We never realized how much money there was to be found in character products.
I was a big fan of 'Star Trek.' But then again, you know, 'Star Trek', 'Star Wars', 'Doctor Who', I wasn't a big fan, but you know, when they ask you and they cast you and it drops in your lap, how can you say no to these franchises.
I want to do 'Company of Heroes 2,' if they do it. It depends on how the movie performs, but they hope it will perform well. They have a franchise on their mind, and if it's a franchise, man, I'm going to be a very happy person.
In 1974, we began franchising. We didn't have any big thought process except that, 'OK, franchising will help us get to our goal of 32 stores and help us run stores farther away from home.'
After 'Pitch Perfect,' I only want to be in sequels. No. 2 of whatever.
The only reason I was offered 'Punisher' was because I had made an indie film that was rated R for violence and was filled with fight scenes.
Having never taken a business class, the economics of restaurants scared me. I opened Chipotle with the idea that I could step away from it and use it to support my full-scale restaurant.
If you get something like 'Avatar,' it opens up a lot of big blockbuster doors.
I never think about franchises, to be honest. I always just do the film.
I assumed when I was first selling the franchises that everyone would be as excited as I was to wake up in the morning to bake bread and slice vegetables.
We have more franchisees that want to pay us money than we have locations to go into.
We have always had many more franchisee candidates than available locations.
I could sell more franchises than I'm selling right now, but we're pretty deliberate about where we're going.
We give great value for our franchisees: They can build a store for well under $200,000. And we have extremely simple operating systems. The preparation is mostly done in front of the customer. That simplicity is really what attracts our Subway franchise. You see it, and you can do it.
I'm not interested in being Franchise Boy.
