Hollywood's obsession with franchises is costing studios millions

Transformers 5, Despicable Me 3, Pirates 5, King Arthur, and The Mummy have all underperformed

As anyone who has been to the cinema recently will tell you, Hollywood are currently pumping out franchises and sequels like original concepts never existed.

We’ve had Pirate of the Caribbean 5: Salazar’s Revenge, Transformers 5: The Last Knight**, The Mummy, Cars 3, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Alien: Covenant, Baywatch, and Despicable Me 3, all within almost two months.

As a seeming result of “franchise fatigue”, each of these has underperformed to some degree in the United States, failing to match the only two blockbusters that have managed to do notably well this Summer: Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

The current state of cinema was been brought to a head over the weekend with the release of Despicable Me 3, the threequel opening to $72.4 million, down from an expected $85 million and below both Despicable Me 2 and spinoff Minions, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

While hardly a bomb, the below-expected domestic result — plus Summer revenue being down 8 percent from last year — has set alarm bells ringing among studios.

Just look towards Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (Dead Men Tell No Tales in the US) for further evidence. The fifth film in the series has earned $165.5 million domestically over almost two months, down from $241.1 million the last instalment grossed. That fourth film was below At World's End ($309.4 million) and Dead Man's Chest ($423.3 million).

The latest Transformers has taken just $102.1 million over two weeks with further diminishing returns ahead. The last instalment managed $245.4 million, down from $342.4 million for Transformers 3 and $402 million for Transformers 2.

Then there’s Cars 3, which debuted to a series low $53.7 million, while The Mummy opened to $31.7 million, failing to top the box office thanks to Wonder Woman’s almighty hold. Deadline attributed the flop to franchise fatigue, yet Chinese audiences still lapped up Tom Cruise’s adventure (generally, studios make less from foreign revenue which is why there's an emphasis on the American gross).

Also notable is the King Arthur disaster, the film taking just $140.3 million worldwide from a $170 million budget. Baywatch was expected to take $40 million opening weekend, but after some divisive reviews took just $18.5 million.

"Is this a signal that the era of the franchise with sequels that go beyond a second instalment is coming to an unceremonious end, or is it more an issue of quality?” Paul Dergarabedian of comScore pondered, talking to THR.

Reviews have seemingly had quite a significant impact on box office receipts, particularly aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. The Mummy holds just 15 percent, Transformers the same, Baywatch going up to 20 percent, King Arthur holding 18 percent, and Pirates 29 percent.

On the flip side, Wonder Woman and Guardians Vol. 2 have benefited from positive reviews, the former — which has quickly become the highest grossing DC Extended Universe film — being rated 92 percent, James Gunn’s space adventure holding 81 percent.

Come next weekend when Spider-Man: Homecoming reaches cinemas, expect a similar boost from the current 93 percent, certified fresh rating, as will the positively received War for the Planet of the Apes.

As Dergarabedian continues, studios are looking to change tactic, taking inspiration from surprise hits like Get Out, Split, The Beguiled, and Baby Driver, all critical and commercial successes. Whether that tactic becomes “making good movie” over “cashing in on franchises” remains to be seen.

**Amendment: this article original read Terminator 5, which has been changed to Transformers 5. The fifth instalment in the Terminator franchise came out in 2015, titled Genisys, and underperformed in North America, leading to two sequels being cancelled. However, the series looks set to be rebooted, with James Cameron once again on board.