Daily Complaint: Franchise’s Run Amok

Today’s movie gripe is one that I am sure many of you will share with me. It is not so much about the films, but about the world around them. The “Franchise” as so many people call it.

They started out with movies that had unneeded sequels. You may remember the glut of these that showed up in the late 1990′s and early 2000′s. They never did that well, but movie studios hoping to squeeze another hit out of a series they already owned the rights to. Now, however, it has become the beast that cannot be fed.  We’re grown accustom to sequels, remakes, or adaptations, but not there is the merchandise that goes with them. Games, clothes, books all come out before the film to help make the franchise money.

Before the release of a film, you can now:

• Play the video game, which usually follows the same plot, and is available for every platform, including PC. (Hancock)
• Get the official novel in Barnes and Noble. (Take Your Pick)
• Watch the cartoon series, or maybe even a live action mini-series. (Star Wars: Clone Wars)
• Buy the clothing to wear to the movie. (Twilight)
• Listen to the podcast. (Harry Potter)
• Get information about the possible sequels (SATC)

Things are getting a little bit out of hand here! Watching a movie used to only involve paying for the tickets, and maybe some snacks, but if you went along with all of the sidelines you could easily end up paying over 100 dollars. Not to mention that a lot of these sidelines take away from the joy of seeing the story unfold before you on that big screen.

What do you think? Has hype and merchandise killed the film industry or helped it?