If the proliferation of mediocre sequels lately is any indication, all it takes to launch a franchise nowadays is for a movie to bring in big international box office bucks, even if U.S. ticket sales disappoint.
It was certainly not for artistic reasons or personal prestige that instant sequels to modest recent hits like Kick-Ass, The Smurfs, Grown Ups, and Red littered the multiplexes this past summer. Every studio wants their own durable franchise, but nobody could have anticipated how flaccid all of these aforementioned sequels would turn out.
Perhaps if the studios dig a little deeper into their vaults for some of their less prestigious but reliable medium-grade sellers, and maybe look back farther than a few quarters, they’d stumble onto something worth exploring.
All it takes is money, because if a doomed project like Atlas Shrugged that few viewers saw and even fewer enjoyed can manage a Part II simply because some tenacious producer had passion and cash to burn, then there’s simply no excuse why the following geek flicks haven’t yet seen the potentially lucrative follow-ups they so richly deserve.
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It was certainly not for artistic reasons or personal prestige that instant sequels to modest recent hits like Kick-Ass, The Smurfs, Grown Ups, and Red littered the multiplexes this past summer. Every studio wants their own durable franchise, but nobody could have anticipated how flaccid all of these aforementioned sequels would turn out.
Perhaps if the studios dig a little deeper into their vaults for some of their less prestigious but reliable medium-grade sellers, and maybe look back farther than a few quarters, they’d stumble onto something worth exploring.
All it takes is money, because if a doomed project like Atlas Shrugged that few viewers saw and even fewer enjoyed can manage a Part II simply because some tenacious producer had passion and cash to burn, then there’s simply no excuse why the following geek flicks haven’t yet seen the potentially lucrative follow-ups they so richly deserve.
Read more »