It’s amazing how much I have to keep going back to this as I look back at the successes and failures of Hollywood in this column, but chasing the dragon is a fool’s errand. If something clicks, the notion of trying to replicate a very specific model of success that boils down to a very difficult to capture flash in the pan is at best difficult and at worst calamitous. Don’t take the wrong lessons away from a thing. Just because one dystopian YA survival franchise worked doesn’t mean every copycat stands a chance. Studios would do well to look at the nuance of success, rather than focus on the specificity of success.

But in reflecting on this ten years later, it’s best to focus very specifically on Lionsgate. The studio is one of few mini-majors left in town. Not quite as big as Disney or Warner Bros. but still able to compete, this studio is wildly important right now as movie theaters are hoping to stay afloat and every major studio doubling down on streaming. The problem is, the success of “The Hunger Games” gave Lionsgate a taste of big-budget success and they’ve been chasing that dragon ever since, often with ugly results.

Aside from the ones we’ve already discussed, “Power Rangers,” “Robin Hood,” “Midway,” and most recently “Moonfall” are just some of the blockbuster failures they’ve suffered over the last decade, with “Moonfall” ranking as perhaps one of the biggest bombs in history. In one way, “The Hunger Games” saved the studio and made everyone pay attention, but the consequence of that success is that it has led to a series of flops that cost the studio a great deal of money. Chasing that success has been a recipe for failure ever since.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate is one of the only studios in town managing to consistently do well with mid-budget films, with “John Wick” and “Knives Out” serving as recent examples. As I’ve argued in the past, Lionsgate would do well to stop chasing the ghost of “The Hunger Games” and focus on filling a much-needed hole in the modern Hollywood landscape. So go ahead, make that “Hunger Games” prequel, because there is almost definitely a lot of money to be made there. But don’t double down on pie-in-the-sky thinking that leads to big losses. Do what you do best. Be that reliable mid-budget hit factory and the odds will forever be in their favor.