The “Star Wars” franchise has earned about two-thirds of its estimated $20 billion on merchandising. George Lucas’ franchise, now the gold standard in terms of movie merchandising, has come a long way from the days when the rights to a “Star Wars” Halloween costume were sold for $500, just days before the release of the film. For summer blockbusters, the success of the movie’s merchandising campaign can be more financially significant than critical acclaim. Studios strive to whet the public’s appetite in anticipation of a movie featuring a certain character or story through toys and other product merchandise. With the right merchandising campaign, combined with word of mouth and hype, studios can create a marketing phenomenon among moviegoers and a buzz leading up to the release of a film.

However, consideration must also be given to the subject matter of the film. “Titanic,” the highest grossing film of all time, lacked easily adaptable subject matter for mass product merchandising, although its soundtrack enjoyed considerable success. In contrast, many of the rest of the top grossing films, including the series of “Spider-Man,” “Batman,” “Harry Potter” and “Transformers” had extensive licensing deals for merchandise in virtually every imaginable product category. Those films all had readily identifiable and popular fictional characters.

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