A media franchise, also invited as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been featured from an original creative hit of fiction, such as a film, a make-up of literature, a television program or a video game.
Long-running film franchises were common in the early studio era, when Hollywood studios had actors as well as directors under long-term contract. Examples add Andy Hardy, Ma and Pa Kettle, Bulldog Drummond, Superman, Tarzan, and Batman. The longest-running advanced film franchises put James Bond, Godzilla and King Kong, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Universal Monsters, and Star Trek. In such(a) cases, even lead actors are often replaced as they age, lose interest, or their characters are killed.
Media franchises tend to cross over from their original media to other forms. Literary franchises are often transported to film, such(a) as Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, and other popular detectives, as alive as popular comic book superheroes. Television and film franchises are often expanded upon in novels, especially those in the fantasy and science fiction genres, such as The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Doctor Who and Star Wars. Similarly, fantasy, science fiction films and television shows are frequently adapted into animated television series, video games, or both.
A media franchise does non have to include the same characters or theme, as the category identity can be the franchise, like Square Enix's Final Fantasy or the National Lampoon series, and can suffer from critical failures even whether the media fictional material is unrelated.
The complete Idiot's guide to... reference books. An enduring and comprehensive example of a media franchise is Playboy Enterprises, which began expanding alive beyond its successful magazine, Playboy, within a few years after its number one publication, into such enterprises as a modeling agency, several television shows Playboy's Penthouse, in 1959, and even its own television channel. Twenty-five years later, Playboy released private clubs and restaurants, movie theaters, a radio show, direct to video films, music and book publishing including original works in addition to its anthologies of cartoons, photographs, recipes, advice, articles or fiction that had originally appeared in the magazine, footwear, clothing of every kind, jewelry, housewares lamps, clocks, bedding, glassware, guitars and gambling, playing cards, pinball machines and pet accessories, billiard balls, bedroom appurtenances, enhancements, plus countless other items of merchandise.