# The Business of Hollywood Sequels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 22, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856 "2026-07-22T18:57:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/1 "2026-07-22T18:57:59Z")
Chronos forwarded an interesting hypothesis on a [different thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-5-rise-of-the-llms/1024790/15). Namely, that successful movie franchises usually end with _two_ final bad movies: a first bad movie where audiences watch it based purely on the reputational quality of its successful predecessor(s), before they realize it, in fact, **sucked** but because the movie actually managed to turn a modest profit, studio execs green light the next sequel which not only sucks but also loses money. End of successful franchise. Can anyone cite examples of where this dynamic played out? Why is there such a high percentage of new films that are sequels? Has that percentage ever been as high or even higher historically? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/2 "2026-07-22T19:19:19Z")
It’s not a great example but MGM’s That’s Entertainment trilogy popped into my head. For those unfamiliar the first one was made to coincide with the studios 50th anniversary and featured the greatest numbers from the studios best musicals. The second one had some notable numbers and sprinkled in some comedy bits. The third one was down to B-movie level stuff and stars who had started at MGM but found success and fame somewhere else. As for a more on point exa.ple, did a yone rally need three editions of Men in Black? ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/3 "2026-07-22T19:22:23Z")
Kent Clark–I think your namesake’s movies may apply with Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/4 "2026-07-22T19:22:51Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > did a yone rally need three editions of Men in Black? Yones are really fond of Sci Fi Comedy, everybody in the MiB agency knows it. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/5 "2026-07-22T19:23:46Z")
Didn’t they do this in _The Matrix_? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/6 "2026-07-22T19:26:22Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > It’s not a great example but MGM’s That’s Entertainment trilogy popped into my head. Not a great example because the second one wasn’t really bad. The third… Unless you count _That’s Dancing!_ as the fourth film, then a great example. We watch I and II every year, but never seem to finish III. It really isn’t well done. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/7 "2026-07-22T19:38:16Z")
I generally agree with the premise of the OP, but harking back to the thread from which this one was spawned, I would argue that the Star Trek movie franchise started with a pretty bad movie. I did not care for it at all. That fact did not keep me from seeing the sequel, however, or the rest of the movies based on TOS. Since I never got into the other ST TV series, I haven’t seen any of those movies, either. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/8 "2026-07-22T19:43:34Z")
Would the Alien vs Predator movies count here? They did NOT kill off the individual franchises but they certainly killed off the versus concept. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/9 "2026-07-22T19:43:55Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > successful movie franchises usually end with _two_ final bad movies I think many long-running movie franchises generally tend to decrease in quality over time (as the concept loses freshness), in which case it would be expected for the final two to be on the worse end of the spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/10 "2026-07-22T19:53:35Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > We watch I and II every year, but never seem to finish III. It really isn’t well done. Some years back Warner Bros. released a series of disk sets, [Looney Tunes Golden Collection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looney_Tunes_Golden_Collection) with six volumes of four DVDs each, fifteen cartoons per disks plus some extra material. In total it was about a third of the Termite Palace’s output and by the final release it was becoming apparent they were running low on everyone’s favorites. I would have loved it had they continued but am pretty satisfied with what I got. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/11 "2026-07-22T19:56:12Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I would have loved it had they continued but am pretty satisfied with what I got. I (think I) have them all, but there are still some toons I wish I had (not necessarily the questionable ones). It does seem like they gave up. I have a few VHS tapes to get a few of the stragglers. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/12 "2026-07-22T20:23:29Z")
I think the general consensus is that concerning the original trilogy (Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, and Matrix Revolutions) they got progressively weaker. I haven’t seen the reboot (Matrix Resurrections), but I think for the purposes of this thread we can treat re-boots made more than 15 years later as being a different phenomenon, subject to separate/different evaluation. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/13 "2026-07-22T20:35:44Z")
**Jaws** ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/14 "2026-07-22T23:13:19Z")
Sharknado fits. There’s some horrific after effects in the following slime trail. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/15 "2026-07-23T02:08:52Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Jaws But the third one was in 3D! 3D Jerry, it’s gold. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/16 "2026-07-23T02:12:03Z")
That was a weird movie for 3-D. Wasn’t one of the scenes inside the shark as we were being devoured? Count Floyd had better films. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/17 "2026-07-23T02:38:32Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > I would argue that the Star Trek movie franchise started with a pretty bad movie. I did not care for it at all. That fact did not keep me from seeing the sequel, however, or the rest of the movies based on TOS. The conventional wisdom among Trek fans, for most of the 80s, was that the movies were following a pattern of “even number = good, odd number = not good.” #2 (The Wrath of Khan), and #4 (The Voyage Home) were both well-loved by the fan base, but the other three were definitely hit-and-miss. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/18 "2026-07-23T02:39:56Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The conventional wisdom among Trek fans, for most of the 80s, was that the movies were following a pattern of “even number = good, odd number = not good.” I.e., the opposite of Beethoven symphonies. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/19 "2026-07-23T02:53:07Z")
Indiana Jones? Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - poorly received, was seen as less good compared to the original 3 Dial of Destiny - even more poorly received and end of series ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856/20 "2026-07-23T03:27:14Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Would the Alien vs Predator movies count here? > > They did NOT kill off the individual franchises but they certainly killed off the versus concept. I have heard rumors that Dan Trachtenberg, who directed Prey, Killer of Killers and Badlands, may be doing an AvP movie at some point. He set it up by making a very explicit connection between the universes in Badlands. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-business-of-hollywood-sequels/1031856.md?page=2)