Keeping abreast of box-office takings and release patterns is useful, and you will usually notice that the box-office in the UK is dominated by what we might describe as Hollywood blockbusters, popcorn movies produced and distributed by recognisable Hollywood film companies (such as 20th Century Fox, Paramount and Disney) owned by the huge multimedia conglomerates that dominate the film industry.
You may notice that the majority of the films listed in the top 10 are either part of a franchise, sequels or are based on existing source material (even the British film The Lady in the Van).
Not only does the top 10 reveal just how dominant Hollywood films are in the UK (year on year roughly 90% of box-office takings in UK cinemas is for Hollywood movies, whilst only 5% is for UK-produced films) but it also highlights the importance of franchises, sequels and existing source material.
Hollywood studios are not, by their nature, risk-takers, and basing films on existing source material, or creating sequels, goes some way to guaranteeing an audience. Existing fans of a novel, videogame, comic-book or television series are more likely to see a film that is based on their favourite characters and this means that is easier for the film to find an audience.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part II is based on the series of bestselling teen novels by Suzanne Collins and is the final film in the franchise (with the last novel in the trilogy having been split into two parts - a recent trend seen with other Hollywood adaptations such as The Hobbit and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II, as a means of generating further revenue for the franchise). Despite the article suggesting that the sequel hasn't performed as well as the previous film in the franchise, it is still the number one film at the UK box-office (a title that all blockbusters hope to achieve).
Many of the other films in the list are also franchise movies or based on existing source material. Spectre, for example, is part of perhaps the most successful and, certainly, the most famous franchise of all. It is the 24th film in the franchise which has a huge existing fan base.
Hotel Transylvania 2 is a sequel which the producers Sony hope will develop into a multi-picture franchise, both Brooklyn and The Dressmaker are based on a novels, Steve Jobs is based on the biography of Apple's co-founder and Pan is an origin story of characters made famous by J. M. Barrie's novel (which has been adapted a number of times for film).
Keep an eye on the weekly listings for your nearest multiplex (easily accessed online) and you will find that the majority of films on show at these types of cinemas will be Hollywood-produced movies, many of which will be part of a franchise, sequels or films that are based on existing source material. In the exam it is fine just to give the names of these films BUT if you can also give rough figures for box-office takings, all the better.
What is most important is that you make sure that you have number of examples to hand - make lists of franchises/sequels, but also extensive lists of films that are based on the following different types of existing source material: books (Harry Potter), videogames (Tomb Raider), comics (The Fantastic Four), TV series (The Simpsons) and even other sources such as musical theatre (Rock of Ages), toys (Transformers) and theme park rides (Pirates of the Caribbean).
