If you thought it was the indebted Star Wars saga and its endless merchandising, or even the superhero franchises, you were wrong! This is an adorable creature born just 25 years ago …
If you thought the most lucrative franchise of all time was almost certainly Star Wars, given its importance in the Pop Culture, the (mis) adventures of the Hogwarts Sorcerer’s Apprentice saga created by JK Rowling, or even, for good measure, the superhero movie franchises, you had it all wrong!
The highest-grossing franchise in history isn’t Harry Potter or Star Wars, or even the Marvel team’s line-up in the movies: it’s called Pokemon. Created in 1996 by the studio Game Freak and originally intended for the famous video game on Game Boy, the “pocket monsters” of Satoshi Tajiri have gradually invaded our daily lives through animated series, manga and a multitude of derivative products. To finally bring back, in 25 years, the trifle, behold, of 108 billion dollars!
By breaking down this astronomical sum, merchandising logically takes the lion’s share: just over $ 82 billion. Video games ? $ 24 billion. In this register, just the application Pokémon Go grossed over $ 5 billion in 5 years. The films released in theaters and the animated series? $ 1.85 billion. The franchise was elsewhere at the top of last Christmas toy sales; this is to say if the steamroller is not ready to stop …
Pokémon outclasses the franchise just below by head and shoulders, Hello Kitty, however older since it was born in 1974, which brought in no less than $ 88.5 billion. The Disney firm is not left out; far from it even. The Winny the Pooh and Mickey Mouse licenses have brought in, respectively, $ 82.9 billion and $ 81 billion since their inception.
License Star wars is only in fifth place, with “only” $ 69.4 billion on the record. Here too, merchandising is king, with more than $ 42 billion, followed logically by the profits generated by theatrical films, which represent $ 10.3 billion.
As for the licenses of the Marvel universe, they come in 8th position, with $ 36.2 billion. The Hogwarts sorcerer’s apprentice, Harry potter, brings up the rear of this Top 10, with $ 32.2 billion in its basket. If it is the Box Office that prevails in this franchise, with $ 9.1 billion collected since the hero’s first (mis) adventures, we will still note the outperformance of sales of books, which reap $ 7.7 billion .
Considering the stratospheric figures above, it is hard to imagine the Disney, Warner, Nintendo & Co releasing their billionaire martingales anytime soon …