'Jurassic World' news Update: How Will Record Breaking Box Office Affect Reboots Such as 'Star Wars,' 'Blade Runner' and 'Indiana Jones?'
This past weekend "Jurassic World" broke the box office opening weekend record, surprising analysts and filmgoers.
The film made over $208 million, beating out "The Avengers'" record set back in 2012. "Jurassic World's" opening was a huge surprise as most analyst expected the reboot to open with $125 million. The strength of the opening demonstrated that a good marketing team, a recognizable cast and a recognizable franchise could still hit the mark. However, this is not always true especially as demonstrated last year.
So how will the success of the dinosaur extravaganza affect the outlook of the studios? One of the immediate responses will be to make more reboots of older classics or sequels. "Mad Max: Fury Road" has already proven successful as the new film is a sequel to the 1980s franchise. The new installment not only scored rave reviews, but it is already the highest grossing film in the franchise and has done well worldwide.
"Star Wars: Episode VII" comes 10 years after the last Star Wars film and is already slated to become a huge holiday hit. Some already predict that it could even crush the box opening weekend and that it could also become the highest grossing film of all time.
Meanwhile Fox is developing a sequel to "Blade Runner." While the first film was not a box office hit when it was released back in the 80s, the film has developed a cult following and expanded its fan base since the original release.
There is also a new "Indiana Jones" being developed especially after the fourth installment became a huge hit. "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" may have received a lot of critical backlash, but the film was a box office hit, and now the studios are trying to find a way to make a fifth film to continue to expand the world and also bank on the popularity of these films.
The reason these films are most likely working is the nostalgia factor and the fact that the fan base carries over to many generations. "Jurassic World's" marketing reminded fans of the original theme and of the original movies while also promoting to a new generation that had not seen the first three films.
Disney has understood this for a while as it continues to make live action versions of its animated films. It all started in 2010 with "Alice in Wonderland" and has already seen "Oz: the Great and Powerful," "Maleficent" and "Cinderella." After the success of all these films the studio is prepared to remake "Mulan," "The Jungle Book," "Beauty and the Beast" and even "Dumbo." Like Universal, Disney has already seen that nostalgia plays a huge role in box office success, and that will likely continue to drive any reboot or sequel that is made from these classic animated films.
But where does this leave sequels?
After last year's box office, it is obvious that certain franchises will continue to thrive such as the Marvel and superhero franchises. If the films are affected by bad reviews, though, this may cause franchise fatigue, and it may also inhibit future success. Reinventing the franchise and freshening it up as Marvel did with "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" will definitely guarantee success. However, treading the same ground as "Transformers" has done four times will likely lead to lower box office totals.
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