Big IP Franchises in Crisis, Part I
Richard and Sean call hold, sell or send to hospice on 20 majors from Marvel to Bond to Mission: Impossible
This is an odd moment in the Hollywood movie business as you may have noticed. For so many reasons, troubling and concerning all.
But one big one that has not been discussed is the state of our strategic IP reserves. The transfer of control of the Bond franchise to Lord Bezos and my trip to see the L.A. production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child inspired Sean and I to notice that while we were sleeping, Hollywood doesn’t seem to have any major franchise currently firing on all cylinders, or even materially on the rise. And it’s been a very long time since that’s been the case.
Filmmaking’s story for the last 30 years has been the rise and dominance of Hollywood’s mega-franchises. Studios have leaned on it to the point of nearly killing off and chasing away everything else. So to notice that none of them are doing especially well right now is . . . anxiety-inducing.
Sure, Deadpool just hit a high mark with its third installment — and yes, that’s still ultimately Marvel — but it sadly also does very little to help Marvel’s other properties. Clearly it didn’t seem to inspire a wave of enthusiasm wave that benefited Kraven the Hunter or Captain America that came after it.
Beyond the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all of the top franchises that have powered the past 25 years at the multiplex — Harry Potter, Fast & Furious, Jurassic World, Star Wars, Bond, etc. — are all on fumes, wrapping up, attempting a new era or in the shop. Okay, there’s Avatar, but that is very much the exception. (For today we’re excluding kids franchises as that really seems like a different ballgame once we even tangentially started discussing it.)
So which IP worlds still have more life? Which need to go away for a while? Which have revivals coming soon that show promise . . . and which look pretty wobbly? We’ll address seven big franchises today plus six more modest ones. Tomorrow, we’ll tackle seven more majors, plus a look at which dormant ones should get a hard look at a revival. (Not that we’re encouraging more remakes in this town.)
We decided to consider our great franchises as a stock analyst might:
BUY: Which would we want to jump in on now because the growth potential is strong or the price is right?
SELL: Because there’s not a lot more upside beyond where it is, or maybe we see a big downturn ahead.
HOLD: Because the fundamentals of the franchise are solid enough to make this a safety pick but the elements that would bring a new era of growth aren’t quite there yet.
As with stocks, considering your investments is much more about where the property will be in three to five years then where it is now, and how does today’s price compare to your future expectations? You know, a lot like gambling!
These are all questions that we have been Slacking about recently, Siskel & Ebert style, so now we’re bringing a version of our conversation to you!
MARVEL⚡
