User:Aguilac/franchises

Prior to 2000, only seven film series had grossed over $1 billion at the box office: James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Rocky,  Batman, Jurassic Park and Star Trek. Since the turn of the century that number has increased to over forty, excluding one-off hits such as Avatar, Titanic, Frozen and Alice in Wonderland. This is partly due to inflation and market growth, but also to Hollywood's adoption of the franchise model: films that have built-in brand recognition, such as being based on a well known literary source (The Lord of the Rings) or an established character (Indiana Jones). The methodology is based on the concept that films associated with things audiences are already familiar with can be more effectively marketed to them, and as such are known as "pre-sold" films within the industry.

The Harry Potter series has grossed the most, amassing nearly $8 billion over eight films at the box office, although the Eon James Bond series is the highest grossing when adjusted for inflation, with a total of over $13 billion at 2011/12 prices. Harry Potter has also generated at least $3.5 billion in home video revenue, taking total consumer spending on the films to over $11 billion. If ancillary income from merchandising is included, then Star Wars is the most lucrative franchise, earning more than $22 billion in total, with direct income from the films themselves accounting for just one third of overall revenues. In nominal terms, Harry Potter is also the most consistent franchise, averaging at around $965 million with each film earning in excess of $790 million, while the most consistent series is Peter Jackson's Middle-earth adaptation, with the first five films averaging about $980 million and each film earning over $870 million; adjusted for inflation they have performed similarly to Star Wars, averaging over $1 billion per film.


 * {{legend|#b6fcb6|indicates that at least one film in the series is playing in the week commencing .|text=}}