With the average movie ticket coming in at around $10 ($12 or more in big cities like New York), producers are banking on films with built-in audiences to help fill seats during tough economic times.
Take for example “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” While we probably didn't need a sequel to the first blockbuster Michael Bay film, which brought in $708,272,592 worldwide, producers gave a green light for the sequel shortly after its predecessor, “Transformers,” was released in 2007. The gamble paid off. In just 12 days, the sequel has scored BIG at the box office, bringing in $293.5 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing picture of the year, according to reports published in today’s Daily Variety. Why is this? Consumers are nostalgic about these properties because they conjure up memories from their childhood; memories that they want to re-live as adults watching their favorite Saturday morning cartoons as big-budget spectacles on the big screen.
If you need further proof of this trend, just look to the Spiderman, X-Men and Ironman franchises, which to date have a total combined gross of $3,223,972,221 worldwide according to numbers on boxofficemojo.com. Additional follow-up films for each are in the works.
Looking to maintain the current trend, Hollywood is bringing two more 80's classics to the big screen; Atari's "Asteroids" and Aaron Spelling's "T.J. Hooker." According to Daily Variety, Universal won the bidding war for "Asteroids," which actually launched in 1979, but saw continued success throughout the 80s. Though actors have yet to be cast, Matt Lopez - screenwriter for "Bedtime Stories" and remake "Race to Witch Mountain" - is slated to pen the script. "T.J. Hooker," the 80s cop drama starring William Shatner, will make its debut on the silver screen thanks to producers David Foster, Ryan Heppe and series creator Rick Husky.
If you need your 80s fix now - release dates for "Asteroid" and "T.J. Hooker" have yet to be announced, but audiences can probably expect them sometime in 2010 or 2011 - G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra hits theatres August 7th. Again, producers have high expectations for this film, and have strategically chosen the release date - six weeks after the release of Transformers - to help ensure there are no other major films to challenge Joe for the top spot opening weekend.
What is your favorite franchise? Are you tired of Hollywood recycling old stories? We want to hear your thoughts.
Photo Source: www.celebritywonder.com
Posted by Lance Buckley on July 7, 2009 7:01 AM
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