Mega-Franchises
Every summer, the movie studios release what they call "tentpole" movies. Normally, these are big-budget, effects-driven franchise movies, designed to prop up the studios and make them their profits for the year. I call them programmed franchises because they're not acquired with one movie in mind. The philosophy from the start is to produce at least a trilogy. So much money is invested in these movies that failure can cripple a studio. Trivia Blast!! - New Line Cinema had to merge with its parent company Warner Bros after the (relative) failure of The Golden Compass: Budget: $180M Box Office: $70M ( The Golden Compass was intended to follow the trilogy of His Dark Materials books by Phillip Pullman) Jaws Stephen Spielberg is sometimes credited with creating the first summer "Blockbuster" movie with Jaws . Jaws was the first movie to be distributed with a "wide release," meaning that it opene...