Table of Contents
A Note on Sources ix
Introduction: Groundhog Day - How Franchises Killed Originality in Hollywood xiii
Part 1 How Hollywood Got Here
1 The Odd Couple: Lynton and Pascal's Glory Days at Sony 3
2 Reality Bites: How Everything Went Wrong for the Movie Business 21
3 Inception: The Secret Origin of the Superhero Movie 37
4 Revenge of the Nerds: The Rise of Marvel Studios 53
5 Spider-Man: Homecoming-Why Sony Gave Up Its Most Valuable Asset 75
6 Star Wars: The Decline of the A-List 83
7 A Star Is Born: Netflix, the New Home for Movie Stars 101
8 Frozen: Why Studios Stopped Making Mid-Budget Dramas 111
9 Trading Places: How TV Stole Movies' Spot atop Hollywood 125
Part 2 Where Hollywood Is Headed
10 The Terminator: Disney, the Perfect Studio for the Franchise Age 143
11 The Producers: Creativity Meets Franchise Management 165
12 The Shop Around the Corner: Amazon Saves the Indie Film Business 187
13 Apt Pupil: China's Shifting Relationship with Hollywood 201
14 Field of Dreams: Studio Defectors and the Future of Nonfranchise Films 221
15 The Last Picture Show? 231
Afterword 243
Acknowledgments 257
Notes 261
Index 279