Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are recent examples of successful movie franchises. With each, there may have been some missteps along the way, but they have generally made the correct moves to ensure that the franchise survives and that the audience craves more.
So how do movie franchises remain successful and what role do actors such as Irrfan Khan play in making them prosperous?
Building a franchise
Appealing to a wide audience is key. This is particularly important for book adaptations, as they need to appeal to viewers that have not read the source material. On the other hand, they need to meet the expectations of fans of the original books. There will always be differences of opinion over casting calls and it can often be difficult for filmmakers to include everything from the books, but directors and producers must keep fans in mind.
Each of the successful movie franchises outlined above take viewers to a different world time and again. They transport you somewhere else and hold your interest. With the MCU and Star Wars, there are astounding location changes. Yet, without putting in many miles, Harry Potter also took us to Hogwarts, The Burrow, Gringotts Wizarding Bank, The Leaky Cauldron and many other locations that were very different and made us want to spend some time exploring with the characters.
A prosperous franchise also needs characters that grow. The main characters start as one thing and, as the film develops, transform into a new version of themselves. However, as much as the growth and evolution of the main characters are essential to the development of the franchise, they need help along the way. That brings us to another successful franchise and one supporting character that fans dearly miss.
Irrfan Khan
There have been many great Indian actors, as per jobprime, but Irrfan Khan was a remarkable actor who provided a crucial connection between Bollywood and Hollywood. His distinguished looks and screen presence meant that he could play a diverse number of roles, from romantic leads to menacing villains.
His role in the Jurassic Park franchise might have been minor, considering the other actors involved in over six movies, but it’s the contribution of talented actors like Khan in supporting roles that ensure the longevity of a franchise.
The debonair good humour he brought to the role of Simon Masrani, the owner and CEO of the revived and enhanced Jurassic World, provided a platform for the franchise to continue after a long absence from cinemas after 2001’s Jurassic Park III. His character was clearly one standout in 2015’s Jurassic World. His demise in a helicopter crash caused by a flock of pterosaurs, while providing a shock factor, was possibly a mistake when you consider what he could have brought to the underwhelming sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Yet, it is because of beloved actors such as Irrfan playing these supporting roles that these movie franchises can be so predominant in cinemas.
Other media
The Jurassic Park movie franchise is essentially two parts. We have the inception of Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. Then, the reemergence with Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the upcoming Jurassic World Dominion per GamesRadar.
A lot of time passed between the releases of each of these movies, branching out into other media was important in ensuring the longevity of the franchise. When we think of a movie looking to profit through other media, we consider video games. This has been the case with all the examples mentioned and remains true with Jurassic Park. There have been many Jurassic Park video games and possibly the most interesting ones have been those that are still popular today.
Jurassic World Evolution and Jurassic World Evolution 2 are surprising additions to the action-adventure franchise. The games task players with assembling and supervising their own Jurassic World theme park. Other media used to remain relevant also include Jurassic Park board games sold at Hamleys, TV shows, short movies, and a range of other creations, each bearing the Jurassic Park or World branding.
These are not the only interesting direction that the franchise has taken with entertainment, as those who have found the prehistoric-themed slot machine Betway offers can attest. There are, in fact, several Jurassic Park slots available with Jurassic World: Raptor Riches and Jurassic Park Gold among the most popular. These are unconventional ways of appealing to a wider audience and providing fans the opportunity to remain in the Jurassic Park universe while they await the next blockbuster movie.
Novels are also an important addition to extending a franchise. While Jurassic Park is based on the hugely triumphant novel of the same name by Michael Crichton seen at Goodreads, the author provided a sequel to ensure continued success on the big screen. Unconvinced at first, Steven Spielberg encouraged Crichton to write the massively successful sequel, and the franchise has continued to produce novels without Crichton to keep fans interested and invested in the universe.
As we have demonstrated, there are many moving parts and balls in the air when attempting to run a successful movie franchise. Yet, the contribution of the one and only Irrfan cannot be denied, as Jurassic World is clearly a better place with him. We remember him as a great of both Bollywood and beyond.
