SSC Film Studies

How important are film franchises to producers and audiences? 

Film franchises are important for producers because it leads to an increase in profit and a rise in box office takings. One reason for this is because if the audience is familiar with a title they have watched before, then they will look forward to seeing it again. Hollywood studios love franchise films because they have a built-in awareness with audiences and so studios are less inclined to produce a wide-release film based on an original idea. For example, 8 out of the top 10 highest grossing films of 2013 were franchises including; Despicable Me 2, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Monsters University. Audiences are familiar with the previous releases from these franchises and so it appears more appealing to see a familiar film played out on screen as it is likely that their expectations are going to be met, rather than risk going to see an original movie and not enjoy it.  

It is important that films have a global box office in order to reach a wider audience. For example, Transformers: Age of Extinction was the first film to cross the $300 million mark in China and actually take more than it made in the US. This is because the movie featured Chinese stars and a large part of the film was shot in China. This makes it more appealing to a Chinese audience as it offers a sense of familiarity. Hollywood is becoming increasingly conscious of how to make films more relevant to non-US audiences in order to achieve global success rather than just US success. It is vital that studios aim to make movies appeal to people around the world because franchise films are expensive to produce and market and budgets can range from $150 million to more than $200 million. This means that it is important that these films do well at the box-office so that the studios can make a profit and avoid any losses, to do this these films need to target a global audience. 

Disney's Frozen achieve a worldwide gross of $1,276,480,335 making it the highest grossing film worldwide. This could be because the film had Scandanavian influences as it was set in Norway. Several landmarks in Norway appear in the film, including the Akershus Fortress in Oslo, the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, and Bryggen in Bergen. Numerous other typical cultural Scandinavian elements are also included in the film, such as stave churches, trolls, Viking ships, a hot spring, Fjord horses, clothes, and food such as lutefisk.