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W<\/span>hen the first ever stage adaptation of the global book and film franchise The Hunger Games opens its doors in London next week<\/a>, fans paying up to \u00a3200 have been promised an \u201celectrifying\u201d and \u201cimmersive\u201d experience.<\/p>\n The show at the purpose-built 1,200 seat Troubadour in Canary Wharf, which features Hollywood A-lister John Malkovich appearing via screen as the evil President Snow who oversees the televised spectacle of teenagers fighting to the death, is the latest in an explosion of launches looking to cash in on a boom in consumer demand for experiential entertainment, often linked to bankable franchises.<\/p>\n The boom in the market for experimental, unusual nights out and shows is well established, from escape rooms, axe throwing<\/a> and slumber parties<\/a> to Secret Cinema\u2019s Olympic Park takeover to recreate the setting for Back to the Future<\/a> and the hugely successful<\/a> Abba Voyage. Recent pop-ups include experiences linked to Minecraft, Jurassic World and Squid Game.<\/p>\n As big money has rolled into the sector, so too has a desire from companies to rely on solid gold intellectual property to bring in the crowds \u2013 with mixed results.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve looked into a lot of immersive experiences,\u201d says Hollywood financier Chip Seelig, who has backed Come Alive!, the London-based theatre experience inspired by the hit 2017 film The Greatest Showman. \u201cWhile even [prime] intellectual property doesn\u2019t guarantee a success, we find it very hard to attract audiences without recognisable global IP. So we think it is a critical item to success.\u201d<\/p>\n Seelig\u2019s TSG Entertainment co-financed and produced the Hollywood blockbuster. Even before its release he had spied the opportunity to bring it to life in a real-world experience, and struck a rights deal with 20th Century Fox, now owned by Disney.<\/p>\n Disney is also launching its own more traditional theatre-style version of The Greatest Showman in a world premiere at the Bristol Hippodrome in the spring.<\/p>\n While shows such as Come Alive! have proved a success \u2013 it recently extended its run at the former home of the BBC Earth Experience for another year \u2013 costs involved in real-world productions mean that commercial success is far from certain.<\/p>\n The plight of traditional theatre provides a cautionary tale for the booming immersive entertainment sector.<\/p>\n A recent analysis by the New York Times found that none of the 18 commercial musicals that opened on Broadway last season have yet made a profit, and at least three with $20m (\u00a315m) budgets closed less than four months after opening.<\/p>\n And since the end of the pandemic, only three of 46 new musicals \u2013 those not based on existing, familiar IP \u2013 have become profitable to date.<\/p>\n Another significant issue facing the relatively nascent experiential industry is that a gold rush mentality has resulted in an increasing number of operators launching events that fail to live up to expectations.<\/p>\n Last year, an unofficial event called The Detroit Bridgerton Themed Ball, which charged ticket holders between $150 and $1,000, went viral for all the wrong reasons<\/a> when attendees were shown sitting on the floor, eating KitKats and watching a solitary pole dancer as the evening\u2019s entertainment.<\/p>\n Similarly, Glasgow\u2019s shoddy Willy Wonka experience, billed as a \u201ccelebration of chocolate in all its delightful forms\u201d, made global news<\/a> when police were called after families who had spent hundreds of pounds on the event that left children in tears became furious, and it was abruptly cancelled.<\/p>\n The most recent production to come in for criticism<\/a> is Elvis Evolution, which opened in London\u2019s ExCel centre in the summer with tickets priced from \u00a375 to \u00a3300. It was initially advertised as a concert experience that would use \u201cAI and feature holographic projections of the star\u201d.<\/p>\n An initial promise of a \u201clifesized digital Elvis who will perform iconic moments in musical history on a UK stage for the first time\u201d ended up with AI being used to \u201cupscale archive footage\u201d.<\/p>\n Layered Reality, which created the show, said it clarified there would be no hologram by the time tickets went on sale and had been \u201coverwhelmed\u201d by praise from attendees.<\/p>\n One attender said the experience was \u201cabsolutely atrocious\u201d and one VIP ticket holder said it was a \u201cshambles from start to finish\u201d.<\/p>\n While some fans enjoyed it \u2013 one said she \u201cloved every minute\u201d<\/a> \u2013 reviews have been mixed. The Telegraph gave it one star and even Time Out, which was more positive with a three-star rating, alluded to a \u201cnoticeable amount of booing\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n