Money really does grow on the 'Cinematic Universe' tree! An exploration of Disney and Marvel

Studios interconnected world.

'In 2014, franchises are not a big part of the movie business. They are not the biggest part of the

movie business. They are the movie business. Period. Twelve of the year’s 14 highest grossers are,

or will spawn, sequels'1

'Hollywood is set to saturate cinemas with high-octane superhero films until 2019 … If you hate

comic-book movies, it might be a good idea to stay away from multiplexes for the next five years'2

The UK box office accumulated £1083 million in 2013,3 72.7%4 of which was acquired from films

wholly or partly financed by American investment. As one of the Hollywood Majors, The Walt

Disney Company (Disney) generated 15.28%5 of that entire UK box office from merely six of its

total releases. Two of these six films were produced through its subsidiary production company

Marvel Studios and added to the 'Cinematic Universe' they have developed, which has to date

grossed $343,746,1886 in the UK alone. This figure and observations such as the quotes opening

this research paper indicate the situation of Hollywood franchise filmmaking that limits choice for

British cinemagoers and dominates box office earnings. Commenting on the advantages that favour

Hollywood Majors, John Hill7 notes that scale of production, concentration of resources, size and

value of domestic market, and control of international distribution networks for foreign markets

such as the UK provide them: '… with such an overwhelming economic advantage that British

producers have little prospect of competing on equal terms with them even in their home market'.8

In view of this considerable impact on the British film industry, this essay will explore the

commercial desirability of the expanding Cinematic Universe model and the resulting effect it has

upon distribution and exhibition within the British marketplace. In what follows I will analyse the

Marvel Cinematic Universe which began in 2008 with the release of Iron Man9 and to date

1 Mark Harris, 'The Birdcage', Grantland Website, (2014) 2 Ben Child, 'Sky-high expectations for Marvel's super-slate of comic book movies', The Guardian Website, (2014) 3 BFI, 'Statistical Yearbook 2014', BFI Website, (2014) p. 10 4 BFI, (2014), p. 17 5 BFI, (2014), p. 22 6 Box Office Mojo, 'United Kingdom Box Office', Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) 7 Hill, John., 'British Film Policy', in Albert Moran, Film Policy: International, National and Regional Perspectives

(London: Routledge, 1996) pp. 101-113 8 John Hill, (1996), p. 107 9 Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau (Marvel Studios: USA, 2008)

incorporates eleven films. Through investigation of the distribution and marketing strategies that led

to the films exhibition in British cinemas, I will assess the financial appeal of the Cinematic

Universe model they operate within. Further to this I will also review comments from such

academics as Finola Kerrigan10 and Robert Marich,11 who critique the function and techniques of

marketing within the context of film advertising.

The overwhelming position on British cinema screens achieved by American produced films

is not merely a contemporary concern. Numerous critics exploring the British film industry, such as

Andrew Higson12 and Lester Friedman,13 have attempted to trace the origin of such circumstances

of dominance. Higson's investigation on the construction of a national cinema led him to suggest

the situation has existed since at least the early 1920s.14 Friedman reaches the same conclusion

through his analysis of attempted government intervention in the form of quota introducing film

acts. He suggests that: 'In spite of these and other measures to spur British productions, American

films dominated the British film market from the early days of the cinema until the present time'.15

Highlighting the dominance that Friedman suggests, Table 1 emphasises the majority share of the

UK box office earned by American productions in a recent ten-year period. There are several

factors within the production, distribution, and marketing of these products that can account for

their success, all of which depend on access to substantial financing. This is first required during

production as exemplified by the least expensive production at the UK box office top twenty in

2013 which cost $61 million,16 instantly reducing access for competition. Once the film is ready for

cinemas it requires distribution to exhibitors and marketing toward potential audiences. To add to

the already vast production costs, Robert Marich17 in his extensive guide to marketing as it exists in

the film industry notes: 'A major-studio film typically opens with a launch campaign consuming

10 Finola Kerrigan, Film Marketing, (Oxford: Butterworth, 2010) ; Kerrigan, Finola., 'Marketing in the film industry', in

Finola Kerrigan, Peter Fraser and Mustafa Özbilgin, Arts Marketing (Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004)

pp. 26-41 11 Robert Marich, Marketing to Moviegoers: A Handbook of Strategies and Tactics, 3rd edition (Carbondale: Southern

Illinois University Press, 2013) 12 Andrew Higson, Waving the Flag: Constructing a National Cinema in Britain, (Oxford: Oxford University Press,

1995) 13 Friedman, Lester., 'The Empire Strikes Out: An American Perspective on the British Film Industry', in Lester

Friedman, Fires Were Started: British Cinema and Thatcherism, 2nd edition (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota

Press, 1993) pp. 1-11 14 Andrew Higson, (1995), p. 19 15 Lester Friedman, (1993), p. 1 16 BFI, (2014) p. 10 ; Box Office Mojo, 'Les Miserables', Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) 17 Robert Marich, (2013)

$30 million to $50 million in paid ads'.18 The recent comic-book film Guardians of the Galaxy19

extended this figure to a reported $100 million for its international advertisements and publicity.20

Year Annual UK box

office

Number of films receiving

part or whole US financial

support within the top 20 UK

box office highest grossing

US accumulated

gross

US share of the

total UK box

office

2013 £1083 million 20 £551.2 million 72.70%

2012 £1099 million 19 £624.5 million 61.50%

2011 £1040 million 18 £448.62 million 60.10%

2010 £988 million 19 £482.11 million 71.80%

2009 £944 million 19 £523.78 million 81.00%

2008 £850 million 20 £463.77 million 65.20%

2007 £821 million 17 £383.85 million 67.70%

2006 £762 million 20 £416.84 million 77.10%

2005 £770 million 20 £461.97 million 63.10%

2004 £770 million 20 £406.12 million 73.20%

Table 1: US success at UK box office between 2004 and 201321

The awareness then created through marketing these products increases their desirability to

exhibitors as they bring in revenue from both admission tickets and also concession sales. This is of

great importance for profit generation as Angus Finney,22 in his exploration of international film

business, notes that exhibitors have traditionally made the majority of their income from ticket

receipts combined with concession sales.23 As distributors have such a valuable product they are

able to arrange preferable terms with exhibitors in relation to their percentage share of box office

receipts, amount of screens and showings their film is allocated, and the minimum number of

screening weeks. Each stage of this high finance chain contributes to overwhelming dominance for 18 Robert Marich, (2013), p. 10 19 Guardians of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn (Marvel Studios: USA, 2014) 20 Steve Dow, 'What's wrong with Australian cinema?', The Guardian Website, (2014) 21 BFI, 'Statistical Yearbook 2002-2015', BFI Website, (2015) 22 Angus Finney, The International Film Business: A Market Guide Beyond Hollywood, (Oxon: Routledge, 2010) 23 Angus Finney, (2010), p. 88

the top ten distributors in the UK market as Table 2 shows. Between the years of 2008 and 2013 the

top ten distributors, of which eight or nine were American depending on the year, had an average

market share of 94.33% of the entire UK box office.24 Copious expenditure can be accommodated

due to the vertically integrated model that the major Hollywood studios utilise whereby they

purchase: '… other companies involved in different stages of the process of production and

circulation'.25 For example, Disney own their subsidiary production company Marvel Studios and

also their distribution division Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Due to their ownership of each

entity, the losses and potentially vast profits that Table 1 portrays, all contribute to the same

company. With vast sums outgoing per production there is a large risk attached if just one film does

not succeed. In his exploration of the cultural industries, David Hesmondhalgh suggests that

'formatting'26 a cultural product through its stars or genre can decrease the likelihood of a miss. This

can account for Hollywood's desire for sequels and franchises as the opening Grantland quote

suggests, and why the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a desirable model.

Year Top ten distributors share of the

UK market

Percentage of total UK box

office from opening weekends

2013 96.00% 28.00%

2012 95.00% 27.00%

2011 94.00% 28.00%

2010 94.00% 29.00%

2009 92.00% 26.00%

2008 95.00% 27.00%

Table 2: Distributors domination of UK market27

24 BFI, (2014), p. 93 ; BFI, 'Statistical Yearbook 2013', BFI Website, (2013) p. 104 ; BFI, 'Statistical Yearbook 2012',

BFI Website, (2012) p. 86 ; BFI, 'Statistical Yearbook 2011', BFI Website, (2011) p. 76 ; BFI, 'Statistical Yearbook

2010', BFI Website, (2010) p. 60 ; BFI, 'Statistical Yearbook 2009', BFI Website, (2009) p. 68 25 David Hesmondhalgh, The Cultural Industries, 2nd edition (London: SAGE Publications 2007) p. 22 26 David Hesmondhalgh, (2007), p. 23 27 Data from: Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) ; BFI Statistical Yearbook 2002-2015, (2015)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a shared fictional world populated by characters

appearing in Marvel comics. According to The Guardian the term did not exist prior to 2008 when

Marvel debuted their first 'superhero epic'.28 Each individual Marvel Studios produced film takes

place within this wider interconnected world, can feature any number of Marvel characters, and

through narrative events alter the shared environment for future instalments. As Table 3 displays,

each individual film is financially lucrative at the British box office and therefore commercially

desirable as they separately exist. Elevating the MCU model is the exploitable value created to

marketing and distribution through the interconnected world. The success of a previously released

film, for example Iron Man or Thor,29 can be referenced through the marketing campaign for later

entries such as Avengers Assemble.30 Elements such as character inclusion and their attire on a

poster, or specific dialogue and visual sequences within a trailer may suggest to potential audiences

the enjoyment they previously experienced. In addition to alluding to past success, each film may

further introduce elements to be explored in future films therefore acting as advertisements

themselves. In his exploration of Marvel Studios, Derek Johnson notes this as fostering: '… not just

narrative expansion but also an audience participation'.31 Such an example could be Thor's hammer

appearing in Iron Man 2,32 or as Empire suggests in their review of the same film: 'As for (Scarlett)

Johansson … her character is not the villain some predicted, more a walking teaser trailer for The

Avengers'.33 The subsequent effect to the distribution process is then an increased product value

when dealing with exhibitors through increased audience awareness and potential ticket and

concession sales. Referring to Table 3 and the number of Disney owned films in the top twenty

highest grossing, it could be suggested that as time passes and the MCU expands, each film is

building on the previous entries success and therefore its market share to place it within the top

twenty at the UK box office. This could be attributed both to an increased audience and preferable

distribution deals per product, stipulating longer theatrical runs and occupying more screens per

site. Further suggestive of the value the MCU model holds is that it disproves the 'rule of thumb'

that Robert Marich highlights in that: '… sequels typically don’t match the box office of their

predecessors'.34

28 Ben Child, 'Who I gotta call to stop the Ghostbusters universe expanding?', The Guardian Website, (2015) 29 Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh (Marvel Studios: USA, 2011) 30 Avengers Assemble, directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios: USA, 2012) 31 Derek Johnson, 'Cinematic Destiny: Marvel Studios and the Trade Stories of Industrial Convergence', Cinema

Journal, 52 (2012), p. 7 32 Iron Man 2, directed by Jon Favreau (Marvel Studios: USA, 2010) 33 Nick de Semlyn, 'Iron Man 2', Empire Website, (2010) 34 Marich, (2013), p. 260

MCU film Production cost UK box office

gross

Number of Disney films in UK

box office 20 highest grossing

Guardians of the

Galaxy (2014)

$232.3 million $47,385,948 N/A

Captain America: The

Winter Soldier (2014)

$170 million $32,230,026 N/A

Thor: The Dark World

(2013)

Including Marketing

$235 million

$31,811,834 6

Iron Man 3 (2013) Including Marketing

$375 million

$57,074,453 6

Avengers Assemble

(2012)

$220 million $80,563,081 4

Captain America: The

First Avenger (2011)

$140 million $14,752,839 2

Thor (2011) $150 million $22,521,717 2

Iron Man 2 (2010) $170 million $30,456,328 3

The Incredible Hulk

(2008)

$150 million $16,227,041 3

Iron Man (2008) $150 million $10,722,921 3

Table 3: Production cost and UK box office gross of Marvel Cinematic Universe films35

Thor: The Dark World36 grossed $9,290,11737 more than its predecessor Thor during its

theatrical run on British screens. Being the eighth release within the MCU it featured characters and

other elements already established to audiences, facilitating points of reference within its

advertisements. However, this did not equate to a reduced marketing campaign assuming high 35 Data from: Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) ; BFI Statistical Yearbook 2002-2015, (2015) ; Steve Dow, 'What's

wrong with Australian cinema?', The Guardian Website, (2014) ; Brooks Barnes, 'Robust Opening of 'Iron Man 2' and

Summer Films', The New York Times Website, (2010) ; Pamela McClintock, 'From 'Iron Man 3' to 'Hangover III': The

Profit Breakdown of May's Blockbusters', The Hollywood Reporter Website, (2013) 36 Thor: The Dark World, directed by Alan Taylor (Marvel Studios: USA, 2013) 37 Box Office Mojo, 'Thor', Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) ; Box Office Mojo, 'Thor: The Dark World', Box Office

Mojo Website, (2015)

audience numbers, the costly production budget required marketing saturation to attain enormous

box office returns. In their guide to marketing, Mark Tadajewski and Douglas Brownlie38 note that

the marketing process is: '… concerned with meeting and satisfying customer needs'.39 It is further,

as Philip Drake40 highlights, not simply reactive to trends, but also involved in creating and

stimulating demand.41 As such, Thor: The Dark World demanded attention through two trailers, six

TV spots, and numerous posters both globally broad and nationally specific. In doing so it

effectively locked out any advertising competition due to the financial cost incurred which only a

large studio could afford. Nicholas Garnham in his critique of Capitalism and Communication42

distills the situation as such:

Advertising expenditure has always played an important role in the oligopolistic control of

markets. It stimulates demand and maintains market shares where price competition is

mutually disadvantageous to the firms involved. It further serves to defend the market

against new entrants by raising the price of entry.43

The commercial success that can, in part, be attributed to the marketing campaign was an opening

weekend gross of £8,668,172 from 522 sites.44 The other new releases sharing that weekend, of

which there were fifteen originating from Britain and abroad, took £2,308,164 combined45 for an

average of £153,877 per release. Further proof of the MCU's marketing desirability, as well as its

reductive effect to other releases, resides in its five week duration within the top ten grossing films a

fortnight of which it held the top position. In addition to the financial ability to reduce competitors

through advertisements is the previously mentioned referential quality created through past film

entries. I would suggest, and Kerrigan's46 analysis of film marketing would agree, that adhering to

38 Tadajewski, Mark and Douglas Brownlie., 'Critical Marketing: A Limit Attitude', in Mark Tadajewski and Douglas

Brownlie, Critical Marketing: Issues in Contemporary Marketing (West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2008) pp. 1-

28 39 Mark Tadajewski and Douglas Brownlie, (2008), p. 1 40 Drake, Philip., 'Distribution and Marketing in Contemporary Hollywood', in Paul McDonald and Janet Wasko, The

Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2008) pp. 43-62 41 Philip Drake, (2008), p. 66 42 Nicolas Garnham, Capitalism and Communication: Global Culture and the Economics of Information (London:

SAGE Publications Ltd, 1990) 43 Nicolas Garnham, (1990), p. 201 44 Charles Gant, 'Thor sequel hammers all opposition, while Philomena shows gentle class', The Guardian Website,

(2013) 45 Charles Gant, (2013) 46 Finola Kerrigan, (2010)

conventional methods of presenting films avoids misinterpretation by consumers to the benefits that

may be derived from the product.47 As such there is a remarkable similarity apparent between

Images 1 & 2, global posters displaying two films in the MCU released in close proximity.

Image 1: Iron Man 3 Poster48 Image 2: Thor: The Dark World Poster49

Iron Man 350 out grossed both its predecessors combined and the poster for Thor: The Dark World

can be read as attempting to imitate this success. They both feature the embrace of their two top

billed actors in the exact same pose; display the film title and cast list (of which the same font, text

size and colour is utilised) in the same position, reveal the antagonist in the top corner of the frame;

have other prominent characters in smaller scale surrounding the central pair, and further elements

inducing reference points for previous audiences dotting the design.

47 Finola Kerrigan, (2010), p. 130 48 Image 1: Collider, 'Iron Man 3 Poster', Collider Website (2013) 49 Image 2: Collider, 'Thor: The Dark World Poster', Collider Website (2013) 50 Iron Man 3, directed by Shane Black (Marvel Studios: USA, 2013)

Analysis regarding the evolving design and content of poster advertisements within the

MCU suggests a further appeal it possesses resides in the cast of stars. Due to the large budgets of

these projects they are simultaneously able to attract and afford to employ famous actors, who

Finney identifies: '… are an essential ingredient in making cinema reach people'.51 This can be

attributed to performers popularity providing a further incentive or attraction to audiences who they

appeal to. Additionally, they provide a point of differentiation and brand distinction from other

products, especially when a star has become synonymous with a character such as Robert Downey

Jr and Iron Man. Avengers Assemble was the first film within the MCU that drew together a

collection of its individual characters to appear together. This provided one film the chance to

display multiple stars which it embraced and heavily suggested through advertising, such as in

Image 3. Opening in 521 sites the film grossed £15,778,07452 in its first weekend and remained

within the top ten grossing for a further seven weeks. Attracting large audience numbers and

detrimentally affecting the thirteen other new releases can be seen from their average gross of just

£21,735.53 It has been noted by Marich,54 among other commentators,55 that contractual

requirements for acting talent can affect the positioning and size of their name in advertisements

and film credits. In regards to marketing campaigns utilising posters, Marich suggests that the left-

hand position is considered more favourable.56 Applying this information to advertisements and

combining box office information can reveal those stars most profitable at the time and therefore

increasingly highlighted through marketing. As mentioned, Avengers Assemble was the first film

combining multiple characters. Image 3 showcases Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Thor (Chris

Hemsworth) through their scale and placement at the front of the poster. At this point in the MCU

they were the highest grossing characters with Iron Man entries accumulating $41,229,24957 and

Thor in the next highest position with $22,521,717.58 Receiving less emphasis and partially

obscured by another characters hair is Captain America (Chris Evans). The reason for his low

prominence could be attributed to his considerably weaker box office performance of

51 Angus Finney, The State of European Cinema: A New Dose of Reality (London: Cassell, 1996) p. 52 52 Charles Gant, 'Avengers Assemble blows Battleship out of the water', The Guardian Website, (2012) 53 Charles Gant, (2012) 54 Robert Marich, (2013) 55 Finola Kerrigan, (2004) 56 Robert Marich, (2013), p. 19 57 Box Office Mojo, 'Iron Man', Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) ; Box Office Mojo, 'Iron Man 2, Box Office Mojo

Website, (2015) ; Box Office Mojo, 'Iron Man 3, Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) 58 Box Office Mojo, 'Thor', Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) ; Box Office Mojo, 'Thor: The Dark World', Box Office

Mojo Website, (2015)

$14,752,839,59 still dominating other film releases and the British box office though. Three years

later, after further individual outings, these characters were again reunited for Avengers: Age of

Ultron60 and Image 4 visualises their changing commercial value. Possibly the most striking

character advancement is that made by Captain America,61 he is now arguably the most prominent

and well positioned. This may be due to Captain America: The Winter Soldier62 being the highest

grossing second individual character instalment in the MCU, providing his character the greatest

advertising value at the time. Scott Mendelson63 observes these marketing alterations and in his

analysis suggests that for Chris Evans character this: '… counts as a major promotion from the first

poster when he was way in the background obliviously standing on a random car’.64

Image 3: Avengers Assemble Poster65 Image 4: Avengers: Age of Ultron Poster66

59 Box Office Mojo, 'Captain America: The First Avenger', Box Office Mojo Website, (2015) 60 Avengers: Age of Ultron, directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios: USA, 2015) 61 Captain America, directed by Joe Johnston (Marvel Studios: USA, 2011) 62 Captain America: The Winter Soldier, directed by Anthony & Joe Russo (Marvel Studios: USA, 2014) 63 Scott Mendelson, ''Avengers: Age of Ultron' Poster Gets Comically Claustrophobic', Forbes Website, (2015) 64 Scott Mendelson, (2015) 65 Image 3: Free Though Blogs, 'Avengers Assemble Poster', Free Thought Blogs Website (2012) 66 Image 4: Film School Rejects, 'Avengers: Age of Ultron Poster', Film School Rejects Website (2015)

Until this point, analysis has concentrated on static advertising images in the British

marketplace. However, marketing domination facilitated by large budgets and opportunities for new

products created by the cinematic universe model are able to utilise further mediums, such as

trailers and television spots. Marich notes that in creating trailers:

… no one is shy about being derivative. A trailer that reminds moviegoers of hit films from

the past is considered effective in selling the new film, and a new trailer may imitate the

style of an old trailer.67

One of the many trailers for Avengers Assemble features a voiceover introducing the squad to be

assembled, each character then provides a simple to comprehend reminder to audiences of who they

are. Given that his films were the highest grossing and therefore making him the most valuable

marketing asset, it is unsurprising that Iron Man is afforded the most screen time. More obviously

derivative is the referential content of two trailers for films following Avengers Assemble, which as

Table 4 shows, grossed a considerable sum. Both trailers for Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World

feature scenes discussing the concluding Avengers battle, which was the most explosive and longest

set piece of that film. Lazily, or perhaps intelligently on the part of its creator, one trailer for

Avengers: Age of Ultron does not just include reminders of the success of its prior MCU releases. It

also mimics the trailer itself for one of those films in its use and similar content of antagonist

voiceover and thematic visuals. If the connections identified here can be drawn from just several

examples, then the plethora of trailers, teasers, and TV spots for each MCU film visualised by Table

4 hints at the possibility to echo a huge amount of previous success. These figures not only suggest

the exposure each MCU film receives, they also compound the negative effect toward any theatrical

challenge. Such competition could be in the form of British domestic films which as Roy Stafford68

notes, in his exploration of how the film industry perceives audiences, how few UK independent

distributors could afford the advertising cost of a major studio release, especially not on a regular

basis.69 For Disney and Marvel this is now regular business as their model has two or three MCU

films scheduled for release every year until 2019.70

67 Robert Marich, (2013), p. 31 68 Roy Stafford, Understanding Audiences and the Film Industry (London: BFI, 2007) 69 Roy Stafford, (2007), p. 61 70 Andrew Wheeler, 'Your Supermovie Timeline [Infographic]', Comics Alliance, (2014)

MCU film Marketing cost Number of trailers,

teasers & TV spots

Number of

sites opening

in

Opening weekend

box office gross

Total UK box office

gross

Guardians of the

Galaxy (2014)

International $100

million

2 Trailers

1 Teaser

7 TV Spots

554 £6,363,110.00 $47,385,948

Captain America:

The Winter Soldier

(2014)

N/A 2 Teasers

2 Trailers

10 TV Spots

535 sites £6,040,000.00 $32,230,026

Thor: The Dark

World (2013)

Including

Production Budget

$235 million

1 Teaser

1 Trailer

6 TV Spots

522 £8,670,000.00 $31,811,834

Iron Man 3 (2013) Including

Production Budget

$375 million

2 Trailers

14 TV Spots

555 £13,710,000.00 £49,700,000.00

Avengers Assemble

(2012)

N/A 2 Trailers

14 TV Spots

3 Superbowl

Trailers

521 £15,780,000.00 $80,563,081

Captain America:

The First Avenger

(2011)

N/A 2 Trailers

10 TV Spots

470 £2,980,000.00 $14,752,839

Thor (2011) N/A 2 Trailers

3 TV Spots

500 $9,106,603 $22,521,717

Iron Man 2 (2010) Global $170

million

2 Trailers 521 £7,660,000.00 $30,456,328

The Incredible Hulk

(2008)

N/A 1 Teaser

1 Trailer

3 TV Spots

484 $6,333,915 $16,227,041

Iron Man (2008) N/A 2 Trailers

2 TV Spots

500 £5,470,000.00 $10,772,921

Table 4: Marketing, distribution, and box office dominance71

71 Data From: BFI Statistical Yearbook 2002-2015, (2015)

Two of the eleven currently planned MCU releases are further Avengers films, providing

opportunities for commercially successful characters to re-reunite. The villain of these films is

confirmed to be the enemy that another instalment of characters has to face, ensuring another

crossover opportunity and the resulting box office gross this will generate. The precise plan and

scheduled release dates indicate an enormous confidence from the producers of this cinematic

universe. However, rather than this residing in audience demand for their product, it is due to their

ability to financially overpower competition and dominate marketing and distribution. As shown,

they are able to saturate advertisement platforms and reference their ever-increasing previous

successes to entice audiences. This makes their product the most valuable to exhibitors who require

audiences purchasing tickets and concessions, which Marich suggests accounts for: '… roughly

two-thirds of an exhibitor's operating profit'.72 Searle Kochberg in her analysis of cinema as an

institution summarises that: 'Through their domination of marketing and promotion, the majors

ensure that it is their films that the public wants to see and that cinema owners want to secure for

their cinemas.'73 In the British marketplace this equates to the distributors of the MCU

simultaneously negotiating the best theatrical contracts for their product, whilst also affecting the

arrangements possible for other film releases. As Marich notes: 'Independents often are forced to

take less-desirable release dates because the prime slots are seized by majors.'74 The outcome is a

decrease in competition for screens and an increase in box office potential. Just one exemplification

of this can be seen from the tenth MCU release Guardians of the Galaxy, opening in 554 sites to

over £6 million,75 it out-screened the newly released competition by 412 sites and £6,211,462.76

Additionally, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now so commercially ferocious that even other

major studios are unwilling to chance competing with them on the same opening weekend. This was

exemplified recently when Disney scheduled the third entry into the Thor series, Thor: Ragnarok77

for release. Fellow Hollywood Major Warner Brothers soon placed their future release Batman v

Superman: Dawn of Justice78 into the same slot. Warner Brothers assumed that due to the previous

value of their characters on screen, Marvel Studios and Disney would back down in fear of the box

office risk. This is because, as Robert Marich notes: 'Film distributors, who choose release dates,

72 Robert Marich, (2013), p. 293 73 Kochberg, Searle., 'Cinema as institution', in Jill Nelmes, An Introduction to Film Studies, 2nd edition (London:

Routledge, 1999), p. 30 74 Robert Marich, (2013), p. 263 75 Charles Gant, 'Guardians of the Galaxy rockets to top spot in UK box office debut', The Guardian Website, (2014) 76 Charles Gant, (2014) 77 Thor: Ragnarok, directed by N/A (Marvel Studios: USA, 2017) 78 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (DC Entertainment: USA, 2016)

jockey for the best positions but also try to avoid suicidal confrontations.'79 The eventual result was

the movement of release by Warner Brothers, cited over the need for further production work.

Highlighting how desirable the MCU proves to be for exhibitors is epitomised by the recent change

to the percentage of box office takings that Disney negotiated. Usually receiving 47.7%80 of

receipts, they have for their latest release Avengers: Age of Ultron, increased their demand to

53%.81 Only in Germany are exhibitors refusing the increase, leading a spokesperson to declare

their resistance a serious threat capable of forcing cinemas to close,82 such is their dependance on

the income it would generate. In Britain, Avengers: Age of Ultron grossed £18 million from its

opening in 585 sites,83 the next two highest grossing releases The Falling84 and A Pigeon Sat On A

Branch Reflecting On Existence,85 shared an opening of £178,732 from 75 sites.86 It could be

suggested that without British exhibitors agreeing to Disney's demands they would have failed to

attract large audiences, seriously affecting their income and ability to operate, leaving them

effectively forced to accept Disney's demands.

Testament to the desirability of the Cinematic Universe model that Marvel and Disney have

seemingly perfected is the imitation attempted by the other major Hollywood studios. Crossover

worlds being planned include Universal's classical monsters,87 Sony's Robin Hood88 and

Ghostbusters,89 Paramount's Transformers90 and Warner Brothers own superhero behemoth.91

Those who can afford to risk the capital required for production and subsequent marketing of their

products may be able to replicate the MCU's success. As I have shown, this lucrative cycle involves

upcoming releases marketing elements of previous success, the advertising of future instalments

through the narrative of the current film, the occasional combination of the most commercially

successful characters, and the resulting box office boost to the films following the record breaking

79 Robert Marich, (2013), p. 265 80 Benjamin Lee, 'Avengers: Age of Ultron boycotted by hundreds of German cinemas', The Guardian Website, (2015) 81 Benjamin Lee, (2015) 82 Benjamin Lee, (2015) 83 Catherine Shoard, 'Avengers: Age of Ultron beats Fifty Shades for best UK opening since Skyfall', The Guardian

Website, (2015) 84 The Falling, directed by Carol Morley (Independent: UK, 2015) 85 A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence, directed by Roy Andersson (4 ½ Film: Sweden, 2015) 86 Catherine Shoard, (2015) 87 Sandy Schaefer, 'Universal Monster Shared Universe Movie Set For Spring 2017 Release', Screenrant Website,

(2014) 88 Hugh Armitage, 'Sony plans shared Robin Hood cinematic universe', Digital Spy Website, (2014) 89 Benjamin Lee, 'Sequels in disguise: Transformers cinematic universe on the way', The Guardian Website, (2015) 90 Benjamin Lee, (2015) 91 Matt Kamen, 'Warners confirms DC cinematic universe with ten new films', Wired Website, (2014)

takings of such character combination events. At the time of release Avengers: Age of Ultron

received the biggest opening of 2015, the biggest April opening ever, the biggest ever day for a

superhero movie and Disney's own best-ever day.92 While the obtaining of such impressive titles

has been revealed as detrimental to the exhibition opportunities for other releases in the British

marketplace. As well as to audience awareness of other releases through marketing domination and

decreased theatrical choice from distribution negotiations. The effect to exhibitors and cinema sites

could potentially be catastrophic without the ticket receipts and concession sales they generate. If

this is truly the set of circumstances by which the industry survives, then President of Marvel

Studios Kevin Feige's recent comments about the further expansion of the cinematic universe

should be joyously received. He stated that their twentieth release within the MCU would bring

with it an introduction to '… dozens of characters',93 which he believes '… can be a franchise or a

series of franchises unto themselves'.94 Ultimately, it seems the British exhibition sector is placed

within a situation whereby they depend upon these Cinematic Universes more than the billion dollar

conglomerates that generate them.

92 Catherine Shoard, (2015) 93 Marc Strom, 'Marvel's Inhumans to Populate the Big Screen in 2018', Marvel Website, (2014) 94 Marc Strom, (2014)

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Filmography:

Avengers: Age of Ultron. Directed by Joss Whedon. Marvel Studios. USA. 2015

Avengers Assemble. Directed by Joss Whedon. Marvel Studios. USA. 2012

A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence. Directed by Roy Andersson. 4 ½ Film.

Sweden. 2015

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Directed by Zack Snyder. DC Entertainment. USA. 2016

Captain America. Directed by Joe Johnston. Marvel Studios. USA. 2011

Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo. Marvel Studios. USA.

2014

Guardians of the Galaxy. Directed by James Gunn. Marvel Studios. USA. 2014

Iron Man. Directed by Jon Favreau. Marvel Studios. USA. 2008

Iron Man 2. Directed by Jon Favreau. Marvel Studios. USA. 2010

Iron Man 3. Directed by Shane Black. Marvel Studios. USA. 2013

The Falling. Directed by Carol Morley. Independent. UK. 2015

Thor. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Marvel Studios. USA. 2011

Thor: Ragnarok. Directed by N/A. Marvel Studios. USA. 2017

Thor: The Dark World. Directed by Alan Taylor. Marvel Studios. USA. 2013