The Orlando parks are big money makers for the companies that own them, but they’re not the biggest sources of revenue. Both The Walt Disney Company and NBCUniversal operate successful movie studios with plenty of hits under their belts: Marvel, Star Wars, Fast and Furious, Transformers, the list goes on and on.
There’s just one problem. Theatrical releases provide only a short-term source of revenue.
Sure, Avengers: EndGame earned nearly $2.8 billion and was Disney’s highest grossing film ever, but the company needs to have hits like that every year to sustain a constant revenue stream. Big companies are risk averse and don’t like to take chances. But, there is one way movie income can be extended for years, and in some cases decades. Theme park tie-ins.
Tie-ins are particularly important for Universal Studios.
Unlike The Walt Disney Company, which claims much of its park-related income from merchandise licensing and its resorts, including the popular Disney Vacation Club, NBCUniversal rakes in its theme park cash primarily from park attendance. That revenue has been increasing steadily by about 4% a year, thanks in part to the popularity of the movies that its attractions are based on. Look at the latest Harry Potter themed ride (licensed from Warner Bros), the new Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which was an unmitigated success… that is, when it was working and when bees weren’t threatening riders. Despite the mechanical issues and nature plaguing the opening, park attendance climbed for its opening and lines for the ride were hours-long for weeks after launch.
After successes like this, every new movie release from NBCUniversal has to be eyed with its potential for generating income at the parks.
A quick view of press releases from Universal reveals several horror production updates announced within the last two months. Given the success of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, which seems to get more popular every year, could the park be looking to capitalize on its success? Such tie-ins would fit in nicely with existing attractions like and the Horror Make-Up Show and Monster Cafe.
Universal has yet to announce any official horror additions to the parks, although horror tie-ins are already visible. The Monster Cafe just redid its menu, which now features the Invisible Man combo. The change coincides with Universal’s upcoming The Invisible Man movie, scheduled to be released this February. A new dracula movie centered around the Transylvanian count’s henchman Renfield, was also announced. Dracula has been a meet and greet character in the Hollywood section of Universal Studios for a while. Leaked documents suggest a dracula tie-in might be brought to fruition in Universal’s Epic Worlds, which is still under construction and is not set to open for 2023. This has brought speculation that an entire Classic Monsters World might be featured in the park. Is Renfield set to be a major feature if these rumors turn out to be correct? Only time will tell.
Not all attempts at horror have been a success for Universal, though. The Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise was a financial and critical flop. It lost an estimated $95 million. The film was the first installment of what Universal Pictures calls its Dark Universe. Despite the failure, the studio remains optimistic about the horror genre. Universal pictures still has plans to release several more horror flicks, including Dark Army, Frankenstein, and The Invisible Woman.
We’ll be sure to keep an eye on more movie news and park events to follow up on this story.