People like familiarity. That seems to be the assumption that Hollywood runs under these days. Every year, various franchises get sequels, prequels, spin-offs or adaptations. Following much-anticipated additions, fans gather at conventions or on the internet to discuss implications for the future lore of their beloved franchise, which seemingly does a lot of the legwork when it comes to creating buzz around the film for free. This has proven to be a recipe for profit as more and more franchises across the film industry emulate it. Why wouldn’t they? It’s an easy and surefire way to strike gold at the box office. 

Numerous household names have tried this formula with their own twist on how to pull it off. Marvel has a serial style of telling stories about the same heroes jumping from bad guy to bad guy like the comics of old. Star Wars takes advantage of its large setting and timeline to tell a multitude of different stories across their galaxy. The Planet of the Apes seemingly returned from the dead years ago to reimagine its classic story in several films with a new, story-rich coat. Even video games have joined in on the trend, with the second season of “The Last of Us” releasing next month. There is typically a variety of new ideas in each new addition or adaptation made for a franchise to keep people captivated, but there are constant complaints that Hollywood lacks originality or that people want to see more films outside of the popular names.

Back in 2023, “The Creator” attempted to meet this demand by making a science fiction film that tickles the same senses as the big-name sci-fi films, except with a fresh slate. Director Gareth Edwards made a name for himself by directing the franchise films “Godzilla” and “Rogue One.” After I saw this film, I personally found it okay from a story perspective, but it was full of stunning visuals of a post-apocalyptic scenery and futuristic technology. I have always been a sucker for the visuals you get from advanced technology in sparsely-populated spaces reclaimed by nature that you get from these kinds of post-apocalyptic films. “The Creator” did what it set out to do: deliver a good-looking sci-fi film, and they did it on a shockingly low budget of $80 million.

I decided to see this film after seeing people on the internet express gratitude for a breath of originality, which is I think a sentiment that everyone would agree with. However, many of the people who praised it for this fact also did not go to see it. The film made a little over $100 million at the box office, not much more than it cost to make. Any Hollywood executives who were thinking about making a movie with the action of a major franchise film but the originality of something fresh will be sure to think twice with this box office disappointment in mind.

There is always the occasional non-franchise film that breaks the mold and takes successful risks. The 2014 film “Edge of Tomorrow” took the same path of making a futuristic and visually impressive action film outside of a major franchise and made a tidy sum of $370 million. However, a studio executive may not want to reward gambles like this because they would be safer with the tried-and-true franchise formula.

If we, as audience members, want more originality, then we need to make it clear to the bigwigs that there is money to be made in appealing to the craving that many have for new universes to explore, lore to learn and characters to meet. That means on our end that we actually have to show up when people try to give us what we asked for. If this can really be done, then maybe one day, we’ll witness a film culture that is willing to give the wide-eyed creatives with crazy new ideas the chance to be heard.

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