FRANCHISE Universal rev up £25m Fast Furious live show

Guardian feature

Disney are the kings of brand extension, with Disneyland a big business in its right and the Pirates of... franchise a neat reversal in being a movie spin-off from a Disneyland feature.

Universal are staking a claim as the barons of franchise extension though, with their own theme parks, multiple TV adaptations of movies (eg About a Boy by WTTV), theatrical adaptations (notably Billy Elliot, a big hit, and Bridget Jones, both spun off from Working Title productions).

ROM-COM Is this Working Title's signature genre?

In this post I highlight a recurrent point that has been made for some years now: the rom-com is DEAD and (box office) buried!

That is based on the lack of major, 'breakthrough' [very wide audience, typically overachieving for its budget] rom-coms in recent years, with the series of Jennifer Aniston flops symbolising this seeming reality. Is this true? Debatable. All genres go in and out of fashion. There is a solid argument that TV is now the home of the rom-com (not least the TV adaptation of About a Boy!).

Working Title are arguably more commonly associated with the genre than any other film production outlet, not just in the UK, but globally. They have had an impressive run of rom-com hits, and it seems unlikely that they will simply fail to add to this list. The upcoming third Bridget Jones flick could well change views on the rom-com's box office potential.

As far back as 1987, WT's 3rd production was a rom-com, albeit one with a social realist style which made minimal impact, Hanif Kreshi's Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (US cinema release only through Cinecom, just $1.2m, no budget figure available; it is also listed as unrated, indicating it didn't get a wide release). Director Stephen Frears had also directed their debut feature, My Beautiful Laundrette, and would go on to direct many more for the company.

The Tall Guy didn't stand too large at the box office...but did bring Richard Curtis into WT

1989 saw the introduction of Richard Curtis, screenwriter of The Tall Guy, a rom-com with a US star (Jeff Goldblum) plus Emma Thompson and Rowan Atkinson. Apparent changes to remove some British references (replacing US actors names in dialogue) and positive reviews didn't save it from box office gloom, a mere $500k and no record of releases elsewhere (straight-to-TV in the UK?). You can visit its blank WT website page here!

ROM-COM no more love for the classic hybrid?

I've read a variety of articles over the past decade announcing the death of the rom-com after some genre flick flopped (often starring Jennifer Aniston!).

Here's another ... which goes a step further in pronouncing a range of genres as dead and box office buried, but also argues that TV is now the true home of the rom-com, an intriguing point in this era of digitisation and convergence:

CONVERGENCE Working Title TV

IN THIS POST: This links into several posts on convergence and ownership issues, and explores just how converged a company WT really is ... and the influence of ownership on this. I briefly raise points discussed in detail in previous posts.

Screenshot of the Wiki.

WHAT THIS WIKI SCREENSHOT TELLS US...
Great academic research, eh?!
This tells us three key things before we consider more recent developments:

Working Title franchising: new Bridget Jones, About a Boy TV series...

It is abundantly clear when we compare Warp Films With Working Title that the former's typically no-star, low budget (predominately) social realist slate does not lend itself to sequels/prequels/re-imaginings, although This is England is a notable exception, with a possible second film to add to the existing film and two TV series. WT's slate is full of franchises: Elizabeth, Bean, Bridget Jones, Nanny McPhee... its a long list.

...And it is about to get longer! Adapting films for TV is nothing new - the Coen brothers' Fargo is enjoying new life as a US TV series, and as noted above This is England has enjoyed two sequel TV series so far. WTTV is an increasingly important Working Title subsidiary, with big-name directors and stars increasingly viewing TV as at least on a par with cinema, a dramatic reversal of years past. Have a look at Working Title's IMDB entry and you'll find ever more TV entries in there. Amongst these is a new series for - naturally! - NBC in America: About a Boy is now a US TV series.

WT Box Office History to 2010

Data from http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/production-company/Working-Title-Films.

Av budget $29m, av worldwide gross $73m!!!!

The RC rom-coms contribute nearly $2bn of the $5bn (nearer $6bn by now) all-time total, BUT the last major RC hit was back in 2004 with the BJD sequel Edge of Reason. Just as with the horror movies we looked at, it seems even WT may be somewhat reliant on franchises too: a 2nd sequel is due out soon. The horrid TBTRocks was a flop, increasing the attractiveness of a return to a proven winner.

WT has produced the worldwide, all-time 199th (NHill) + 292nd (BJD) + 319th (BJD2) biggest movies: see http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/worldwide.php Full Monty was 331st!

BJD is the 175th biggest film franchise of all time: http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/series/franchises.php

Box Office History for Working Title Movies

Release Date	Movie	Production Budget	Domestic Opening Weekend	Domestic Box Office	Worldwide Box Office	Trailer
May 19, 1989	For Queen and Country			$191,051	$191,051
Jan 1, 1990	Fools of Fortune			$83,000	$83,000
Apr 19, 1991	Drop Dead Fred			$13,746,300	$13,746,300
Aug 21, 1991	Barton Fink			$5,726,463	$5,726,463
Sep 4, 1992	Bob Roberts			$4,300,703	$4,300,703
Mar 9, 1994	Four Weddings and a Funeral	$4,500,000		$52,700,832	$242,895,809
May 5, 1995	French Kiss		$9,018,022	$38,863,798	$98,393,930
Dec 29, 1995	Dead Man Walking	$11,000,000	$118,266	$39,387,284	$83,088,295
Mar 8, 1996	Fargo	$7,000,000	$730,265	$24,567,751	$51,204,567
Oct 17, 1997	Bean		$2,255,233	$45,334,169	$256,574,128
Feb 13, 1998	The Borrowers	$29,000,000	$6,075,079	$22,619,589	$54,045,832
Mar 6, 1998	The Big Lebowski	$15,000,000	$5,533,844	$17,498,804	$46,189,568
Mar 6, 1998	Everest		$364,244	$87,178,599	$127,990,128
Nov 6, 1998	Elizabeth	$25,000,000	$275,131	$30,082,699	$82,150,642
Oct 13, 2000	Billy Elliot	$5,000,000	$215,681	$21,995,263	$109,280,263
Dec 22, 2000	O Brother, Where Art Thou?	$26,000,000	$195,104	$45,506,619	$75,763,814
Apr 13, 2001	Bridget Jones's Diary	$25,000,000	$10,733,933	$71,500,556	$281,527,158
May 25, 2001	The Man Who Cried		$93,455	$747,092	$1,790,840
Aug 17, 2001	Captain Corelli's Mandolin	$57,000,000	$7,209,345	$25,528,495	$62,097,495
Mar 1, 2002	40 Days and 40 Nights	$17,000,000	$12,229,529	$37,939,782	$95,092,667
May 17, 2002	About a Boy	$27,000,000	$8,557,630	$40,803,000	$129,949,664
Dec 31, 2002	Ali G Indahouse			$0	$25,936,616
Nov 7, 2003	Love Actually	$45,000,000	$6,886,080	$59,472,278	$247,967,903
Jul 30, 2004	Thunderbirds	$55,000,000	$2,766,810	$6,768,055	$28,231,444
Sep 17, 2004	Wimbledon	$35,000,000	$7,118,985	$16,862,585	$41,666,476
Nov 12, 2004	Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason	$50,000,000	$8,684,055	$40,203,020	$263,894,551
Apr 22, 2005	The Interpreter	$90,000,000	$22,822,455	$72,708,161	$163,954,076
Oct 27, 2006	Catch a Fire	$14,000,000	$2,026,997	$4,299,773	$5,699,773
Jan 26, 2007	Smokin' Aces	$17,000,000	$14,638,755	$35,662,731	$56,047,261
Oct 12, 2007	Elizabeth: The Golden Age		$6,153,075	$16,285,240	$74,769,388
Dec 7, 2007	Atonement	$30,000,000	$796,836	$50,980,159	$130,200,290
Feb 14, 2008	Definitely, Maybe	$7,000,000	$9,764,270	$32,241,649	$55,863,786
Aug 1, 2008	Sixty Six		$9,359	$224,614	$224,614
Sep 12, 2008	Burn After Reading	$37,000,000	$19,128,001	$60,355,347	$163,415,735
Dec 5, 2008	Frost/Nixon	$29,000,000	$180,708	$18,622,031	$28,144,586
Apr 17, 2009	State of Play	$60,000,000	$14,071,280	$37,017,955	$91,445,389
Apr 24, 2009	The Soloist	$60,000,000	$9,716,458	$31,720,158	$38,454,152
Oct 2, 2009	A Serious Man	$7,000,000	$251,337	$9,228,788	$30,360,570	Play
Nov 13, 2009	The Boat That Rocked	$50,000,000	$2,904,380	$8,017,467	$37,472,651	Play
Mar 12, 2010	Green Zone	$100,000,000	$14,309,295	$35,497,337	$97,523,020	Play
Aug 20, 2010	Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang	$35,000,000	$8,407,685	$29,197,642	$97,799,865	Play
Mar 18, 2011	Paul	$40,000,000	$13,043,310	$37,412,945	$100,179,947	Play
Aug 12, 2011	Senna		$73,497	$1,612,430	$11,856,854
Oct 21, 2011	Johnny English Reborn	$45,000,000	$3,833,300	$8,305,970	$164,539,660	Play
Dec 9, 2011	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	$21,000,000	$310,562	$24,149,393	$81,452,811	Play
Jan 13, 2012	Contraband	$25,000,000	$24,349,815	$66,528,000	$98,406,855	Play
Feb 3, 2012	Big Miracle	$40,000,000	$7,760,205	$20,157,300	$25,615,524	Play
Nov 16, 2012	Anna Karenina	$49,000,000	$320,690	$12,816,367	$70,939,105	Play
Dec 25, 2012	Les Miserables	$65,000,000	$27,281,735	$148,809,770	$442,169,052	Play
Aug 9, 2013	I Give It a Year		$5,436	$34,657	$28,237,364
Aug 23, 2013	The World's End	$20,000,000	$8,811,790	$26,004,851	$47,214,446	Play
Aug 28, 2013	Closed Circuit		$2,464,931	$5,750,995	$5,883,157	Play
Sep 20, 2013	Rush	$38,000,000	$187,289	$26,947,624	$95,224,595	Play
Nov 1, 2013	About Time	$12,000,000	$1,076,250	$15,323,921	$88,787,551	Play
Sep 26, 2014	The Two Faces of January		$43,116	$445,817	$1,570,506
Nov 7, 2014	The Theory of Everything		$207,000	$207,000	$207,000	Play
Sep 18, 2015	Everest			$0	$0
Dec 31, 2015	Vikingr			$0	$0
Feb 5, 2016	Hail, Caesar!			$0	$0
Dec 31, 2017	Bridget Jones's Baby			$0	$0
	Totals	$1,324,500,000		$1,586,173,879	$4,763,438,890
	Averages	$22,075,000	$5,066,842	$26,436,231	$79,390,648