Transmedia and Franchise Science Fiction

Abstract

This chapter describes how the commercial development of sf film franchises from the late 1970s onward helped establish a media-industrial practice focused primarily on franchising and transmedia world-building. Following the commercial and cultural impact of Star Wars (Lucas 1977), the film’s production company pioneered the expansion of cross-media world-building or ‘transmedia storytelling’ as a cultural and industrial practice that distributed narrative content across multiple media platforms. Following the increasing deregulation of media industries in the 1990s and the gradual emergence of a ‘convergence culture industry’, the chapter analyses how the Marvel Cinematic Universe established a new set of production practices and reflects on how competing media companies developed similar branded franchising initiatives for their entertainment properties.