Franchise is king: Your ultimate guide to Hollywood’s cinematic universes

There are two magical words in Hollywood, say it with us: Intellectual property.

It’s absolutely why you think there’s a dearth of original stories on the big screen. Movies are expensive to make and a lot of executives are risk-averse so they only want to pump money into so-called known quantities.

Franchises have been around for decades, but they have been supercharged this century, especially at the cinema as it tries to seduce audiences back with big spectacles and familiar characters.

The movie stars of today are not Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts or Zendaya. They’re Superman, Godzilla and John Wick.

Here’s a guide to the biggest franchises that are definitely coming to a theatre near you.

MARVEL (2008 - )

Number of movies: 36

Number of TV shows: 14 (plus 12 non-MCU)

Box office: $US31.9 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 80

As the grandmaster of the modern franchise era, Marvel has, at its highs and lows, stood in for everything wonderful and terrible about interconnected universes and intellectual property-driven storytelling. It had a near-impeccable run between Iron Man and the 2019 release of Avengers: Endgame, with films regularly grossing more than $US1 billion, but the pandemic and a saturated slate has put the studio on the back foot at the box office. A promise to focus on quality rather than quantity and the introduction of the Fantastic Four into the MCU is crucial to a turnaround ahead of the all-in Avengers: Doomsday next year.

DC (1951 - )

Number of movies: 43

Number of TV shows: 83

Box office: $US15.5 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 58

The world of DC Comics on screen is a patchwork comprising everything from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, the Tim Burton and Chris Nolan Batman flicks, the initially Zack Snyder-spearheaded DC Extended Universe, and the Todd Phillips Joker movies. It’s been a mixed bag of critical acclaim and pans, box office wins and bombs. This week, the big screen reset by James Gunn will debut with Superman. The Matt Reeves Batman sequel is still in development, and on streaming, expect The Penguin to be a big presence in the Emmys noms next week.

JURASSIC PARK (1993 - )

Number of movies: 7

Number of TV shows: 2

Box office: $US6.3 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 56

Never underestimate the box office power of roaring dinosaurs, whether they’re sharp-teethed predators or majestic herbivores. Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original was a huge step forward in spectacle, animatronic effects and scaring the crap out of audiences. Creatively, it’s been a franchise of diminishing returns (the human cloning in the Jurassic World era, no thanks) even as the box office continued to soar. The release last week of Jurassic World Rebirth and its robust grosses shows that, at least commercially, there’s still fuel left in this tank.

STAR WARS (1977 - )

Number of movies: 12

Number of TV shows: 16

Box office: $US10.4 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 72

Ever since “In a galaxy far, far away” scrolled across the screen in George Lucas’ first film, Star Wars has captured the popular imagination like no other sci-fi story. The original trilogy remains beloved, the prequel trilogy less so. When J.J. Abrams brought it back with the 2015 The Force Awakens, it repeated a lot of the same beats and was a resounding success. After The Last Jedi proved divisive (but was actually the best of the three), Abrams was brought back to finish the trio with a tepid, messy The Rise of Skywalker. Since then, the film division has been through a lot of filmmakers with almost nothing to show for it except the upcoming Mandalorian & Grogu big-screen spin-off from the streaming series. Also, Andor was a banger.

DESPICABLE ME (2010 - )

Number of movies: 6

Box office: $US5.4 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 65

Despicable Me has been quite the surprise barnstormer, originating as a movie about a main character who starts off as a villain and is softened by adopting three young sisters, initially as a cover for a scheme. The real secret to its success (sorry, Gru) is the banana-addled Minions, little chaos agents who often causes more problems than they’re supposed to solve. Kids (and probably more than a few adults) are obsessed with the Minions and their nonsensical language – there’s endless merch, theme park rides, and addictive video games.

FAST & FURIOUS (2001 – )

Number of movies: 11

Number of TV shows: 1

Box office: $US7.4 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 58

That very first movie was, if we’re being honest, a Point Break rip-off – a young cop goes undercover with a group of daredevil heisters and ends up falling in with them in unexpected ways. The original film was relatively grounded and as the franchise went on, the stunts and set-pieces became more outlandish and physics defying. They literally went into space, it was ridiculous. Fast X ended on a cliffhanger with the fates of several characters unknown, but apparently death is not permanent in this franchise, including that of Paul Walker, who died in 2013, with Vin Diesel promising an onscreen reunion between Dom and Brian.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996 - 2025)

Number of movies: 8

Box office: $US4.7 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 82

For actual stunts with real stakes, look no further than Mission: Impossible, through which adrenaline junkie Tom Cruise has created a mythos as Hollywood’s most committed actor, doing HALO jumps, motorbiking off a cliff, hanging off planes, leaping across rooftops and, of course, running. So much running. The Final Reckoning has been billed as the end, but never believe an addict when they say that was the last time. But considering the enormous budgets (the eighth movie reportedly cost $US400 million before marketing), and the middling box office in comparison, it may not be Cruise’s call.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS (2001 - )

Number of movies: 7

Number of TV shows: 1

Box office: $US5.9 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 75

Peter Jackson really changed the game with his Lord of the Rings trilogy, bringing fantasy into the mainstream and awarded but also making elf ears cool – or at least they are when Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Orlando Bloom are wearing them. He trod similar ground with The Hobbit, adapting J.R.R. Tolkien’s novella into eight hours of movies. The TV series, Rings of Power, despite its hefty price tag, hasn’t managed to break into the culture in the same way, nor did the animated feature The War of the Rohirrum. Andy Serkis will slip back into his Gollum motion-capture suit, as well as direct, an upcoming film, The Hunt for Gollum.

MONSTERVERSE (2014 - )

Number of movies: 5

Number of TV shows: 2

Box office: $US2.5 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 64

If you ever had a drunken what if debate about who would win between Godzilla and King Kong might be like, you need only to look to the fourth movie in this franchise, the 2021 epic Godzilla vs Kong, released between pandemic lockdowns and went down surprisingly well given it was wide-scale spectacle (and seriously metal) at a time when entertainment had shrunk to personal screens. These films have long lost the origins of the Godzilla story in trauma of nuclear attacks, and is mostly just whizz bangs effects and punch-ups, but the two TV spin-offs, an animated series and a live-action prequel, are actually pretty good.

JAMES BOND (1962 - )

Number of movies: 25

Number of TV shows: 1

Box office: $US7.8 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 71

Debonair and deadly, James Bond has been the epitome of a glamorous super spy since Sean Connery sauntered on to the screen more than six decades ago, followed by George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and then Daniel Craig. As much as it was about action and gadgets, it also charted Britain’s changing position in the world and who the foes are, morphing from the Soviets to non-state villains, and what modern masculinity looks like. A new era is about to start with Amazon taking over the rights, and hiring French-Canadian auteur Denis Villeneuve to make the next film.

ALIEN (1979 - )

Number of movies: 9

Number of TV shows: 2

Box office: $US1.98 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 59

OK, so the Alien franchise’s Rotten Tomatoes score gets dragged down by two Predator crossover movies, but that’s what you get when you dilute the power of your brand. That first Ridley Scott film was genuinely terrifying (of course, in space, no one can hear you scream), and Scott regretted stepping away from the franchise, only to return with the two prequels. More recently, the spin-off, Romulus, showed a lot of promise, and a TV series, Alien: Earth, set two years before the 1979 film, will debut next month.

JOHN WICK (2014 - )

Number of movies: 5

Number of TV shows: 1

Box office: $US1.1 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 86

Who would’ve thought that a relatively inconsequential Keanu Reeves action movie made for $US20 million (including a $6 million investment from Eva Longoria after its original backers fell through) would become one of the defining kick-arse franchises of the past decade. The ultra-violent and well-choreographed action and Reeves as this unkillable avenging action underpin the films’ appeal, as well its baroque vibes. The Ana de Armas spin-off, Ballerina, was fine, and despite John Wick’s supposed death at the end of the fourth film, he is confirmed to return for a fifth instalment.

TOY STORY (1995 - )

Number of movies: 5

Box office: $US3.2 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 93

Toy Story was the film that kicked off Pixar and its creative dominance over animation for the better part of three decades. The stories of Woody, Buzz and the gang were stunning to look at but also had emotional poignancy. They told nuanced tales about friendship and growing up through the lens of wacky adventures, and in the process, made adult men weep in public. The Lightyear prequel copped a lot of flak but was actually a decent movie, it just wasn’t Toy Story excellent. A fifth movie is on the way, not just for the fans but for Pixar, who has struggled in recent years to launch new original tales.

PLANET OF THE APES (1968 - )

Number of movies: 10

Number of TV shows: 2

Box office: $US2.5 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 67

Ever since Charlton Heston despondently cried out on that beach, “Goddamn you all to hell”, moviegoers have been fascinated by the idea that humans could be in battle for civilisation against our simian brethren – are we the animals or are they? The original franchise was prolific, running to five films from 1968 to 1973, before Tim Burton came along and rebooted it in 2001. Another reset was on the cards in 2011 with the origin story of Caesar, a genetically enhanced chimp that would go to lead the rebellion. Lesson: maybe don’t test on animals.

AVATAR (2009 - )

Number of movies: 2

Box office: $US5.2 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 78

Avatar movies are just a money-printing machine. Never mind that despite its technical and visual wizardry (and it really is so, so impressive on this front), the screenplays are severely lacking in depth or discipline. The monotonous Sully is perhaps one of the most sleep-inducing franchise leads on this list, not that he’s given anything interesting to say, even when there’s almost three hours to say it. The second film boasted gorgeous water effects, and a retread of the same story beats of its predecessor, it even resurrected the same villain. James Cameron has promised (or is that threatened?) everyone with further three more films, the first of which will land at the end of this year. God help us all.

ROCKY/CREED (1976 - )

Number of movies: 9

Box office: $US1.9 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 72

Everyone loves a sports underdog story, even those whose eyes glaze over as soon as they hear the words, “did you watch the game last night?”. But when it’s slickly packaged up as a two-hour narrative with a hero who comes good against the odds, scored to that iconic soundtrack, Rocky running up those stairs, it’s gold. Your heart soars. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan breathed new life into it when they launched the Creed movies, exploring the burden of legacy on Apollo’s son. A Jordan-produced TV spin-off, Delphi, has been greenlit.

SCREAM (1996 - )

Number of movies: 6

Number of TV shows: 1

Box office: $912 million

Rotten Tomatoes average: 69

Scream wasn’t just another slasher movie. It was the most referential, until, of course, Scary Movie came along and took the piss out of the whole genre. Starting in 1996 with Drew Barrymore being stalked by a malicious caller, the Ghostface Killer has been haunting the kids of Woodsboro for almost three decades. After the first four instalments, the franchise had been rested until the next generation came along with a “requel”, a sequel and reboot hybrid that still exists in the same narrative universe. It cemented a new cast but brought along some old favourites – Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette (until they, spoiler alert, killed him) – for the bloody ride. A controversy-hit seventh movie is in the works, with original screenwriter Kevin Williamson making his feature directorial debut.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2020 - )

Number of movies: 3

Number of TV shows: 1

Box office: $US1.2 billion

Rotten Tomatoes average: 72

Sonic the Hedgehog was almost a goner. The reaction to its first trailer drop was, uh, not kind. The CGI Sonic looked so uncanny valley, the Polar Express was a masterpiece in comparison. The studio listened and they revamped the character to more resemble its video game origins. Phew. When the film came out, it was undoubtedly silly and mostly for kids, but it had a silver bullet: a goofy Jim Carrey that reminded everyone how much they loved his 90s-era high-level hijinks. Now the adults had a reason to turn up, and they did. The box office went up with each instalment, and it even spun-off into a TV series with Idris Elba reprising his voice performance as Knuckles.