Blockbuster: Universal Studios Break an Industry Record

It would seem that by taking a casual look at box office returns, owning a franchise built around a popular comic book property would insure considerable success. However, out of Hollywood’s competing studios, Universal Pictures International broke all records by grossing $3.73 billion within only four months. A great deal of that can be attributed to the immensely popular “Jurassic World,” the fourth entry in a series starring computer generated dinosaurs. Even prior to the release of the Chris Pratt starring blockbuster, Universal was in the process of celebrating their most profitable year. So while “Jurassic World” may have been just the latest installment of its own franchise, Universal was doing pretty well without it.

Produced for approximately $150 million, “Jurassic World” was Universal’s most expensive film in quite some time. Up until now, the budget for 2014’s “Dracula Untold” was capped at $70 million, yet made $212 million. The rest of Universal’s titles released during that year were made for less than $50 million. One should also recognize that 20% of “Jurassic World’s” budget was provided by Legendary Pictures, thus totaling Universal’s contribution to $120 million. Still, it cost almost twice as much to produce as “Dracula Untold.”

Adding to that success was last weekend’s release of “Straight Outta Compton.” The NWA bio-pic earned $60 million domestically almost immediately after its debut. And the feature length animated sequel “Minions” pulled in a respectable $670 million. But that’s not all. Internationally, Universal has four of the top grossing films of the year, starting with “Fast & Furious 7,” then “Jurassic World,” followed by “Minions“ at number 4 and “Fifty Shades of Grey” at number 5. Not bad for a studio that has nary a Dark Knight nor a team of super powered Avengers to carry the Human Torch (so to speak).

Universal’s two-year punch of profitability followed by even more profitability warrants some scrutiny, specifically with regard to whether there was a business model in place that led them on this path. The list of titles released during 2014 seems fairly unexceptional: a remake of “Endless Love,” another Liam-Neeson-kicks-butt actioner “Non-Stop,” “A Walk Among The Tombstones” (Liam-Neeson-kicks-butt Part Two), “Dumb And Dumber To (sic),” “The Purge: Anarchy” and the aforementioned “Dracula Untold.” With the exception of “Dracula,” most of those releases were not intended to be a part of a world-building franchise like Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe or Warner Bros’ recent efforts focusing on DC’s comic book characters. In fact, the only properties Universal could lay claim to are the beloved monster movies that started with the silent era “Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Phantom of the Opera.” From the 1940s though 1950s, Universal were in fact the first studio to indulge in “universe building” by giving each monster their own picture plus the odd sequel or two while releasing additional titles featuring all the characters in one film.

So, essentially Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Dracula and sometimes the Mummy were the “Avengers” of their time.

“Dracula Untold” is ostensibly Universal’s launching pad for a whole new franchise of monster movies. A new “Wolfman” and “Mummy” were announced. Characters would appear in other characters’titles. And then… nothing. Part of this may be due to the fact that outside of Disney and Warner Bros, other studios have cooled on their plans to build franchises around popular properties. While Fox has enjoyed the fruits of their X-Men labors, this summer’s “Fantastic Four” bombed. Sony’s bid to roll out an intertwined Spider-Man series featuring his rogue gallery of arch villains was killed once the numbers came in on “Amazing Spider-Man 2.” So much so that Sony finally conceded to having their leading Marvel character appear in Disney’s upcoming slate of MCU films. That leaves us with Warner Bros and their attempt to flesh out DC’s roster of superheroes. Yet, that too remains untested while we await the release of “Batman Vs. Superman” and “Suicide Squad.”

That’s not to say Universal will not forge ahead with its plan to make a new “Creature From The Black Lagoon” or “House Of Frankenstein.” They’ve just been quiet on this as of late. But the differences between the Universal Studios of 2014 and 2015 are striking. 2014 was the year of moderately budgeted, medium profile flicks that doubled their money back. The response was “you don’t have to own a franchise to be a Hollywood success story! You don’t have to spend over $100 million to make a profit world-wide!” But that response is negated by the Universal of 2015. Their top money earners were expensively produced franchise installments or sequels. Something like “Fifty Shades of Grey” isn’t really an exception because Universal sees the E.L. James adaptation as a potential franchise starter.

Universal Studios may never reap the benefits derived from bringing a superhero mythology to the screen. But they do have a portfolio made up of car chase driven heist flicks and dinosaur populated islands. Next on their release slate is Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Crimson Peak.” Even though both are highly anticipated, should they perform under expectations Universal will still have a lot to brag about. Because in an era dominated by Iron Man, Captain America, Superman and a whole ensemble of heroic mutants, it’s one thing to do so well without them. It’s another to set an all time industry record.

Universal Studios 10 Highest Grossing Films (2014 and 2015)

Eric Cohen

Eric Cohen has a varied background having worked in Film, Theater and the image licensing industry. He contributes to the pop culture website thisinfamous.com as both a writer and content creator and produces and co-hosts the irreverent YouTube film discussion show The CineFiles as well as its ongoing podcast. He has also been a freelance videographer, editor and motion graphics designer for six years.