seen the first tow Taken films with the same group of friends and I know exactly the same people I will go and see the third one with.

But Franchises also posses negatives for audiences other than them being popular giving audiences what they want they also can be considered repetitive and leave audiences with no choice. For example in the 2013 box office charts franchises took over and filled the vast majority of the chart, but this raises the question if that continues to increase as it has done will there be any choice for audiences? and if offered something different will audiences take something else? Well for example with Interstellar which is a stand alone film completely different from any franchises and requires a good understanding and knowledge about a complex made $663,837,258. So it is clear that if audiences are offered something different they will take it as Interstellar has shown.

Franchises have been accused of insulting audiences intelligence as they are simple films, for example the Spiderman franchise has not changed between the two trilogies which shows a clear lack of creativity with the first Amazing Spiderman film making $757,890,267 and the sequel making $708,996,336. The clear drop of just under $50 million shows how audiences don't want to see something they have already seen 10 years before with no change in narrative. This also shows how films are becoming predictable as the first Spiderman and the first Amazing Spiderman are near enough the same and is why The Amazing Spiderman has struggled to maintain an audience between its two films. Audiences are also required to see the first film before second films due to the narrative usually carrying on over multiple films.

Franchises are a huge positive for producers as if the franchise is successful from the beginning it can guarantee profits continuously for the life span of the franchise. For example the first Toy Story film was a huge success making $364,530,148,  the second film made $511,358,276 and the third film made $1,069,818,229 these films spread over 15 years. Which proves that if the first film is successful the films that follow after can be just as successful or even more successful and promise profits for the entirety of the franchise over years. This also proves that films can use the same concept over the franchise which is proven through the Toy Story franchise as it follows the same concept of talking toys and their lives which is spread over the three films. Also the use of one concept can help create synergy as the films can bring out merchandise that can help make profits and fill in the gaps between each of the films and keep the concept in its audiences mind, for example the Alien franchise has brought out games and other merchandise as a marketing tactic to help keep the franchise a float whilst the other films are being produced.

Franchises that use the integrated business model wont be ruined as a studio by a single film, for example Disney's John Carter was the biggest flop in film but Disney had a record year for profit in theme parks, etc. This helped remake the money lost in the production of John Carter. Another way to save money is reusing sets, costumes, props, etc. which is the perfect marketing strategy as it saves a lot of money and time, for example in the Avengers film the Hulk CGI model took over one and a half years along with over 200 technicians and cost over 12 million which is a lot of money for just one film. But this can be re used in sequels and possibly prequels in other films which would save the franchise a lot of time and money. Studios can also predict what audiences want due to their viewing habits and demands, for example in 2015 it is predicted most films which be prequels and sequels from franchises as they have been so popular in the years before.

However franchises can be a negative for producers as they run a huge risk of over saturating the market and boring their audiences by bringing the same films over and over again which would cause a huge lack of variety. This has been proven as a negative for the Alien franchise especially as they were very successful in the first film and second film making $203,630,630 for the first film and $183,316,455, but the third film made only $158,500,000. This shows how audience liked the first film which made them see the second but the novelty had worn off by the third film which is why it wasn't as successful due to them seeing it as a predictable franchise which drew audiences away. Bringing out a brand new franchise is extremely hard due to the market being so tough as it is with franchises like the Avengers taking over and it can be too risky for new franchises to be made as they cost a lot. For example Newline productions had a 1:3 success rate for the films it made which caused its franchise to become bankrupt as they had a 66% failure rate in their films.

If a film in a franchise fails it can have a huge impact on other areas of the franchise like theme parks. This would be a huge negative for producers as they rely on the film to help lift the franchise and make it popular and cause people to commit to other parts of the franchise and if they spend millions on other parts of the franchise it can cause a huge loss in money as they would lose money for the production of the film but also the franchise, which could ultimately cause them to go bankrupt. For example with Avatar being the most successful film ever making over 2.7 billion which the second film has a lot to live up too and if it fails can be drastic for the franchise.