Hollywood will pack 13 sequels into theatres over the next 20 weeks. By Lisa Richwine
Captain America, Spider-Man, the X-Men and Transformers are storming back into movie theaters, returning in sequels to save the world from mass destruction, while at the same time churning out profits for movie studios.
Hollywood will pack 13 sequels into theatres over the next 20 weeks. The parade begins on Friday, when Captain America dons his red-white-and-blue superhero suit for the US debut of Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and continues through summer, Hollywood’s most lucrative season.
Studios generally don’t have to spend as much to raise awareness of sequels months in advance, as they do with other big-budget films, executives say. And when sequels reach the big screen, ticket sales in foreign markets, which can account for up to 80% of a film’s box office, often exceed their predecessors.
“When you can say, here’s Avatar 2, and you’ve got 6bn people ready to see it, it doesn’t take a lot of marketing to get them into the theatre,” said Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “It’s a self-propelling marketing message in a very big world.”
The first installment of 20th Century Fox’s animated Ice Age series took in $207mn overseas in 2002. The fourth Ice Age from the studio owned by Twenty-First Century Fox earned $716mn at international box offices in 2012.
Sequels are hardly a new Hollywood phenomenon. But in recent years, as DVD sales crumbled, movie studios began to cut back on the numbers of films they produced to trim the risks.
Starting in 2008, they began to churn out more sequels and big-budget event films, turning away from riskier original films like independent dramas and romantic comedies.
This year’s sequels include superhero films The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from Sony Corp, Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Transformers: Age of Extinction from Viacom Inc’s Paramount; animated movies Rio 2 from Fox and Dreamworks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2; and Sony comedies 22 Jump Street and Think Like a Man Too.
What mostly drives the studio top brass is that audiences keep buying tickets for sequels. In 2013, nine of the top 12 films in the US and Canada were sequels or prequels, including Marvel’s Iron Man 3 and Lions Gate’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Those films generated $2.6bn in domestic ticket sales, nearly one-quarter of the year’s $10.9bn total, and another $4.5bn worldwide.
That shift away from riskier films has helped studios increase or stabilise their profits, said Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible.
Operating margins at Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros, the studio behind the Harry Potter franchise and The Dark Knight Batman series, hovered around 7% in 2007 and 2008, Wible said, before rising to about 10% for each of the next five years.
At Walt Disney Co, the focus is on a smaller number of films with the potential to produce sequels, drive toy sales and inspire theme-park rides. In a typical year, Disney is aiming to release one film each from Pixar, Disney Animation, and Star Wars producer Lucasfilm; two from Marvel, and four to six from its Disney live action division, said Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “We choose our sequels carefully,” Horn said. “If we have a picture that has earned a right to have a sequel, it’s because the audiences loved it.”
Next year’s crop of sequels may set even bigger records. Studios are already planning to release new installments of some of the biggest films of all time, including Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Marvel’s The Avengers.
The rash of sequels has prompted even filmmakers to make fun of their world. In the opening number for Muppets Most Wanted, Disney’s sequel to its 2011 The Muppets movie, the furry puppets break into a song called We’re Doing a Sequel.
“That’s what we do in Hollywood,” the puppets sing, “and everybody knows that the sequel’s never quite as good.” — Reuters
Rose McGowan sued by wedding DJ
Actress-singer Rose McGowan is being sued by a DJ, who claims he was hired to play at her wedding. Nahchey Storer has filed a lawsuit in the small claims court, claiming the 40-year-old star, who tied the knot with Davey Detail last October, owes him $4,262 despite cancelling him before her big day. The DJ says he had a written contract with the former Charmed star and wants to be paid in full because she only told him not to come at the last minute, reports tmz.com. A spokesperson for Rose has yet to comment on the dispute. Rose and Davey married in an outdoor ceremony at Paramour Mansion in front of 60 guests after dating for more than a year. — IANS
Brooke Mueller ‘adores’ Brett Rossi
Actor Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife Brooke Mueller “adores” his fiance Brett Rossi and is “ecstatic” they’re getting married. Mueller, with whom he has five-year-old twin boys — Bob and Max — is thrilled that Sheen is marrying former porn star Brett Rossi because they get on really well, reports contactmusic.com. A source told gossip website RadarOnline.com that the 36-year-old socialite, who has been to rehab for cocaine addiction more than 20 times, is “ecstatic over Charlie’s choice for a future wife”.
“She is so happy. Brooke has repeatedly been over to Charlie’s house with their sons, Bob and Max, and she and Rossi have truly hit it off,” said the source. “Brooke has even chided that Charlie is an amateur compared to her and she would ‘pinch hit’ for Charlie with Brett in a second if she got the chance,” the source added. — IANS
Ray Winstone isn’t a tough guy at home
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“What I like to do is laugh, if I’m playing a bit I like to laugh a lot and take it right down there.” — IANS