Movie licensing - an unnecessary gamble?(Brief Article)

Ken Kemp looks at the pros and cons of movie licensing

"Saturday night at the movies, who cares what picture we're seeing?" But we do don't we? When the hugging and the kissing in the back row stops, we do actually want to be entertained. To be fair to the movie industry there is no shortage of entertainment on offer, which is borne out by booming box office figures. So why are many licensees and retailers currently sceptical about what, arguably, is one of the sexiest areas of the industry? The general caginess can be explained, in part, by what many regard as a recent licensing failure, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

My own opinion is that it was far from …