The Age of Sequels

It almost seems like every time I hear of a new movie’s release, that movie happens to be a sequel, prequel or franchise movie in its 7^th installment. Recently, I came across an article explaining that New Line/WB’s “The Conjuring” is already looking to develop a sequel even though the movie has yet to be released. At first, this information came as a surprise. Why would a movie that comes out on Friday already have a sequel? Well, I decided to take a look at some of the elements that made this post possible.

First, the director of the film James Wan is a horror guru. He’s been involved in various successful horror films including Insidious, Dead Silence and his debut film Saw. So, to say he was the man for the job would have been an understatement. Second, James Wan had the assistance from Lorraine Warren herself. Warren is the woman Vera Farmiga portrays in the film, a paranormal investigator sent to reveal and expel an evil spirit that has taken over a family’s home. The combination of experienced filmmaking and first hand accounts seem to be a great recipe for success.  Two days before its release The Conjuring has already achieved an 85% on the Tomatometer and an average rating of 7.5 out of 10, a feat rarely seen when dealing with horror films. As a result, because of the acclaim The Conjuring has received, executives began to think “franchise.”

Franchises are highly coveted by studio executives since the overwhelming successes of films like Twilight, Harry Potter, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and most of the characters featured in the Marvel films. These films have opened up a market for sequels that I do not remember existing when I was younger (cue my younger self yelling, “Sequels always suck”). Writers and directors are now spanning their worlds across several feature films, expanding storylines that should probably not be expanded like Hancock. Other movies set to have sequels are Tron, Dumb and Dumber, The Boondocks, and Bad Boys. Now, while I believe that none of these particular storylines need another movie, I still know I will watch them. And who knows, maybe they will be just as good or better, as movies like Dark Knight have proven they can be.

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Full Seasons On Netflix!

The way we experience a show’s progression and story arch has not changed much since the advent of television. While technology has improved the way we access the programs, we must still wait a week to watch new episodes. This model works for many shows that have had full seasons without any major fluctuations in ratings, but for other shows it may prove detrimental. This Sunday, May 26, Arrested Development will have a chance to test the new model for Netflix, where full seasons will become available all at once. 

 

Arrested Development began airing in November of 2003 on Fox to rave reviews from critics and a little over six million viewers. In the show’s third season, the numbers significantly dropped for the final episode to about three million viewers. Despite a myriad of rumors regarding the show’s future, Arrested Development was cancelled and essentially put on the back burner until recently when the show’s creators and Netflix decided to release a final, full season exclusively on the Netflix website. Now the question is, will Arrested Development succeed with this new business model? I am leaning towards absolutely. According to Netflix, television fans enjoy what they call “Binge-Viewing” where audiences spend hours watching full seasons in one sitting. This binge-viewing model is ideal for Arrested Development because while they did not experience a great run on network television, their cult audience revealed themselves by contributing to the explosion of DVD sales the show experienced. Those DVD sales show that there is a huge audience for the show that may actually prefer experiencing the opportunity to watch the full season whenever and however they desire.  

Netflix has experienced great success with other programs previously released under this business model. Most notably the show House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey, was reportedly a success when its first full season was released in early 2013. There is no telling how well House of Cards actually performed, since Netflix won’t release the official numbers, but it did well enough to earn a second season which signifies that people enjoy binging on full seasons on Netflix.

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The Second Screen Experience

Midway through any given television show, I find myself looking at my phone and having to rewind the program to see what I missed. Usually, the culprit is Viggle. Viggle has been a part of my routine for about five months and provides its users with a unique way to earn rewards while watching TV. For example, if Batman Begins were airing on ABC Family right now, you could check in a-la “Shazam”, and wait for the points to rack up. If it was a featured program, you could answer trivia for extra points, which could then be redeemed for prizes, like the $25 Best Buy Gift Certificate I received last month. Viggle is not alone in providing a second screen for television viewers, the Team Coco App also provides extra content synchronized with the broadcast of every episode. The content could range from extra videos to behind the scenes content. Second screen experiences are on the rise and can provide great ways for increased exposure to your market and a new way to sell ad-space.

 
 The Guardian posted an article providing statistics relating to the “second screen.” They provided several resources outlining some of the statistics for example, a study released in October 2012 by IMRG (UK’s retail industry association) that said 80% of smartphone owners used their device to browse for a product after seeing it on TV. 81% of tablet owners and 73% of laptop owners also use their device while watching television. These numbers are relatively large, so it doesn’t surprise me that Samsung has recently acquired a second-screen start up in order to develop this particular bit of technology. This, in my humble opinion, will improve the television experience. Our species has been multitasking since even before the iPhone, it’s about time we jazzed up the television watching experience. I’m ready for minority report to become a reality...sans "Pre-cogs".

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