Franchises

How important are film franchises for producers and audiences?

Film franchises are one film with other films following the original. They are a good way for producers to make money as they know that if the films already have a fan base, then the fan base will be interested in the films and go to see them generation a big profit for the companies and studios.  Film franchises today are made from thins children like such as action heroes like Spider-Man or Batman. There are also other genres like fantasy which includes films like the Harry Potter films and Narnia films. Film producers know that they are going to generate a big profit by using movies with action heroes as they know that they have a huge following. This is because the magazines were out when they were kids and now they have got their own kids into it and so it will have a huge fan base.

New franchises can be a bit of a risk for studios as they don’t really know the reaction they are going to get from existing fans or new fans. Films such as the Last Air bender didn’t go down well with its fans claiming that the cast wasn’t really good and that they expected a lot more out of the films. It is risky as another film John Carter went down as the biggest movie flop of all times. This was supposed to have around another seven movies but the studios decided to cancel any further work on the franchise as it had already created a huge loss in money. The reasons for its failure is that it come at the wrong time and it couldn’t stand up to the more popular and successful franchises such as big and popular franchises like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Batman, ect.

A pre existing fan base is good for any studio or company who are making the films. The film studios only make the films which have a big following and are popular. They know that this way people will want to pay money to go and see the films that are being made. If successful, the studio company can create merchandise if the film has big or growing popularity. This is known as synergy. If the film is popular, fans would be willing to pay for things that have the films branding on it like action figures, clothing, games, DVD’s and even TV Shows. This then creates more money for the studios and more money to spend on future films of the franchise. Bigger directors may be more interested in making sequels to the original move as they will have a bigger budget and they will know that it will be successful as people will go and see it.

The film franchises are important to the producers and the audience. In a way audiences control the franchise as if it has a big following then the fans will pay money to go and see the films and buy lots of the merchandise that relates to the film. Also the producer of the franchise will make lots of movies until they see that the franchise may be losing popularity as audiences go looking for a new franchise to follow or it could be that  the films are getting to repetitive and boring. This can have an effect on the franchise if a sequel was going to get made in the future as people will give the franchise bad reviews.

Sequels can be tricky depending on the success of the first film. Studios and fans can become aware that a new movie could be a disappointment and all the hype and excitement over a second movie could be too much for producers and studios as the next film could flop or it could be a disappointment to fans and it may start to lose fans. Sequels can take many years to make as they want a unique story and not one that copies other stories as this is seen as lazy. This happened with the Alien franchise. The first Alien film came out in 1979 to great acclaim as people were interested in the sci-fi genre at the time. Critics were giving the movie five star ratings as the film was in a way perfect. The great acclaim gave the film a wide fan base and it was only a matter of time before they announced a sequel to Alien.  Aliens was released five years later with them coming up producer James Cameron who had only produced three movies before it. The fan base got a even bigger following from the last film as James Cameron’s sequel was more of an action packed film rather than a horror film. The film mixed sci-fi, horror and action together. This sequel again got great reviews and also left people feeling sick after they had left the cinema. Eight years passed with no sign of a new sequel but in 1992 Alien 3 emerged. Tis however did not get the acclaim of the previous two films as it was lacking things. Fincher was appointed director as the other director quit and so he had the task of writing the movie while shooting the movie. Also the best characters in the film had been killed off and this brought anger to James Cameron.

Alien 4

Failed Franchise

Did not want to make another one