Followers of cinema companies like the Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC) will be looking to a familiar cast of characters to boost ticket sales this year: Spider-man, Rocky Balboa, Shrek, and Captain Jack Sparrow. 60-year old Rocky 6 has so far been a big surprise hit, grossing 6.4 million dollars on its first night, and is set to recoup production expenses in its first week.The benefits for film companies from shooting sequels are two-fold. First, the obvious built-in following for a proven brand gives them a good shot at success. But also, for franchises like Rocky, the release of the new movie spurs sales of catalog titles, like the DVD box set of the first 5 films in the series. If the new Spider-man movie can do the same for that series, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL) investors could benefit nicely.
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