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19 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Introduction |
Franchises What, when, who, how, why? Briefly cover their effect on cinema. |
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Franchises |
Intellectual property involving the same central characters, settings and trademarks of an original wok of media such as film. |
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Franchise Importance |
Franchises have become the dominant format for films in Hollywood. The modern reliance on franchises began with the release of X-Men (1999) and The Matrix (1999). |
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Franchise Success |
Of the top 10 highest grossing films of all time, 7 are franchises, of 2014, all 10 are. |
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Producers |
Pre-existing fan bases The pros and cons of this approach. Profits Synergy |
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Pre-existing Fan Bases |
Producers can pick and choose the most popular stories, tapping into a massive pre-existing fan base. However, this approach runs the risk of misrepresenting the original property and alienating fans. Bryan Singer's X-Men. |
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Profits |
Franchises are designed to make profits, by using formulaic stories and '5 year plans'; telling the story over several franchises is a license to print money. Evidence of this is Marvel's schedule of releases over the next decade 8 Harry Potter films. Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. |
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Synergy |
Synergy is where most of the profit is made. If a franchise can capture a core audience it can maintain success (by staying true to it's form; Alien) and sell merchandise through many companies. This is called horizontal integration. |
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Case Study Star Wars (Lucas, 1977) |
Production budget: $11 million Domestic gross: $307m It's cultural neutrality afforded it international success, to a the degree that it doubled Fox's stock price in 3 weeks. In exchange for a lower salary, Lucas retained the merchandising and sequel rights, which is where the real money came from ($7bn). |
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Case Study The Golden Compass (Weitz, 2007) |
Production budget: $180 million Domestic gross: $70m It made $300m overseas, but New Line Cinema sold overseas rights to fund the production. It's anti-Christian themes were likely the reason for its poor US performance. |
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Success |
Harry Potter total gross: $2.9bn Avengers gross: $623 Star Trek total gross: $1.3bn Transformers total gross: $1.3bn Lord of the Rings total gross: $1.7bn |
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Failure |
Narnia total gross: $537m Speed Racer gross: $43m Eragon gross: $75m Golden Compass gross: $70m John Carter gross: $73m |
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Audience |
Familiarity Meeting audience expectations Stars, genres and themes Fan base Film outcome |
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Familiarity |
Audiences like repeatable and familiar experiences. Film franchises offer consistency, predictability, and a reliable experience that meets audience expectations - they establish a narrative and generic formula in the first film, and repeat. |
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Stars, Genres & Themes |
Stars are often associated with certain genres, genres are often associated with certain themes and story formulas. This guarantees familiar scenarios that have been enjoyed in the past. These variables alone can also attract audiences (popular stars can sell a film). |
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Fan Base |
Film franchises are often made with children in mind; they centre around familiar, fantasized characters children grew up with. Older generations are interested in how their favourite characters are portrayed on the screen. |
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Film Outcome |
Test viewings can decided the relative fate of any film, from adjusting the title to changing the ending. Sunset Blvd; beginning and ending was changed. |
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Case Study Alien (Scott, 1979) |
Production budget: $11 million. Domestic gross: $79 million. Universal themes, a blend of scifi and horror - bound to be popular. Ended on an open narrative to improve future films chances of success. |
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Conclusion |
Franchises Long-term story arcs, four-quadrant markets. James Nolan's cerebral approach. Producers Guaranteed viewers and synergy. Audiences Audience expectations. |
