Box Office: Revenge of the Franchise

Times of discover News: Franchises are both the lifeline and bane of Hollywood's existence. When all goes well, a series can entice consumers for years or decades — James Bond, Batman, Star Wars, Mission: Impossible, Superman. But sooner or later, fatigue sets in and the complaints begin

The 2024 summer box office is a rare exception. For the first time in recent memory, "franchise" is no longer a dirty word, a senior studio executive said. These big brands helped push year-to-date domestic grosses to more than $5.4 billion over the Sept. 6-8 weekend, still down about 13 percent from a year ago but better than expected by this point in 2024.

The reversal of fortunes began the following month when The Fall Guy, a potential franchise newbie, flopped at the box office, followed by Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ($172 million globally), which was eclipsed by MadMax 2015: The Series' Triumphant Relaunch. It was followed by Fury Road ($380 million). One bright spot in May was Kingdom Come of the Planet of the Sims, one of many film properties Disney inherited after its massive acquisition of Fox assets in 2019.

The aftermath of the Apple Disney merger was a crucial test, and it passed; the film grossed nearly $400 million worldwide, enough to make filmmaker Wes Ball's dream of a new trilogy a reality. Alien: Romulus, released in August, is another successful test of the 20th Century-Disney marriage (the film grossed over $300 million globally, the second-best performance in the franchise after 2012’s Prometheus, unadjusted for inflation).

The overall box office boom began in early June with Sonny Boys: Ride or Die Sequel. The film grossed far better than expected, a sign of good days ahead. In mid-June, Inside Out
put Pixar back on the map with a record-breaking opening and the highest-grossing animated film of all time ($1.675 billion worldwide), and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.926 billion) and Jurassic World ($1.672 million) became the 8th highest-grossing film of all time. Paramount expanded its Quiet Place franchise with Day One ($261 million), Universal and Warner Bros.

Twisters with New Star sold for $366 million. "Almost every studio releases multiple films during the summer that exceed box office expectations across various ratings and genres for the rest of the summer," Comscore box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said. "Disney made headlines with Inside Out 2, Deadpool and Wolverine, and Alien Romulus. Universal had success with Despicable Me 4 and Twisters. Paramount made a strong comeback with A Quiet Place: Day One and recovered from an uncertain opening weekend for IF. Sony ended the summer with hits like Bad Boys Ride or Die, which grossed less than $200 million domestically, and ended the summer with the hit It Ends With."

Speaking of Marvel Studios' Deadpool and Wolverine, it's a balm for Kevin Feige's superhero studio. The film is the second-biggest movie of the year with more than $1.287 million in ticket sales and it's a franchise that, no matter how you look at it, is the best movie ever made For a few months, Disney - the Hollywood studio that was designed to rely on franchises more than any other - has again dominated its competitors, losing the No. 1 spot to Universal last year, with its films grossing a stunning $1.5 billion drop.

Or 42 percent, in summer domestic box office sales. Disney insiders are particularly excited about titles like 20th Century Fox's Apes and Aliens property and are tougher than Deadpool in terms of reviving their old brand with fewer followers. Next comes as a franchise test for the studio: the music-laden sequel Joker: Folie a Deux, will be released on October 4 and is on track for a $70 million opening. He'll face a major challenge, as Todd Phillips' Joker grossed $1.07 billion globally in 2019.