It is not groups, so much as trends in author or ideas - which dictates what joe public has a taste for. The other thing that happens is a major studio will be working on a subject, which will leak, so other studios try to beat them to the punch, as it were. Thus you have a glut of films all tackling a certain theme or genre.
When Pixar released Toy Story everyone jumped on the bandwagon and believed it was CG animation that everyone wanted!! Can anyone name any other films, other than Shrek that have really come through; the Pixar behemoth still keeps rolling.
When James Cameron was working on The Abyss, a mammoth project - touted at the $70 milllion dollar mark, rather expensive for the late eighties. Other studios heard about the project and released a plethora of wannabe underwater movies and all would be classed as B-movies at best. However because they beat Cameron to the punch The Abyss really suffered at the box office because the public was a bit alien/underwatered out!! Does anyone remember Leviathan or Deepstar Six? No, I thought not - I suspect Cameron does, which is why his films are so secretive now.
The point is - the industry has this bizarre ideal that when something works - you churn out as many sequels or comparatively the same narrative because the audience wants it!! They seem to miss the fact it is only when something is truly unique or has a great story will the public take it to heart and make it a success, lets face it that is a rare event these days!!
<message edited by peagreen on 07 March 2010 16:32>