Choices that lead to cinema successChoices that lead to cinema successWhat decisions can film producers make to make it more likely they will have a hit?

FILM BOX OFFICE Rank by

budgetActual budget Success factors (good production practices)?

Jurassic World $638m $ m

Avengers: Age of Ultron $457m $ m

Inside Out $340m $ m

Minions $315m $ m

Pitch Perfect 2 $183m $ m

Ant-Man $159m $ m

San Andreas $154m $ m

Mad Max: Fury Road $153m $ m

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

$143m $ m

Spy $110m $ m

GCSE Media Studies – Film Production: Budgets, Box Office, Pitching 1

POSSIBLE SUCCESS FACTORS (or good production practices).Note here any initial ideas you have – what do you think a film studio should do if they want to make their movie into a hit?

Have a go below at ranking these films by their BUDGET (what they cost to make), 1 being the highest, 10 the lowest.

SUMMARY: WHAT PRODUCTION CHOICES MAKE THESE FILMS SO SUCCESSFUL?

CAN YOU MATCH THE FILM TO THE BUDGET + WORLDWIDE TOTAL BOX OFFICE?

GCSE Media Studies – Film Production: Budgets, Box Office, Pitching 2

See the blog post for full size postersBUDGET BOX OFFICE£48K £0£1M £2K£1.2m £1m£1.5M £5M£5m £22k

Why were these all flops? Think about the genre, location, cast; they’re all UK social realist or

mockumentary films.

Your film proposal EXPLANATIONBUDGET

STARS/MAIN CAST

FRANCHISE? IP?

GENRE/S

SETTING/CHARACTERSTAGLINE/SExtension: Distributor?

SUMMARY: WHAT MAKES YOUR FILM LIKELY TO SUCCEED?

Franchise: A film that has sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, reimagining, spin-offs (including on TV, for example This is England, About a Boy). Bridget Jones’s Diary has been a book, musical and also a series of 3 movies so far

Intellectual property (IP): IP rights to successful books (Twilight, Hunger Games), plays (Les Miserables) etc are often bought by studios as they offer a built-in audience.

A-list: Distributors rank stars as the key factor in films’ success, and will want major (A-list) stars especially

Star vehicle: a movie, like Green Zone, built around the appeal of a single A-list star

Tentpole: big budget studio movies, around $100m+ (Avatar cost $250m)

Gant Rule: the argument that a US hit will make 10 times the UK box office

Distribution: distributors market and sell rights to cinemas and TV

OST: the official soundtrack CD

Hybrid: combining two genres, eg the rom-com

Release strategy: the date can be important

Studio: the large US companies

Indie: small companies not owned by a studio

GCSE Media Studies – Film Production: Budgets, Box Office, Pitching 3

FILM PROPOSAL TASKUse as many of these terms as you can in presenting and justifying your film idea.

Your film can be a sequel, remake, or an original idea. You could also combine films/genres in the style of Freddie vs Jason, Cowboys & Aliens, Pride & Prejudice + Zombies…