Since the early 2000's film franchises have become a popular among the mainstream audience, and for producers too. Audiences since the early 2000's have demanded more complexity to a story, something more engaging with the audience itself and film producers response to this is film franchises, franchises such as Harry Potter and X-Men have answered these problems, but stand alone films like Interstella proves that standalone films can still fulfil our need for complexity but without the need of having to oversaturate the film world with sequels and etc...
The most important factor of any films success is the audience, without the audience the film wouldn't generate any revenue, so the producers of these films are looking to please these audiences, and have been so far successful with film franchises. Audiences now enjoy a more demanding experience and now franchises offer this level of complexity, this is proven as of over the past 10 years (2004-2014) franchises have dominated the film world and claim the most of the spots in the top 20 most successful films each year. An example of this is Marvels Iron Man 3 this film being apart of both the 'Avengers' and 'Iron man' franchise was the most successful film in 2013 bringing in over one billion dollars at the box office, where a standalone film such as 'Oblivion' which also featured film star Tom Cruise came out the same year only generated around two hundred million.
Also audiences want to go through the same experiences as the characters that we watch, and 'go on a journey' with these characters and to see them develop over time. These are the more complex narratives that the audience desires, an example of this is the Harry Potter series, as these films and characters grew up in their own 'universe' so did the generation that watched it, so that there would be similar themes and relatable for the audience. Also because of franchises this enables the audience to be more engaged with the story, even outside of cinema.
This helps fills in any gaps left open by the films in the franchise and offer a more rewarding experience for the audience, an example of this is the Star Wars franchise, even with six films and a new trilogy coming out in the next couple of years, Star Wars have still diversified out and use 'synergy' to expand the film 'universe', as Star Wars have expanded to different media platforms such as video games, over two hundred novels and much more. When going to the cinema audiences usually go in small groups, these being certain friends or relatives and by having a franchise these small groups will go to watch each film and gain a social experience from the film, and these franchises help give the whole group a social experience within the group, making the group want to go to any future sequels, prequels or any spin off movies.
Also if audience members have seen previous films and have enjoyed these films, then they'll continue to go see these sequels as they've enjoyed the previous films, these films also set expectations for future films. An example of this is the Iron Man franchise, with the first film being a success and the second bringing in more at the box office and finally the third bringing over than a billion dollars at the box office, showing that audiences do enjoy going to see franchise film series.
Even though film franchises seem to be the most popular theme of films they do have a negative effect in the film industry. As over the past 10 years the most successful films have either been apart of a franchise or starting a franchise. Because of this there isn't much variation aloud in the film industry, making films less unique as well as franchises. An example of lack of creativity and uniqueness in the film industry is the Marvel cinematic universe, as the films characters, stories and etc are based on Marvels comic books and the films are only an adaptation to these stories. This also creates a vacuum for creativity in the film world as producers only want make these franchises and oversaturate the market, an example of this is Sony's Spiderman, as there was a trilogy for Spiderman from 2002 to 2007 only for it to be rebooted in 2012, meaning that there has only been a difference of 10 years between the start of each trilogy for Spiderman. This contributing to making the market for films slimmer and less unique.
Some say that film franchises like Transformers insult the intelligence of the audience, a good example of this is the Christopher Nolan film Interstella. This being a very complicated and intelligent film. Fulfilling the needs of the modern day audience without having to be apart of a franchise, exposing that today's films can be smart and complex enough without having to be apart of a household name franchise and still prove to be successful in the box office, showing that audiences don't always need the same bland experience that franchises offer, becoming predictable and boring an example of this is the Matrix franchise as the first film brought in $463,517,383 dollars, the sequel bringing in over $700 million dollars and offering only the same experience was the third film which failed and didn't manage to beat the box office stats of the first film, showing that audiences get bored of experiencing the same things through a franchise.
For producers franchises are the gateway to bringing in mast amount of money for a series of films. Meaning that their are many positives for producers of films to go with a franchise as these franchise's can build into a cinematic 'universe' an example of this is Marvel's Avengers. As before the Avengers film in 2012 we had Iron Man 1&2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America. Which all lead up to the big climax, the Avengers which was 2012's most successful film and is currently the third most successful film in history with 1.5 billion dollars at the box office , showing that by expanding the franchise in to a 'universe' producers generate more money.
With producing a successful film there's always opportunity for a film to expand from one media platform to many. This being synergy. Synergy is where one property can be sold many times over different platforms, an example of this diversification is Star Wars. One of the most marketed films in history and sold of many platforms, from video games, to having over 200 novels and even simple things like lightsaber chopsticks, this all helps generate revenue for the producers of Star Wars, making it a very successful franchise.
Also audiences want to go through the same experiences as the characters that we watch, and 'go on a journey' with these characters and to see them develop over time. These are the more complex narratives that the audience desires, an example of this is the Harry Potter series, as these films and characters grew up in their own 'universe' so did the generation that watched it, so that there would be similar themes and relatable for the audience. Also because of franchises this enables the audience to be more engaged with the story, even outside of cinema.
This helps fills in any gaps left open by the films in the franchise and offer a more rewarding experience for the audience, an example of this is the Star Wars franchise, even with six films and a new trilogy coming out in the next couple of years, Star Wars have still diversified out and use 'synergy' to expand the film 'universe', as Star Wars have expanded to different media platforms such as video games, over two hundred novels and much more. When going to the cinema audiences usually go in small groups, these being certain friends or relatives and by having a franchise these small groups will go to watch each film and gain a social experience from the film, and these franchises help give the whole group a social experience within the group, making the group want to go to any future sequels, prequels or any spin off movies.
Also if audience members have seen previous films and have enjoyed these films, then they'll continue to go see these sequels as they've enjoyed the previous films, these films also set expectations for future films. An example of this is the Iron Man franchise, with the first film being a success and the second bringing in more at the box office and finally the third bringing over than a billion dollars at the box office, showing that audiences do enjoy going to see franchise film series.
Even though film franchises seem to be the most popular theme of films they do have a negative effect in the film industry. As over the past 10 years the most successful films have either been apart of a franchise or starting a franchise. Because of this there isn't much variation aloud in the film industry, making films less unique as well as franchises. An example of lack of creativity and uniqueness in the film industry is the Marvel cinematic universe, as the films characters, stories and etc are based on Marvels comic books and the films are only an adaptation to these stories. This also creates a vacuum for creativity in the film world as producers only want make these franchises and oversaturate the market, an example of this is Sony's Spiderman, as there was a trilogy for Spiderman from 2002 to 2007 only for it to be rebooted in 2012, meaning that there has only been a difference of 10 years between the start of each trilogy for Spiderman. This contributing to making the market for films slimmer and less unique.
Some say that film franchises like Transformers insult the intelligence of the audience, a good example of this is the Christopher Nolan film Interstella. This being a very complicated and intelligent film. Fulfilling the needs of the modern day audience without having to be apart of a franchise, exposing that today's films can be smart and complex enough without having to be apart of a household name franchise and still prove to be successful in the box office, showing that audiences don't always need the same bland experience that franchises offer, becoming predictable and boring an example of this is the Matrix franchise as the first film brought in $463,517,383 dollars, the sequel bringing in over $700 million dollars and offering only the same experience was the third film which failed and didn't manage to beat the box office stats of the first film, showing that audiences get bored of experiencing the same things through a franchise.
For producers franchises are the gateway to bringing in mast amount of money for a series of films. Meaning that their are many positives for producers of films to go with a franchise as these franchise's can build into a cinematic 'universe' an example of this is Marvel's Avengers. As before the Avengers film in 2012 we had Iron Man 1&2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America. Which all lead up to the big climax, the Avengers which was 2012's most successful film and is currently the third most successful film in history with 1.5 billion dollars at the box office , showing that by expanding the franchise in to a 'universe' producers generate more money.
With producing a successful film there's always opportunity for a film to expand from one media platform to many. This being synergy. Synergy is where one property can be sold many times over different platforms, an example of this diversification is Star Wars. One of the most marketed films in history and sold of many platforms, from video games, to having over 200 novels and even simple things like lightsaber chopsticks, this all helps generate revenue for the producers of Star Wars, making it a very successful franchise.
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