THE FALL OF FRANCHISES: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS , by Vivaan Dev

 THE FALL OF FRANCHISES: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS

By: Vivaan Dev

Entertainment Article

What was the last superhero film you’ve watched? For the vast majority, it would be either Avengers: Endgame, or Avengers: Infinity War; the last two films of the Avengers: Infinity Saga trilogy. These films are respectively the number one and number two highest grossing films of all time, with the latter being my personal favorite. Albeit, both were released half a decade ago. In fact, the most recent movie in the list of highest-grossing superhero films is Deadpool & Wolverine, placing at a measly seventh. So, what happened? Money-hungry, corporate machines is what happened. Besides Marvel, many people believe the beloved Star Wars franchise suffered the same fate. And they’re not wrong. Star Wars: Force Awakens, the first film was the best performing film of the Skywalker Saga, with each subsequent film performing worsley. And it’s not just Marvel and Star Wars; numerous franchises–including Pixar, DC Entertainment, and Disney–have suffered/are suffering the same fate. In this article, I’ll be discussing the cause of franchises’ downfalls, and confront the blatant truth nobody wants to admit. 

Before we discuss failure, let's discuss streaming services. In recent times, the two have actually become synonymous with one another. In fact, the decline of these major entertainment franchises and streaming services are related, and can be attributed to several factors in recent years.

Firstly, and most prominently, there’s the COVID-19 pandemic. During this pandemic, streaming services saw a surge in subscribers as people were confined to their homes. Disney+, for example, took advantage of this trend, with its subscriber numbers increasing from 28 million to 50 million. However, as the world returned to normalcy, streaming services that had invested heavily during the pandemic began to face challenges. 

Let’s use Marvel movies to explain our next reason for why streaming services and franchises experienced a sharp decline. Marvel is the most suitable as they’ve experienced the most severe losses, and depict an overwhelming trend in the entertainment industry. Recent Marvel films have underperformed at the box office compared to earlier entries in the franchise. For example, Black Widow earned $397.7 million worldwide on a $200 million budget, while Eternals made $402.6 million. While these are seemingly good-performing films–comparatively–they are a stark contrast to the aforementioned success of films like Avengers: Endgame, which grossed $2.8 billion worldwide.

Moreover, the rapid production of content by major franchises has led to concerns about quality. Let’s return back to Marvel. Marvel has been releasing numerous films and TV series in quick succession. If you open Disney+, you’ll be bombarded by multitudes of Marvel shows and movies. So much so, that it is almost impossible to keep up with. It would have to be a full-time commitment! This has resulted in some of the projects–which might very well have been good, entertaining projects–feel rushed or perhaps lack the polish of earlier entries in the franchise, which were an amalgamation of years of hard work. Coupled with the increased competition, and it’s no wonder how a majority of franchises are pulling a huge net loss.

During my last iteration of this article, I apathetically believed that there was no way that entertainment corporations could revive their franchises or redeem themselves. While I was convinced this was the inevitable and unfortunate reality for most entertainment companies, upon contemplation, my perception has shifted significantly. While it might be tempting to accuse and claim that our beloved franchises are dying, it’s important to note that the entertainment industry is cyclical. Franchises like Marvel and Star Wars have shown resilience in the past, adapting to changing audience preferences and market conditions. As audiences, it’s our duty to–well–entertain ourselves. So–if you can bear to keep up with the junk these entertainment corporations–you might just meet the light at the end of the tunnel; and be treated with a good project or a few along the way. 

Bibliography

Chen, Xumin , Xinxiang Liu, and Xuanji Wang. “Comparative Analysis of Disney+ and Netflix in Post-Covid19 Era,” 2023.

Clark, Travis. “All 26 Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies, Ranked by How Much Money They Made at the Global Box Office.” Business Insider, January 25, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/marvel-movies-ranked-how-much-money-at-global-box-office-2021-11.

Dowd, A.A. “Did Movie Franchises Really Die in 2023?” Digital Trends, December 28, 2023. https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/franchise-movie-decline-2023/.

Wikipedia. “List of Highest-Grossing Superhero Films.” Wikipedia, November 11, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_superhero_films.

Wikipedia . “List of Highest-Grossing Films.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, March 14, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films.