By Jill O’Rourke

From Harry Potter and Twilight to The Hunger Games and The Hobbit, our favorite literary adaptations are now being split into parts. The trend has started with final installments breaking in two, but it doesn’t seem crazy to assume that soon the first books in a series will get this treatment. Why are so many movie franchises making this decision? Pink and Black has a few suspicions.

The first and perhaps most obvious reason is to make more money. Even the Harry Potter franchise, which already had seven novels to adapt, broke the final adaptation of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two parts released months apart. Before the first movie adaptation of a series is even released, producers and the general public are able to predict how popular it will be based on the books’ following. If an adaptation is number one at the box office for multiple weekends in a row, why not split it into two movies and make twice as much money? Later, when the films are released separately on DVD, there’s an extra source of revenue.

Another reason for the trend is the length of the source material. The final books in certain series tend to be longer and contain more vital plot developments, so, in order to satisfy eager fans, filmmakers work to be more faithful to the novel. This, in turn, results in a longer runtime. Only the most devoted fans will sit through a five or six hour Twilight movie, so the series’ final adaptation was inevitably split into two separately released films. Casual moviegoers might roll their their eyes at the epic nature of these decisions, but fans breathe a sigh of relief because their beloved book will be faithfully adapted, and the franchise won’t end as quickly as they might have feared.

Hence, movie adaptations are also split into two parts to satisfy hungry fans. While Twihards and Potterheads might wait with torturous anticipation for the final adaptation to be continued, ultimately most of them are happy that they don’t have to bid farewell to the series just yet. Fans have a hard enough time accepting the publication of the final print installment; seeing the credits roll on the final film adaptation repeats the frustration. In order to keep devoted fans happy and to attract new fans over time, franchises add more films to the series.

In an age when popular literary adaptations and big-budget franchises rule the box office, it’s no surprise that filmmakers want to milk the success for all it’s worth and satisfy crazed fans at the same time. What’s next? Fifty Shades of Grey: Parts One and Two?

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