Background: Hollywood studios like Disney and Warner Bros have leaned hard into familiar franchises for years. Sequels, remakes and cinematic universes feel safer than brand-new ideas - another Star Wars, another Toy Story, more Marvel.

What happened: Now, industry insiders are worried that the US box office may fall short of its US$10 billion revenue target. Two of the most anticipated films of 2025, Universal’s Wicked: For Good and Disney’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, underperformed expectations. That’s a hit to studios that were relying on these two movies as tentpoles for the year.

What else: The problem for film studios is that audiences are becoming far more selective about what they pay to see. That means even blockbuster franchises, they are no longer guaranteed wins.

What's the key learning

💡When everything is a sequel, nothing feels special. Franchises were once Hollywood’s safety net, but overuse is dulling their impact and weakening the sense of event around new releases.

💡Sequels historically reduced marketing risk, boosted merchandise, theme parks and spin-offs, and dominated the box office, 8/10 of the top-grossing films since 2010 tied to existing prequels or sequels.

💡But with the top 10 films driving up to 40% of annual box office revenue, it means that making fresh, iconic stories becomes increasingly valuable (but also risky) for film studios.