Saturday 15 March 2014

Basing Films on Existing Source Material

As part of almost any answer for Section A: Producers and Audiences on the FM2 paper, it is likely that you may equate Hollywood's success and dominance with the fact that the majority of films that are produced by the Studios are based on existing source material.



Films based on existing source material are seen as less of a risk because they become easier to market and the film's (or the brands) will already have an existing fanbase. Hollywood films are frequently based on novels (Harry Potter, Twighlight, The Hunger Games, The Notebook, Alice in Wonderland, The Hobbit, Divergent), TV shows (Sex and the City, Star Trek, The Simpsons, 21 Jump Street, Starsky and Hutch, Get Smart, Charlie's Angels, The A-Team), videogames (Need for SpeedTomb Raider, Max Payne, Prince of Persia, Silent Hill, Hitman) comic books (The Dark Knight, Man of Steel, Fantastic Four, The Avengers, The Amazing Spiderman, Captain America, Thor: The Dark World), theatrical productions/musicals (Rock of Ages, Mamma Mia, Evita, Chicago, Les Miserables) and even games (The Lego Movie, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Battleship, Transformers) and theme park rides (The Pirates of the Caribbean).

Quite aside from the potential these adaptations offer for creating a franchise, there are huge revenue streams to be created through merchandise (in many forms) from these movies - particularly as they are made by film companies owned by larger multimedia conglomerates.


Please click on the link below and read the article about plans to turn the incredibly popular HBO TV drama Game of Thrones into a movie (there is talk of a long-running film franchise). Time Warner own HBO, therefore owning the rights to the show. Making a film (or a series of films) of Game of Thrones makes perfect financial sense for Time Warner; they don't have to pay for the rights, there is an existing fanbase, the fantasy/action genre would perfectly suit the big screen and there are potentially huge revenue streams from merchandise.



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