Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2018

DOI

10.3998/fc.13761232.0042.201

Publication Title

Film Criticism

Volume

42

Issue

2

Pages

72-87

Abstract

There are many reasons why film and media scholars ought to take merchandise seriously. That filmrelated merchandise is a lucrative part of the film business is only a starting point, but still a good place to start. In 2018, character and entertainment licensing accounted for 44.7% of retail sales of licensed merchandise, generating $121.53 billion in sales. [1] [#N1] This earned entertainment companies approximately $6.2 billion in royalties. [2] [#N2] Not surprisingly, five of the top ten licensors are entertainment companies, with Disney positioned at the top with $53 billion in merchandise sales. Universal Studios is ranked 4th ($7.3 billion), Hasbro 5th ($7.1 billion), Warner Brothers 7th ($7 billion), and Nickelodeon 9th ($5.5 billion). All of the major film studios are ranked in the top 150: 21st Century Fox is 41st, Sony 87th, and Paramount 114th. [3] [#N3]

Comments

Open Access: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Original Publication Citation

Affuso, E., & Santo, A. (2018). Mediated merchandise, merchandisable media: An introduction. Film Criticism, 42(2), 72-87. doi:10.3998/fc.13761232.0042.201

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