Why Hollywood Is Obsessed With Shared Universes, And Why Many Are Doomed To Fail

Everything is connected. That’s the message that’s coming out of Hollywood these days, if the constant stream of headlines from industry trade publications is to be believed. The end of the last week saw the revelation that Paramount is stepping up their “Transformers”-movie related plans, with “Batman & Robin” and “Lost In Space” writer Akiva Goldsman being tapped to head up a brain trust around the franchise, to develop “a potential multi-part ‘Transformers’ sequel” as well as “potential spinoff films.” In other words, the first step towards turning the “Transformers” films into a so-called "shared universe." 

Perhaps the only surprising thing about this is that it hasn’t happened earlier. The past three years have seen the major studios become increasingly interested (and obsessed) with the idea of connected, interlinked franchises, with spin-offs and team-up movies embellishing their additional properties, inspired by the monumental success of Disney and...