It's funny how people say this, yet when original movies come out, nobody goes to see them.
Disney is a good example. People bitch that Disney only makes sequels and reboots and doesn't make original movies anymore. Yet the original movies they've released over the last 2 years have flopped and people don't go see them. Strange worlds, wish, etc all failed.
And the moment they release a sequel it makes a billion in the box office.
It's no wonder they make more sequels than originals. They'd be stupid and bad at business if they didn't.
Wikipedia even states that Strange World partly bombed because of poor word-of-mouth (which I definitely believe). And Wish got video essays and articles en masse about how it didn't deliver.
In theory it helps by funneling fans between The Avengers, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, for which they have refined the process of pumping out content and merchandise with lower cost and risk
Large corporations rarely innovate and try new things. Most innovation comes from smaller players with limited market share taking risks.
Large companies buy out smaller ones who create cash cows from taking large risks. The large company then milks the cash cows until they are completely dead.
The consolidation of studios to a few megacorporations has led to this inevitable end. The solution is simple: break them up. If we have 30 or so similar sized studios competing, we will get better movies/TV again.
2020 kinda accelerated the existing trends and got a majority of people willing to watch films at home instead of in theaters. Before that enough people really enjoyed the theater experience that it wasn't too much of a threat to the business model
Yeah, but think of the profits when people have absolutely forgotten the original release and the movie can just be recast 30 years later and passed off as original.