Big-budget, film franchises are not only a big part of the Hollywood studio machine, in today’s business, but they are also literally the only part. But as the summer movie season winds on, the box office seems to be telling studio bosses that it wants something more.

As discussed on this week’s episode of Superhero Speak, according to a tweet from Vulture Journalist Mark Harris, Pixar juggernaut, Toy Story 4 performed well below expectations this past weekend. It follows a trend, matching the less-than-stellar receipts from usually dependable franchises like X-Men, Secret Life of Pets, and Men In Black. Except for Avengers: Endgame and John Wick, most of the tent pole franchises have met with disappointing box office returns. Have audiences finally grown tired of sequel after sequel and reboot after reboot?

Since the rise of Marvel Studios ten years ago, Hollywood has shifted its focus from developing properties and voices to building expansive film universes, and except Marvel, they have all failed. How many times will Universal try to push its Dark Universe? How often does DC/Warner fail to grasp what makes the Justice League
work?

As intriguing as these questions are, the real question currently being asked by audiences is, “why should I leave my house?” In the middle of the streaming television’s golden age, audiences are finding less and less reason to go to the movies. Why should they when what’s being offered by Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu are as well-produced, more thought-provoking and more exciting than anything offered from the major studios?

For years, the big-budget spectacle has been the bait Hollywood has used to entice audiences. But they cannot inspire fans to spend as much in one night as they do in a month of a subscription service, what hope does the feature film business have?

Check out the latest episode of the podcast here: http://superherospeak.com/wp/312-franchise-fatigue/