The Truth Of Filmmaking
The Golden Age Of Franchises
Hollywood was once a magical place of filmmaking. The characters we love today were brought to life, our favourite stories and adventures were crafted onto the big screen. However, everything is about to change and sadly, it's already happening.
The golden age of cinema came and went, and now in 2017, we are left with nothing more than a bunch of franchises. Don't get me wrong, franchises aren't all bad. But, let's break down what this means and were film as a medium is now drifting.
Big production companies such as Universal or Warner Bros, are now producing films that really only lead on to build franchises.
Why, you ask? Money.
If a film does well, grabs and pulls audiences in and is listed as a "success" then you can count on the film becoming a franchise.
The way production companies list films as "successes" are if it makes at least triple the amount that it was budgeted at. Yes, that's right, triple.
A successful film indicates spectators attention, if we all enjoyed the first film, why not make another? It's a reliable system for making huge profits. And that's what production companies want. Bigger, better, profits.
Let's take a look at a franchise. It's a gold mine for cheap films that make huge profits.
The Conjuring (2013, James Wan, Warner Bros.)
Budget: $20 million
Profit: Over $318 million worldwide
The Conjuring, a film I love and still do, it was frightening, interesting and above all, inventive. It laid out very cliche ideas, however, presented them in a modernised fashion, which led to being a huge success, making way over triple the amount it was budgeted at. This guaranteed a franchise to be spawned, starting with the spin-off prequel: Annabelle.
Annabelle (2014, John R. Leonetti, Warner Bros.)
Budget: $6.5 million
Profit: Over $256 million
A proven, cheap, successful film. However, this film was boring, cliché, and nothing we haven't seen before. Even the critics agree, scoring:
5.4/10 - IMDb
3/5 - Common Sense Media
29% - Rotten Tomatoes
But it doesn't stop here. As always, as long as the profits are good, the quality of the films aren't as important.
The Conjuring 2 (2016, James Wan, Warner Bros.)
Budget: $40 million
Profit: $320.3 million
In terms of profit, the film was a great success. However, in terms of quality, I come to think less of this film as it's predecessor, The Conjuring. I felt that it was very much more of the same, however, intensified.
With Annabelle 2in the works, along with The Nun and The Crooked Man, this franchise is growing fast while it still has attention. However, with any franchise, we can always expect the quality of work to decrease and this is very evident within this franchise. However, let's look at another franchise and compare results.
Transformers (2007, Micheal Bay, Paramount Pictures)
Budget: $150 million
Profit: $709.7 million
The first film of the Transformers franchise. A film that was received well by spectators and of course turned into a franchise.
If we now look at the Transformers franchise in terms of quality and reviews, you can start to see the pattern...
Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen
6/10 - IMDb
1/5 - Common Sense Media
19% - Rotten Tomatoes
Transformers 3: The Dark Side Of The Moon
6.3/10 - IMDb
35% - Rotten Tomatoes
2/5 - Common Sense Media
Transformers 4: Age Of Extinction
5.7/10 - IMDb
2/5 - Common Sense Media
18% - Rotten Tomatoes
With all of these franchise films, reviews and ratings aren't as important than making profits. This is proven right here and it's sad to say that there is a lot more coming in terms of franchises. It isn't a recent thing, however, it's really starting to take effect in the quality of the films we are receiving.
Ask yourself, how many Pirates Of the Caribbeanfilms have been made, and ask yourself how many of them have you actually enjoyed? I don't think I've ever met one person that's said "all of them." However, this isn't said for all franchises and films that are releasing this year. But, I see it as a problem and not one with a solution. Hollywood is all about profit, and you can bet they'll keep making franchise films, no matter how bad they are. As long as the profit comes in, the ball keeps rolling. Or should I say, transforming...
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