How much money have vampires generated for moviemakers, television companies and the like over the last few years? $7 billion, according to new estimates. Insert "Clearly, vampires bleed green" jokes here.
The Hollywood Reporter has followed the money and tracked that, between movies ($3 billion), publishing ($1.6 billion, and thank you, Stephenie Meyer) and television ($1.2 billion; merchandising and miscellaneous make up the rest), vampires quietly rule the media roost right now; the trade paper estimates that the one genre makes up 3% of all movie revenue currently, and if it's a fad, it's one that shows no sign of fading. An anonymous literary agent is quoted as saying, "(Vampire books) are just growing... There is no one area in which it's stagnating. It goes from fiction to (young adult) fiction to genre fiction -- they are king."
Walking Dead TV show, we're looking to you to end this madness.