Intellectual Property

One-line: In the film context (IP), a movie whose origin story was a popular thing from another medium — and the franchise/reboot strategy that turns owning a property into the dominant Hollywood business model.

How sources describe it

• The “IP Era”: “It’s not about creating something, it’s about owning something, forever.” (Paste Magazine)
• Counter-history: “Hollywood Has Always Banked on I.P.” — traceable to 1930’s Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain); since 2014 every year has been dominated by franchises and sequels.
• The pro-IP case (The Ankler): “IP isn’t the problem. It’s the solution for Hollywood” — because it makes money.
• In The Hits Business, IP exploitation is not condemned (Kyle “loved” Deadpool & Wolverine); the critique is reserved for when the pursuit of big comes at the sacrifice of good.

Where this appears

• The Hits Business / The Hits Business - Research

Related concepts

• Monoculture — the franchise/reboot strategy concentrates Hollywood output, the cultural homogenization this page’s “IP Era” critique targets.
• A24 — the counter-model to IP-driven franchising, original films held up against the own-something-forever playbook.
• Auteur Theory — the creator-centric view in tension with “it’s not about creating something, it’s about owning something.”
• Power Law — the hit-driven economics underlying why owning a proven property is the dominant business model.
• The Hits Business — the essay where IP exploitation is weighed against the “big at the sacrifice of good” critique.
• The Hits Business - Research — the research note sourcing this page’s IP-Era and pro-IP framings.
• Mark Twain — invoked via the 1930 Tom Sawyer adaptation as evidence Hollywood has always banked on I.P.