Studios: It's All About The 'Franchise'

Disney is about to start building the first 'Frozen' ride at Epcot Center in a section of the Park called 'Frozen Ever After' - which of course is based on the very successful animated movie/musical of the same name.

This is an example of a studio packaging a big hit movie into an entire business.  Termed franchises, these entities live on for years (long after the movie) as theme park rides and attractions, toys, clothes, video games, TV shows, and anything else that can generate revenue.

What the Hollywood studios are moving toward is basing their entire business model around brands and franchises. For example, in the case of 'Frozen' merchandise sales so far this year are 10 times what they were last year and the mobile game for 'Frozen' has more than 105 million downloads. 'Frozen', the movie, has grossed $1.3 billion since its 2013 release - and Disney has announced a sequel is in the works, as is a Broadway show.

The franchise concept for movies has been around for decades (Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes films come to mind) but the overall marketing of merchandise and related products has really kicked-in over the last 10 years - and now it's all about franchise films (their sequels) and all of the other revenue generators based upon the movie.  Last year, 11 of Disney's franchises each generated over $1 billion in branded merchandise.

Disney releases about 10 movies a year and they are all targeted to sequels, super-hero flix, and animated films (new or re-worked classics).  The era of producing big-ticket one-off movies and rolling the dice on their box office success is dead!  The studios can no longer be considered giant media companies but are now, global consumer-products companies.

Problem is : this strategy has a downside.  With reliance on franchises only a studio runs the risk of passing on projects that may turn into new franchises or one-off movies that turn into mega-box office winners.  However, it appears that all of the major studios are going down the same path of 'franchise prosperity' and perhaps giving consumers too much of the same.

In the meantime,  cinemas can thrive on the franchise model. Every cinema should take advantage of the huge (and free) amount of promotional give-aways and swag these films come with. A 'freebie' goes a long way in cementing the relationship between a cinema and moviegoer.

Jim