Does H’wood have sequel problem? – Audiences rejecting franchises en masse

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LOS ANGELES, June 7, (Agencies): Hollywood is fighting off a nasty illness. “Sequelitis,” the entertainment industry equivalent of the Zika virus, has gripped major studios. Its symptoms include sluggish box office, feverish critical take downs and disdainful social media reactions.

At least, that’s what analysts and executives are telling themselves after “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” became the latest sequel to disappoint. It follows a long line of follow-ups and spinoffs that flopped or failed to live up to their predecessors — a group of underachievers that includes “X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.”

“Audiences are challenging us to make excellent movies,” said Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, the studio behind “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” “The fact that it’s part of a franchise or sequel doesn’t let you off the hook. You need to raise the bar and make the story exciting, compelling and fun.”

If it’s true that audiences are rejecting franchises en masse, it undermines the financial underpinnings of the movie business and it means that major studios should brace for a punishing summer. After all, it’s not like the sequels are showing any signs of stopping. Over the coming weeks, moviegoers will be treated to fresh installments in the “Ghostbusters,” “Independence Day,” “Finding Nemo,” “Star Trek,” “Jason Bourne” and “Ice Age” series. In fact, nearly every weekend this summer will offer up at least one sequel, reboot or spinoff.

There’s a financial reason for the pile-up. Franchises are the straw that stirs a studio’s drink. As the domestic theatrical business slows, the one area of growth is the foreign box office. To that end, sequels tend to travel, playing particularly well in markets such as China that have become a critical source of revenue.

Inspiration

Franchise films also lead to greater merchandising opportunities. Characters from sequels are more likely to pop up in ads for cars or fast food. They’re the inspiration for toy lines, t-shirts and theme park rides. Studios are small parts of sprawling media conglomerates. Their value isn’t measured in box office. They exist to create intellectual property that can pollinate the consumer products, television and other divisions of the Comcasts and Time Warners of the world.

Franchise mania isn’t new. But it has intensified after the success that Disney enjoyed with its Marvel films. The interlocking superhero stories featuring the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and other costumed Avengers, have created a thirst for cinematic universe building. Every studio wants to be in the game. Even though the reception to “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” was mixed, Warner Bros. is plunging ahead with a half-dozen films based on DC Comics heroes. Its next installment, “Suicide Squad,” debuts in August. Not to be outdone, Universal has begun producing a series of films based on monsters such as the Mummy, the Invisible Man and Dracula that will see various creatures and freaks of nature interacting over the course of several sequels and standalone adventures. Given that Disney is the envy of its major studio rivals, it’s understandable it would inspire imitators. There’s a danger, of course. As studios go farther and farther down the intellectual property food chain, the cinematic universe construction boom could eventually bust.

Despite the sequel swan dive, it’s too early to declare that the movie business is living through a bubble. Many of the sequels that sputtered at the multiplexes have been artistically inferior. The latest “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” only received an anemic 37 percent “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, an improvement on the 22 percent rating for the first film, but hardly enough to guarantee a slot in the Criterion Collection. Other recent sequels fell short in the review department, with “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” “Zoolander 2,” “Ride Along 2,” “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “The Divergent Series: Insurgent” all suffering worse notices than the films that preceded them.

It’s not like audiences have rediscovered their love for movies without roman numerals affixed to them. “The Nice Guys” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” whiffed at the box office, while upcoming films such as “Warcraft,” “Tarzan” and “The BFG” face uphill battles this summer. They serve as a reminder of the risks that studios take when they try to launch original movies in the height of popcorn season. Original, itself, has become a neutered term, given that “Warcraft” is based on a popular video game and Tarzan has been swinging through the jungle in various incarnations since the dawn of movies.

Business

Roughly two decades ago, the sequel — once largely seen as a blatant and disrespected cash grab — threw off its stigma. Comic-book serials and long-running franchises stretched the sequel business into a new realm of round-the-clock production and box-office records.

That era is nowhere close to ending; the most popular franchises have plans in place to last the next three presidential elections. But the recent sequel slump suggests that Hollywood may have become too quick on the sequel trigger — that maybe not every profitable movie deserves a second chapter, that the world might not have been craving another “Ninja Turtles” or “Zoolander.”

No studio executive today could get away with not ordering up a sequel to a $1 billion-grossing movie like 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Yet the drop was staggering for the badly reviewed “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” which has made just $51.4 million domestically in three weeks.

“It’s hard to argue with $1 billion and that’s what I think keeps studios’ finger on the greenlight: ‘Press that button. Press it, press it. We just made $1 billion. Let’s go, let’s go,’” says Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “And at some point, that just runs into the ground. Even audiences can take only so much Vin Diesel.”

Diesel’s “Fast and Furious” franchise is one of the more astounding success stories in recent box office history.

In such an environment, the fast-paced greenlighting of sequels isn’t just good business, it’s like minting money. Of the top 10 films of 2016 thus far, nine are sequels, spin-offs or reboots.

And while sequels may have recently dipped, originality is cratering. Last weekend, the romance “Me Before You” performed well with $18.7 million, but the well-received Andy Samberg comedy “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” flopped with just $4.7 million.

Still, “sequel underperforms” has become the steady drum beat of 2016. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has made $872.2 million globally, but the $250-million film has struggled to turn a profit for Warner Bros. and been roundly lambasted by critics and moviegoers alike.

“X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” “Ride Along 2” and “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” have all done worse than their preceding films.

Bock calls the recent sequel swoon a trend that should “cause panic” within the Hollywood studio system. It is, after all, a system currently built on the sequel business; a sequel problem for Hollywood would be like if cars went out of favor for Detroit.

“Conjuring 2” and “Now You See Me 2,” will brave any sequel-itis this week. “Finding Dory,” “Independence Day: Resurgence,” “Ghostbusters,” “Star Trek Beyond” and “Jason Bourne” are all on tap this summer. Pixar’s “Finding Dory” — a sequel to 2003’s “Finding Nemo” — is widely expected to be among the season’s biggest hits, and perhaps benefits from the 13 year break since the 2013 original.

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