Frequent moviegoers often note that movies are rarely based on original ideas. Most of them are based on a television series, a video game, or, most commonly, a book. Why? To help you answer this question, start with the following.
a. Does a movie or a book have a higher fixed cost of production?
b. In 2005, American studios released 563 movies and American publishers produced 176,000 new titles. How does your answer in part a explain such a wide difference? Which is riskier: publishing a book or producing a movie?
c. How does the difference in fixed costs and risk of failure explain why so many movies are based on successful books? As a result, where do you expect to see more innovative plots, dialogues, and characters: in novels or movies?