With the release of The Fate of the Furious marking the 8th Fast & Furious film in the franchise to date (and at least two more on the way), I felt this was a nice opportunity to reflect on the popularity of the Hollywood sequel.
Since the 1980's, sequel films have consistently dominated the box office of their respective decades.
Below are the highest grossing films of the last several decades. The films in BOLD are sequels.
- Highest grossing films of the 1980's
- E.T.
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
- Batman --> start of a franchise
- Raiders of the Lost Ark --> start of a franchise
- Ghostbusters --> start of a franchise
- Beverly Hills Cop --> start of a franchise
- Back to the Future --> start of a franchise
- Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
- Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom
- Highest grossing films of the 1990's
- Titanic
- Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
- Jurassic Park
- The Lion King --> start of a franchise
- Forrest Gump
- Independence Day --> start of a franchise
- The Sixth Sense
- Home Alone --> start of a franchise
- Men in Black --> start of a franchise
- Toy Story 2
- Highest grossing films of the 2000's
- Avatar --> start of a franchise
- LOTR: Return of the King
- Pirates: Dead Man's Chest
- The Dark Knight
- Harry Potter: Sorcerer's Stone
- Pirates: At World's End
- Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter: Half-Blood Prince
- LOTR: The Two Towers
- Shrek 2
- Highest grossing films of the 2010's
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Jurassic World
- The Avengers
- Furious 7
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Frozen --> start of a franchise?
- Iron Man 3
- Minions
- Captain America: Civil War
Clearly, the American film-going audience has shelled out several billions of dollars to see cinematic sequels over the past 30+ years. It should come as no surprise that the folks in Hollywood continue to churn out more every year. With summer fast approaching, we can expect the same this year.
Granted, many of the franchises above consistently generate solid & thoroughly entertaining films. The Harry Potter and Star Wars series have both deviated from the original canon films & created prequel franchises in recent years (i.e. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). There seems no foreseeable end in sight to the possible storylines which could be created in these vast cinematic landscapes.
Another recent trend has been the blurring of the lines between film & television. The most clear example is the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which characters cross between the big & little screen interchangeably. This seems to be much more commonplace than in years past.
Series which have entries in both film & television:
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Fargo
- Lethal Weapon
- Sherlock Holmes (various iterations)
- Mission Impossible
- 21 Jump Street
- Chips
- Scream
So why do we pay so much to see these sequels? For the most part, they are fun. Sequels broadly fall into one of two main categories: action/adventure & comedy. There are, of course, exceptions, but the vast majority either take the viewer on a thrill ride of heightened reality or through an hour & a half of laughs. Another reason is familiarity - we've seen the characters before and are already attached or invested in them in some capacity, whether it be from a previous film, book, or TV series. The audience for many of these films is international, and the franchises are all across the globe.
I've never been one to suggest that just because something is popular or mainstream that means that it's bad. Many of the above films & franchises are some of my favorites, and they are ones that I've watched time & time again. But when you notice that every other movie showtime over the next few months is a sequel/prequel/reboot/re-imagining/big-screen-adaptation, make no mistake - it's nothing new.
And just in case you're wondering, I haven't seen The Fate of the Furious... yet.
I previously wrote on this topic: here.
