Top 5 Movie Franchises That Need to Stop Making Sequels

By Daina Kiela on April 14, 2013

I’m not sure if I’m the only one who realizes this, but about 75% of the movie industry today is comprised of book/comic adaptations, remakes and prequels/sequels/threequels. Quite frankly, it seems like we’re running out of ideas in Hollywood. Producers are taking classic, fan-loving movies and running them into the ground with extra, nonsensical plot lines just to rake in more dough. Here are the top 5 franchises that should retire already.

1. Star Wars

Now, I’m not gonna hate on Star Wars. It was a (literally) timeless story that presented many colorful stock characters in a battle between good versus evil. Not a bad idea to put it in space, or to include freaking awesome laser swords that can deflect laser bullets and stuff. The series had it’s extensive four-decade-long domination of the world. (It had its own breakfast cereal for crying out loud!) But finally in 2005, all six episodes were complete and the Sith lords were finally destroyed. The world was at peace once more… until Walt Disney Pictures bought the franchise. Now a seventh episode is in production which includes nearly all the original characters! Seriously? I get that many of the old fans are delighted, but come on!  How can you possibly continue the plot when the central villains have been killed off? Good luck with that, Disney.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean 

This series started out like other Disney-ride adaptations like “Haunted Mansion” or “The Country Bears,” but it grew into a large enough franchise that the company ended up changing the original ride to the fit the movie! Two more “Pirates” movies were added into the original trilogy, and then a fourth which completely diverged from the central plot and centered around a consistently drunk Captain Jack Sparrow and his ridiculously out of place ex-girlfriend. Needless to say, the movie killed the franchise. And yet, the producers insist on making another movie, due in 2015. Seriously, why? Are there any other nautical superstitions/mythical creatures they forgot to mention?

3. Scary Movie 

Seeing as horror movies have hit a high point in the present Hollywood with controversial hits like “Paranormal Activity” and “The Human Centipede,” it’s no wonder that a franchise which feeds off new material from scary movies would come out with a new flick. However, “Scary Movie 5″ can only make so many new jokes about recent horror films that it has in the past. How many times can we watch a male character and female character go on two completely different plot-lines from different scary movies, only to be joined in a ridiculous climactic mash-up of nudity, drugs and hip-hop? The idea to parody the film market was a good one, particularly horror films, but now I think they’re turning into exactly what they hated in the first place: redundancy.

4. Friday the 13th 

Continuing with the scary movie genre, notorious for its sequels, this franchise of Jason the Psychopath-Killer-Guy-Out-to-Kill-Everyone-and-We-Mean-Everyone has spawned 9 movies and a mini-TV series. Hopefully the poor guy can just be satisfied with his millions in royalties and give up the serial killer business once and for all. He’s already killed our interest.

 

5. The Fast And the Furious 

After 5 movies (with the 6th and 7th on the way) and over a million car chases later, this franchise just needs to stop. Alright, we get it, Vin Diesel. We know you like driving fast cars in a furious manner, but wouldn’t it be nice if you used a different plot line every once in a while? Street racing and robberies can only get you so far. Why not make the next one about a pizza delivery boy who drives fast and delivers pizzas to furiously drunk customers? That would at least be more realistic than the U.S. government granting full pardons to criminals with five movies worth of stealing cars and destruction of property on their records… or is it? We’ll have to see in the next plethora of sequels he cranks out.

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