Post-crash financiers forced Hollywood toward preexisting intellectual property franchises.

Evidence

Behind the scenes, however, the recession was reshaping Hollywood. In the mid-2000s, major banks began to pour money into film production, which studios deployed on second-rate projects. After the crash, financiers demanded that their money fund marquee films at the least possible risk. This required a new strategy in an industry where predicting hits is inherently uncertain. Their “best bet,” explained journalist Daniel Bessner, was basing films on preexisting intellectual property—familiar stories, characters, and brands that came with built-in audience recognition. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 214

Categorization

• XREF: Directly supports Marx’s four-period thesis — risk-averse capital is the mechanism driving sequel/reboot saturation, connecting to the wider omnivore monoculture argument about why everything feels samey.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing the specific financing structures (slate deals, hedge fund money) that made franchises the only bankable bet — a concrete mechanism for the ‘death of the sellout’ era.