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Here are two articles discussing Hollywood, the "Blockbuster" sensation, and the trap this has possibly become: Why Hollywood is Caught in the Blockbuster Trap and The Rise and Rise of the Comic Book Movie
The first article, written by Anita Elberse, basically discusses how Hollywood is caught in this regime of cranking out blockbuster hits which make a ton of money but perhaps take away some creativity from the industry. She states that "Of the 6,000 films released in the past decade, nearly a quarter were based on another film or media property, and the share of such “non-original” films has gone up over that period". This, Elberse argues, is because Hollywood has a "Love Affair With Past Hits"- that if a film performs exceptionally well in the box office, there is almost no doubt that Part 2, 3, 4, and 5 will come out in the near future and possible spin offs of that film are already in pre production, as she says "so many executives try to borrow from past successes in their efforts to create new hits, and why they can’t seem to stop adding installments to successful film franchises". It is evident that series of movies do better at the box office, and often it is the super hero movie genre that kick sales out of the park on opening weekends. This chart shows us that Iron Man 3 was the biggest seller on its opening weekend out of any movie that came out in 2013. Following Iron Man comes The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Man of Steel, Fast & Furious 6, and Thor: The Dark World, all of which are part of a series of films, and 2 of which are based on Marvel Comics, as is the Iron Man franchise.
The second article here, written by Evelyn Harrison, discusses this comic book movie sensation. Seeing how well these film franchises perform financially (Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Iron Man… (hmmm…all men by the way but that's a different subject I guess)), these guys are truly THE biggest blockbusters. Harrison suggests that perhaps these films do so well in the box office because they may contain a connection to America's social and political changes since 2001. She says "the threat of terrorism has become a reality, and a particular set of ethical questions has become more relevant", and that this set of ethical questions connect with the heroes of these movies.
My opinion on the comic book movies may be a bit brief since I have never seen any of them. Well, I saw the last Batman movie but obviously it made no sense to me since I'd never seen any of the other ones. Anyways. I found this article interesting because prior to reading it, I never considered the possibility of these movies actually being relevant to culture, people, and politics. Although I haven't seen the films, the article certainly write about them as though they can be connected to today's mindsets, especially regarding "good versus evil". While considering this a possibility, my initial thought is similar to another statement by Harrison in her article: "…these films may just be popular because the combination of fighting, special effects, sci-fi and witty one-liners is enough to encourage an audience to buy the Blu-ray". Certainly, there is an argument here that Hollywood plays to its lowest common denominator, and these movies are consumable and understandable by nearly any person.
So what's up with the "trap" that Anita Elberse talks about? I would definately look at this problem from the perspective of Hollywood being a BUSINESS. Like any business, they will make as many moves and decisions as they can that have PROVEN to make money in the past. Hollywood is going to invest most of their money into the movies that will evidently make the most money in return. Of course, this makes any business "stuck" in a way, but, to their favor, they will be stuck making money…
Does this hurt the film industry? In my opinion, no, it doesn't. I do not believe that this Hollywood business strategy harms the process of creativity and innovation which is so important in the movies. Even if a film like Iron Man 3 comes from another movie, which comes from a comic book, and follows similar patterns and frames as numerous other Hollywood hits, there is still a creative core to any piece of work. This creative center is, in my opinion, the essence of what the movies should be about. For me, as long as there are movies being made, this creative flame will always be burning. And that's the real blockbuster
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