The 2008 crash drove Hollywood toward franchise and preexisting-IP filmmaking

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: Connects to ‘death of the sellout’ and blockbuster economics debates — the IP/franchise turn is a supply-side driver of the omnivore monoculture’s flattening.
• SHARE: Good for someone into Hollywood economics — the sequencing of banks pulling financing from second-rate projects into franchise bets.