From a twenty-first-century perspective, the problem with these films as a business proposition is clear: they don’t build the value of an underlying property. A film like Cleopatra either makes money or it doesn’t (it didn’t—despite being the highest grossing film of 1963!). It doesn’t leave the consumer with a desire for ancillary consumption once the experience is over. Stated in advertising terms, it wastes the audience’s attention. In contrast, a film like Transformers or Iron Man doesn’t just earn box office revenue, but it demonstrably drives the sale of the associated toys, comic
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