Fast & Furious, Marvel’s Avengers, Star Wars, Batman - what do all these have in common? They’re all still making films, and not just films but spin-off’s and even spin-off’s of those spin-off’s. Confused yet? This is the world of movie franchises.
Back in the 80’s and going into the 90’s we had a lot of original content such as Men in Black, Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones and these went on to become big hits, as well as many other films. These films got sequels, which is normal for successful films, but then in 2012 a certain big film changed the way studio’s thought of their franchises. That said film was Avengers Assemble. It connected four separate film franchises - Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America to become a mega-franchise.
Since this moment the idea of a franchise has been re-defined. The idea that you can tell different stories already built from an idea is something that is already interesting a lot of different studios. Although some studios have been successful - see The Conjuring series - and some not so much - see the failed franchise universe starter The Mummy. It does pose a problem though, it saturates the market with a lot of sequels and prequels.
People keep saying that Hollywood is lacking originality, and it’s franchises such as these which cause these arguments to keep happening. Although, if audiences become too confused as to what film connects to which franchise then this whole idea could be sidelined and dropped all together. It’s all part of the ever-changing cinematic landscape. Something that I mentioned in last week’s blog post as well.
This month I have looked at the present day struggles of filmmaking, whether it’s a franchise or supported by a streaming service. It just goes to show how much goes on into the making of certain big films. It’s something to think about, and for up-and-coming filmmakers it’s something to be aware off. Who knows where we go from here and is Netflix really our future? Let’s keep watching and find out for ourselves.
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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