# What Was The Best Movie Franchise With Multiple Sequels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524 "2012-05-01T16:26:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/21 "2012-05-01T22:01:53Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > I’d vote for the Harry Potter series. A lot of good films in that bunch - my favorite being Order of the Phoenix. Yep, that one is certainly one I overlooked. And then there’s the Lethal Weapon series, since someone mentioned the Die Hard series…both in the same genre and all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/22 "2012-05-01T22:16:26Z")
I have a theory that all film franchises end up ending with two bad ones. See, that’s the length of the relevant communications delay: You make a movie, it’s good, people go see it, it makes money, the studios like making money, so they make another one. This cycle repeats for some number of good movies, and everyone’s happy. Then, eventually, they make a bad one. People still go see it on opening weekend, because they liked the previous ones and haven’t had a chance to learn this one is bad, and so the movie still makes a profit. So the studio makes another one. Now, if this one is bad also, then people will be leery of it, from the previous bad one, and wait to hear how it is before going themselves. And when they hear that it’s bad like the previous one, they stay home. So the second bad movie finally flops, and the studios, since they didn’t make a lot of money on it, finally stop making more. Jurassic Park I: Good, and so got sequels. Jurassic Park II and III: Bad, and so killed the franchise. Alien and Aliens: Good, and so got sequels. Alien3 and Alien Resurrection: Bad, and killed the franchise. Batman and Batman Returns: Good, but Batman Forever and Batman and Robin killed the franchise. Et cetera. Now, obviously there are exceptions, like series that had a well-defined scope to begin with (like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter), and I’m not counting direct-to-home-video things like Jurassic Park IV. But it mostly seems to hold. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/23 "2012-05-01T22:19:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have a theory that all film franchises end up ending with two bad ones. See, that’s the length of the relevant communications delay: You make a movie, it’s good, people go see it, it makes money, the studios like making money, so they make another one. This cycle repeats for some number of good movies, and everyone’s happy. Then, eventually, they make a bad one. People still go see it on opening weekend, because they liked the previous ones and haven’t had a chance to learn this one is bad, and so the movie still makes a profit. So the studio makes another one. Now, if this one is bad also, then people will be leery of it, from the previous bad one, and wait to hear how it is before going themselves. And when they hear that it’s bad like the previous one, they stay home. So the second bad movie finally flops, and the studios, since they didn’t make a lot of money on it, finally stop making more. > > Jurassic Park I: Good, and so got sequels. Jurassic Park II and III: Bad, and so killed the franchise. Alien and Aliens: Good, and so got sequels. Alien3 and Alien Resurrection: Bad, and killed the franchise. Batman and Batman Returns: Good, but Batman Forever and Batman and Robin killed the franchise. Et cetera. > > Now, obviously there are exceptions, like series that had a well-defined scope to begin with (like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter), and I’m not counting direct-to-home-video things like Jurassic Park IV. But it mostly seems to hold. Would you consider the _Dark Knight_ movie (soon to be movie **s** ) as an exception WRT the Batman franchise? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/24 "2012-05-01T22:30:35Z")
That’s a separate franchise from the ones in the 90s (it’s in with _Batman Begins_). ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/25 "2012-05-01T22:49:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have a theory that all film franchises end up ending with two bad ones. Not a bad theory, but Batman Forever made a ton of money and was reasonably well liked. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/26 "2012-05-01T22:49:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s a separate franchise from the ones in the 90s (it’s in with _Batman Begins_). How is it separate if its part of the Batman movie franchise? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/27 "2012-05-01T22:55:30Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > How is it separate if its part of the Batman movie franchise? > > 😕 All movies starring Batman are “Batman movies” but not all “Batman movies” are part of “Christopher Nolan’s Batman universe.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/28 "2012-05-01T23:05:38Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > How is it separate if its part of the Batman movie franchise? > > 😕 It’s a reboot. The new ones starting with _Batman Begins_ in 2005 are considerably different in tone and characterization from the series that started with the Tim Burton _Batman_ in 1989 and ended with _Batman and Robin_ in 1997. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/29 "2012-05-02T00:56:50Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Toy Story is IMHO the most consistantly great trilogy. But it only has two sequels. > [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > I’d vote for the Harry Potter series. A lot of good films in that bunch - my favorite being Order of the Phoenix. Yep, Harry Potter, but it does help that it is based on a book series with really good sequels. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/30 "2012-05-02T04:20:26Z")
Lupin III ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/31 "2012-05-02T06:06:46Z")
I’m not sure how the OP wants to define franchise, but there were a bunch of Hope and Crosby “Road to…” of varying quality and levels of success. Even less related to each other are a bunch of Dean Martin Jerry Lewis flicks which did pretty well. Some others; _Charlie Chan_ films were fairly enjoyable. The _Mr. Moto_ series. _The Saint_ – there were a dozen or so films in the 30s mostly with George Sanders in the lead. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/32 "2012-05-02T12:06:38Z")
How about the "Road to …"movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby . ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/33 "2012-05-02T12:18:40Z")
I may catch hell for this, but the _Fast and the Furious_ franchise, while never being fine cinema, has been consistently cheeky and fun through 5 movies now. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/34 "2012-05-02T12:41:58Z")
How about Jason Bourne? You’d expect the second two to have been lame rehashes of the first, but they weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/35 "2012-05-02T14:34:52Z")
The [Phantasm](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079714/) series managed to put out four movies with no decrease in quality: they were all low-budget guilty pleasure schlock horror. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/36 "2012-05-02T14:54:19Z")
The Trancers series with Tim Thomerson as Jack Deth. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/37 "2012-05-02T15:02:25Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > So what movie franchise has been consistently good to at least pretty good through 3 or more sequels? The MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series has its detractors, but I think it qualifies. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/38 "2012-05-02T15:03:37Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > How about Jason Bourne? You’d expect the second two to have been lame rehashes of the first, but they weren’t. It doesn’t qualify yet, but will this summer when the 3rd sequel comes out. I have no idea if that one is good or not, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/39 "2012-05-02T15:09:05Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > The MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series has its detractors, but I think it qualifies. Have you seen the second one? I can only assume you read the novelization or something > [@Mahaloth](#): > > It doesn’t qualify yet, but will this summer when the 3rd sequel comes out. I have no idea if that one is good or not, though. D’oh. Can’t read :smack: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524/40 "2012-05-02T15:32:30Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > Have you seen the second one? It’s a popcorn-movie action flick that entertainingly plays around with expectations, sets Anthony Hopkins to deliver cut-crystal quips, and gives us IMHO the sexiest leading lady of the series to watch while building up to IMHO the best fistfight in the series, which unsurprisingly led it to gross more than quadruple its budget while racking up favorable reviews aplenty from critics who agreed that it’s _“at least pretty good”_. I don’t see the problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-best-movie-franchise-with-multiple-sequels/620524.md?page=3)