WASHINGTON - In the era of movie sequels, the success of a film highly depends on four key variables, say researchers.

They are whether the public is aware of the parent movie; the number of theatre screens expected for opening weekend; if the first movie was widely considered good or not; and whether the sequel has the same star as the first film.

“We found that sequels have two advantages over original movies that are not sequels: They have higher average box office returns and are less financially risky,” said Dr. Mark B. Houston of the M.J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University.

He said that the outcomes could be predicted accurately owing to the parent brand.

During the study, the researchers examined variables such as the perceived quality of the parent movie; public awareness of the parent movie; distribution intensity; star power; continuity of the star, director, genre, and rating; and more.

They found that parent brand awareness was by far the strongest factor. It carries more than double the impact of the number of screens, and quadruple the effect of either parent brand image or star continuity.

The study also showed that star continuity was still a kicker. For example, the researchers did the math on whether the first Spider-Man sequel, with all other factors the same, could have succeeded with a star other than Tobey Maguire.

It showed that making a similar flick not based on the Spider-Man brand would reap better returns than a Spider-Man sequel starring anyone else wearing the Spidey-suit.

“We can estimate beforehand what would happen if there was a different star or a different number of opening-weekend theaters or a different director or rating or genre,” said Houston. (ANI)