Shelly Banjo, Columnist

Star Wars: The Toy Story

Moviemakers and retailers have found the formula.

December 17, 2015 at 8:28 PM UTC

Shelly Banjo leads the global business team for Bloomberg News in New York. A former New York bureau chief and senior tech writer, she’s covered business, finance and economics for two decades.

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It's no surprise that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is expected to produce $9.6 billion in revenue from worldwide ticket sales, merchandise and video games in just its first year. Generations of Star Wars fans have made it the second-highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, after James Bond (adjusted for inflation).

But not all box-office hits spur the $5 billion in merchandise sales Star Wars is expected to generate in its first year of release through everything from light sabers and robots to eyeliner and cereal. James Bond, Jurassic Park, Shrek, and Lord of the Rings movies are among the ten highest-grossing franchises at the box office, adjusted for inflation, but didn't make a dent in sales of licensed merchandise, according to The Licensing Letter, a trade newsletter.