The 2009 film industry highlight reel is fun to watch.
You are reminded of the$10 billion in ticket sales.
The negative impact of the economy onspecialty films.
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The$4 billion Disney-Marvel acquisition.
So, what story can be told of the film industry in 2009?
The online release of astolen, non-watermarked workprintofWolverinemarked a decisive defeat for Hollywood studios.
Friedman delivered when his review hit the web almost a full month before the film’s release.
Thanks to newly popularized social platforms like Twitter audience opinion is near ubiquitous.
Word of mouth has always been a major factor in the success or failure of a film.
But this year, Twitter did its best Dark Helmet impression and moved things into ridiculous speed.
On the flip side,Inglourious Basterdswas well-tweeted andreaped the benefits, all $38.1 million of them.
Of course, no self-respecting director or studio chief would ever tweet any vital information about an upcoming film.
to build up anticipation for the hidden final product.
When a film is able to achieve that, inevitably, there is talk of a sequel.
And that, therein, lies the problem.
Of the year’s top 20 films at the box office, 11 were sequels are reboots.
In other words, the sequels were unable to deliver the same spectacle as their predecessors.
That might not be very surprising but it is important to remember.
This is a lose-lose situation for both studios and audiences.
Hollywood seems to have forgotten that a multiplex is not a field of dreams.
Just putting the movie out there is not enough to secure an audience.
That bang out of thinking resulted inBatman and Robinand a decade (and counting) of ridicule.
Right now, thegrowth of 3-Dseems to be softening the impact of underperforming films likeWolverineandTerminator: Salvation.
3-D has yet to prove that it can be embraced outside of the animated world.
Is 3-D really going to make a difference when I watch the nextJackass?
OrRobin Hood, a film which was not even made with 3-D in mind?
In 2010 and beyond Hollywood needs to do a better job of protecting its franchises from overexposure.
The financial windfall from those films are what allow riskier, original scripts to be produced and distributed.
As far as franchise fatigue goes, a new marketing approach may be in order.
Like Orci said, a good story, not a slick gimmick, is the key to success.
