‘Sing 2’ and the Art of Franchise Survivalism

Hollywood’s new and diminished definition of success doesn’t actually require a film to be wildly profitable so long as its franchise can continue. Of course, how to define and create one in the streaming era is perhaps the most difficult and debated question of all.

Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty

Matthew Belloni

January 31, 2022

Stop me if this sounds familiar: In the lead-up to the late December release of Sing 2, Universal Pictures faced a predicament. Omicron was spreading, fears of family moviegoers were spiking, and, during internal discussions, some thought it made sense to either delay the film again (the sequel to the animated American Idol with farm animals had already been pushed a year), or ship it directly to streaming, or do some kind of hybrid release. A version of this debate has taken place almost daily on studio Zoom calls for two years now. It’s depressing.