The Weigh In #62

Riding the Sequel Tide

This weekend I stood in line to see what would end up being the film with the highest grossing opening weekend ever. From Friday through Sunday,
Pirates of the Caribbean 2 pulled in $135.6 million dollars. It was the quickest film ever to reach $100 million dollars and was only the second film to reach $50 million dollars the day it opened (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith). After watching the film, I got to do a little thinking. According to www.boxoficemojo.com, fifteen of the top twenty films with the highest opening weekend were all sequels to hit films, and all but one of those sequels was produced in the last five years (The Lost World: Jurassic Park-1997). There was a day and a time when the thought of a sequel heavy summer movie season only pointed to a lack of original filmmaking and an attempt to make as much money on a franchise before running it completely into the ground. Recently though, looking at these numbers, the exact opposite seems to be happening. Sequels to popular films seem to be more and more a sure thing for studios.

Something to think about:
Before 2001, I could only find 4 major sequels that actually outpaced the box office receipts of its original, Terminator 2, Toy Story 2, Mission Impossible 2, and Rocky 2. Since 2001, the only films I could find that did not meet and exceed the bar set by the original were 2 Fast 2 Furious, and XXX2.

This strange disparity left me with the obvious question, why? Are studios making better sequels? Have they finally figured out how to make quality sequels in order to keep a franchise alive? To answer this question I turned to the premier internet gauge of the mass opinion of each film, www.rottentomatoes.com. I decided to take ten films and their sequels and see if I can find a trend. (Rotten Tomatoes.com takes critic reviews from films and gauges the positives and negatives to come up with a percentage from 1 to 100 of good and bad, the higher the percentage the more positive reviews). The website is probably the best way to get a general opinion of each of these films.

Looking at the comparison above, it seems that with few very notable exceptions (Godfather 2 and The Empire Strikes Back), sequels were in fact considered inferior films. The recent spate of franchise films (like Spider-Man, Harry Potter, LOTR, and X-Men) seems to be changing that thinking a little. Although it does seem that basic sequels are still considered inferior to their original. So why are sequels regardless of whether they are franchise films or general sequels consistently doing better now then before, regardless of how history looks at them? What does this mean for the film industry if anything at all? Do we even care? This week I wanted to bring up all the questions and look at a little empirical evidence. Next week will be the suppositions and a little educated guessing mixed with some doom and gloom theories. Plus, as an added bonus we’ll take another look at another genre that seems to be trying to take a general cue from this summer movie model. We’ll see how that is turning out. Can you guess what it is?

This weekend at your local multiplex (7/14/2006):
Little Man: Comedy
Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans
Plot: A man that is anxious to be a father mistakes a short, on the run criminal, for his newly adopted son.
Buzz: The tagline “From the makers of White Chicks” pretty much says it all (shudder).

You, Me, and Dupree: Comedy
Owen Wilson, Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson, Michael Douglas
Plot: A newly married couple has their relationship tested when the best man loses his job and has to stay with them, with no intention of leaving.
Buzz: With Owen Wilson, this film will certainly have a following and this film could get a lot of the Pirates of the Caribbean fall-off.

This week on DVD (7/11/2006):
Basic Instinct 2
ER (season 5)
Reno 911! (season 3)
The Ellen Show (series)
Weeds (season 1)
The Bill Cosby Show (season 1)
Tristam Shandy
Grand Prix (se)
I Dream of Jeannie (season 2)
Grilled
Perry Mason (season 1)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (vol2)
Bridezillas (season 1)
Bridezillas (season 2)
30 Days (season 1)
Chaplin Mutual Comedies
Blackbeard
Warner Bros Tough Guy Collection


As always, send you loving adoration or death threats to DPlace76@yahoo.com, my random musings can be found at www.livejournal.com/bigdpimpin. The best way to find out what the Stumblebum crew is up to is at our myspace page at www.myspace.com/stumblebumstudios.