All You Need Is Lo…ads of Content

Mark your calendars. In April 2028 the “first binge-able theatrical experience” will land in the form of four different biopics of The Beatles.  

Beyond a fair amount of curiosity about the scouse accents of the four leads (none of whom are from Liverpool), it’s also the latest demonstration of volume as a competitive advantage.

Franchise expansion has seen Star Wars, Marvel, John Wick, Harry Potter, and countless others swell from initial stories to sprawling universes across formats and platforms. 

All signs point to James Bond being next to receive this treatment, with Amazon MGM taking full creative control. We’re thinking of pitching an office-based mockumentary starring Miss Moneypenny and other Mi6 assistants. It’s called The Secretarial Service. Please don’t unsubscribe. 

This week also saw stars from The Last of Us and White Lotus congregate in Sydney to help launch Max, while Marvel spent almost six hours unveiling 27 cast members for Avengers: Doomsday. 

How to compete in the attention economy isn’t new, and presumably, studios have data that shows abundance is a winner.

But perhaps we need to think a little more about the ‘economy’ part of the attention economy. 

It's basic macroeconomic theory that scarcity helps drive up demand (and price). While we typically think of audience time as the scarce resource, should we consider content in the same way?

The success of shows like Severance (three years between seasons) and films like Avatar (13 years between movies) demonstrate the power of paucity.

Regardless of its merits, less content isn’t happening soon. Not with 6 seasons and a movie of The Secretarial Service to make.