Deadpool, Inside Out, Dune, and Other IP Reuse
The U.S. box office has begun to be dominated by familiar faces and settings. Amid Hollywood's stagnation crisis, film studios have adopted the recycling of existing intellectual property (IP), akin to a guaranteed box office hit, as a survival strategy.
On the 6th (local time), CNBC reported, "The 2024 box office was flooded with sequels, prequels, and remakes, and all of the top 10 films came from existing IP," adding, "This franchise craze is expected to continue into 2025."
As CNBC pointed out, this year familiar faces have almost monopolized movie theater screens. So far this year, the top 10 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office?‘Inside Out 2,’ ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ ‘Despicable Me 4,’ ‘Dune: Part 2,’ ‘Twisters,’ ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,’ ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,’ ‘Kung Fu Panda 4,’ ‘Bad Guys: Ride or Die,’ and ‘Planet of the Apes: New Era’?are all sequels of major blockbusters or adaptations of novels. Among the top 20 grossing films, only two were classified as original content.
The formula of "sequels dominate" is also confirmed in the fourth quarter (October to December). Leading this month’s releases is ‘Joker: Folie ? Deux,’ followed by upcoming releases such as ‘Gladiator 2’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.’ CNBC forecasts, "The industry’s top studios are recycling familiar characters and settings to boost movie ticket sales," and "In 2025, 50-70% of the works from the six major studios will be based on existing IP."
Experts point out that the U.S. box office’s franchise dependency was significant even before Hollywood fell into recession. In 2019, 33-62% of films released by Universal Studios, Warner Bros., Sony, Lionsgate, Paramount, and 20th Century Fox (before Disney’s acquisition) were works recycling existing IP, with Disney in particular having 9 out of 10 films as franchise works. Experts explain that as consumers became more cautious with their disposable income, film studios expanded investments in sequels, prequels, and remakes, which act as guaranteed box office hits.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at online marketing research firm Comscore, analyzed, "Hollywood studios recognize that well-known products appeal to most audiences," adding, "Family audiences, who budget carefully when deciding whether to purchase movie tickets, seek the comfort that familiarity provides."
Although several films such as ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and ‘Inside Out 2’ have been hits driving box office revenue, the levels have yet to recover to pre-pandemic (global pandemic) standards. According to Comscore, these franchise films raised U.S. box office revenue to $6.3 billion (about 8.5 trillion KRW) in the first nine months, but this is still 25% lower than pre-pandemic levels. Wall Street expects box office ticket sales will not exceed $10 billion by 2026.
CNBC noted, "The aftermath of last year’s Hollywood writers and actors strike caused production halts and delayed releases," but added, "Still, the results are better than experts expected. Considering the potential releases of Super Mario, Toy Story, Shrek, and the Dune series in the year after next, 2026 is expected to see tremendous box office revenue."
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