How Important Are Film Franchises To Producers and Audiences?

Film franchises are important to both producers and audiences, especially in the horizontal integrated business model that is used in today’s market.

They are very important to producers as they bring in a lot of money, as they are a repetition of a fairly successful film. The top 20 highest grossing movies of 2015 were in fact franchises, such as the avengers. This is because franchises have a larger international audience, as they are big named films, the bigger the film internationally the more money it will bring in. It is also said that big budget franchises generate so much revenue that it can support a studios entire year of production. It is also said that when they work, they can be a license to print money, showing just how much money can be made from these franchises.

They are also important to producers because they are very reliable, though they take a lot to make it is certain that people will go and see these films. A production company doesn’t have to take a risk with the budget and the producer doesn’t have to take a risk with an original idea. The film becomes more like a brand than a piece of art. Along with the horizontal integration model this brings in a lot more revenue as the production company will own many different media outlets, enabling them to sell the same product many times. They also own the product for example Disney own Star Wars and are able to create several revenue streams such as games, a score, toys, clothing range and many more.

They are also very important to audiences as their expectations are met every time they see an addition to the franchise. This makes a satisfied audience and it also creates communities. Communities are created through a mutual love of the franchises and due to the vast amount settings and situations and ever growing universes the franchises become a lot more than just a story to these communities. The expanded universes are created through the production of video games, books and web pages. This allows audiences to learn other parts of the story they wouldn’t otherwise know if they only watched the films. For example in the Star Wars: Battlefront video game the audiences get information on something that is included at the very beginning of the film, this information wouldn’t be known if the audience didn’t buy and play the video game.