With a heavy heart, let’s just admit that there are more than enough sequels coming out of Hollywood. Why is it so? Is it just like another form of addiction that is causing film-makers to keep on producing unnecessary sequels and how is it impacting the industry. There is a lot to think about but our today’s agenda is about the reasons that has landed Hollywood in the world of sequels.
We are familiar with Jim Carrey who was one of the most successful comedian of his time and is still known to have the same level of fame. It might be disappointing for a few of us but he is not actually a big fan of sequels though he had appeared in a couple of movies that were just the additional installments of the movies, he originally appeared in.
Here’s what Jim has to say about sequels:
“I find sequels are a function of commerce for the most part. At least the two I’ve done, they were characters I enjoyed doing, but I did find myself almost parroting myself at that point. When you put 10 years between you and the last time you did it, suddenly you’re going, ‘How did I do that again?’… So, you’re imitating your original inspiration. It was super fun with Jeff, but I’m not a crazy sequel guy.”
There has been a mixed and confused approach about the very concept of making pointless sequels. Most of the people think that it is only an excuse of needless dragging of a movie franchise. On the other hand, there are even those people who demand filmmakers to come out with more installments of their favorite movie as they are so much fond to seeing their favorite characters back on the screens.
Keeping everything aside, let’s focus on the key reasons and facts that have caused sequels to apparently become an ill-fated disease for Hollywood industry.
Monetary Affairs
Erik Davis, managing editor of Fandango.com and Movies.com says, “Sequels can make a lot of money, but the ones that didn’t do so well were movies that I don’t think there was a high demand for a follow-up,”
In the recent years, most of the sequels that have been made are not doing so well despite the popularity of their original movies. Here, we would like to point out another perception that is pretty common among most of the filmmakers is that they know their fanbase and taking advantage of that they don’t have to do much in the sequel.
In the quest of saving themselves from extra expenditure, they unintentionally start promoting monotonous tone through their production and this thing gets the audience bored. Thinking of quality rather than quantity may help them make some more money on the investments they are doing on the franchises.
Even if they are investing a little more than their desired budget and have a good storyline along with it with some new elements, these factors might help them gaining more profits in return.
Audience Reactions
Why would anyone want to go to cinema? This is one of the main questions for which producers need to answer. It can also be taken as the core reason of their reliance on the sequels. They think that their movies (in the form of franchises) are creating a special connection between the character of the movies and the audience. Though, it is true to some extent but still it has to be done at a limited level and they should mostly try to bring something new to the screens.
Jim Gianopulos, chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment has his say on making of sequels with good quality of scripts plus creativity and to be more specific, he defended them in an intelligent way. Here’s what he said:
“If you do sequels badly, that’s the problem. I think the risk in sequels is for Hollywood to take the audiences for granted, to assume you only have to give them a little more. We as a studio are very careful to avoid that. We do that by introducing new filmmaker voices. We have to work hard to constantly advance the mythology of a property that people love. If you bring all the elements together, you’ll succeed.”
Pros and Cons
There are many good things about sequels that make people love them. First of all, it is the continuity of the plot they are already in love with. They get to see their favorite characters – that inspire them in real life – back in action. Taking it from a filmmaker’s point of view: sequels create the urge in people to watch the original movie that sometimes results in the success of a franchise on the whole. They have got the fanbase and it is not necessary to create such a plot that introduce every character of the story (as they have done in the first movie).
Now, let’s turn the page and think of the negative impact that could be caused by prioritizing sequels more than the original movie. Making a sequel of every movie that goes hit and turns out to be blockbuster is not necessary. Recently, the experts have analyzed that instead of getting positive reviews the sequel saga is mostly assisting the film industry to accumulate negative review which is also not good for the movie economics
