Arguably the biggest change in the movie business during the 21st century has been the increase in reliance on existing intellectual property (IP) by the studios. Back in 2000, the list of the 10 highest-grossing films in North America included five completely original films: Gladiator, Meet the Parents, Scary Movie, What Lies Beneath, and Dinosaur. Two films were stories based on real-life events: The Perfect Storm, and Erin Brockovich. With How the Grinch Stole Christmas a standalone book adaptation, the only two true franchise films in the top 10 that year were Mission: Impossible 2, and X-Men.
In contrast, in 2023, not a single film in the top 10 was completely original, and only Oppenheimer can be confidently described as a non-franchise film (although there’s no word on sequels for Barbie or Sound of Freedom).
The question then becomes what existing IP is available for adaptation? Has Hollywood already found all the easy targets, or is there plenty more material out in the world waiting for its chance to shine on screen?
We try to answer this, and more, in the May edition of the Business Report. Here’s a sneak peek of our findings:
- There are six major films based on video games on the release slate for later this year through 2026, and many more in some stage of development or production.
- With Wicked coming to theaters for Thanksgiving, Hollywood has adapted each of the top 10 shows in Broadway history that’s suitable for a movie version. While there’s some correlation between the length of a show’s run in theaters and its box office performance, there have been some, ahem, mis-steps.
- We found some promising projects in development that we had no idea existed until now. Sam Mendes developing four films about The Beatles for Sony is just one of them.
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Also in this edition…
We’ve continued our latest box office predictions, 2024 theatrical market prediction, and newly featured the Q1 average theatrical ticket price.
Our domestic and international release schedules cover all films being released domestically over the next month, and all major international releases in 15 territories, organized by date and by movie. In addition, we update the status on the 31 films we’d like to see in theaters this year.
On the talent front, we include Bankability values for the top 250 creative talents in the business, expanding our unique perspective on the people in front of, and behind the camera.
For all this and more, and to support our independent research and journalism, please subscribe to the report by clicking this link.
Bruce Nash