10 Franchises With Way Too Many Reboots/Sequels, According To Reddit
Multiplexes are full of movies that are part of decades-old film franchises, and later this year will see the release of a female Pinhead-led Hellraiser reboot, which shockingly marks the 11th movie in the series. This is far from the first time such a thing has happened, but it calls into question when enough is enough.
Redditors have their ideas about which franchises have had way too many sequels or reboots, whether it's a street racing series that went off course or a torture porn series that began as a mystery thriller. Not only that, but many of these series have spin-off TV shows too.
Nobody would have expected the Fast & Furious franchise to turn out the way it did base on the first movie. The original film is a fairly grounded crime drama about an undercover cop infiltrating a group of criminals. Since then, the series has seen the Fast "family" jump between skyscrapers in supercars and go into space in a rocket-powered Pontiac Fiero. The spin-off of Hobbs & Shaw even introduced the existence of supervillains.
While they don't exactly agree with the excessive amount of sequels and spin-offs in the series, Inset-username-here jokes that "there are so many because the 10th will be called Fast 10 Your Seatbelts, so it’s worth it." However, it doesn't seem like the Fast series is slowing down any time soon, especially as there are loads of characters who deserve their spin-off movie.
Bruow6425 wants to see the end of the Jurassic Park franchise. The Redditor argues that "the first one was amazing but it went downhill from there, especially with the latest reboots." But the exact opposite is happening, as the series is gearing up for its biggest release yet. June will see the release of Jurassic World: Dominion.
The $165 million budgeted blockbusters will see Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum all reprising their iconic roles from the original trilogy. But as Dominion is seemingly wrapping up the Jurassic World trilogy, the Redditors might get what they want. However, others want a Jurassic World prequel set billions of years in the past and narrated by Nicolas Cage, which sounds incredible.
When it comes to the Saw franchise, Dat_Son seems more disappointed than anything. The Redditor points fingers, saying, "the Saw franchise has A LOT to answer for." The horror series is made up of nine movies, and several have come with false claims that they'd be the last.
It was looking like the Saw series had ended for a moment in the 2010s. Saw VII wrapped up Jigsaw's whole story arc and there was radio silence for seven years. However, 2017's Jigsaw unnecessarily expanded on the story that had ended, and when that was negatively received, it was rebooted four years later with 2021's Spiral: From the Book of Saw.
MKQueasy thinks Batman has way too many films, positing that, "at this point, it feels like there's a new Batman every damn year." Though Batman is a popular superhero and each filmmaker has put their unique spin on every movie, it's easy to understand where the Redditors are coming from.
Each consecutive Batman movie features an increasingly darker portrayal of Bruce Wayne. And though The Redditor's statement isn't completely true, as there were 10 years between The Dark Knight Rises and The Batman, the character has been in four DCEU movies in that time and will also feature in The Flash. But while The Batman is the darkest depiction of the hero, there are still some surprisingly funny moments in the movie.
_Sterben_ thinks the Star Wars property had had too many sequels and spin-offs, and they seemingly came to that conclusion years ago. The Redditor argues, "some people think it should've ended after the original trilogy, others think it should've ended after the prequels, but almost everyone agrees that the sequels should not exist."
Almost every movie in the franchise released after Return of the Jedi has had somewhat of a polarizing reception, whether it's any of the prequels, the sequels, or the spin-offs. And that extends to the Disney+ exclusive series too, as though The Mandalorian is the most acclaimed Star Wars release under Disney's direction, The Book of Boba Fett was heavily criticized. Hopefully, the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi is more like the former, which is likely, as Uncle Ben is the best thing about the prequels.
James Bond has had so many vividly different iterations over the past 60 years that it still manages to remain fresh after all this time. Whether it's the realistic parkour action sequence in Casino Royale or the long track shots of hand-to-hand combat of No Time To Die, the movies always attempt something new even if it doesn't always land.
But a deleted user thinks the franchise is way past its sell-by date. The Redditor posits that despite Sean Connery's admittedly iconic portrayal and Daniel Craig's more grounded take, "all the angles got old fast." However, after the stoic delivery from Craig for the past five movies, the next version of 007 could go in a wackier direction.
1975's Jaws is one of the most influential movies of all time, both in the way that it manages to scare people while being set in broad daylight and in the way it started the trend of summer blockbusters. However, Girafarigno accuses the series of jumping the shark, arguing, "it wasn't a movie that had a story to continue. It was all for money."
However, while there might have been a few too many sequels to the very first summer blockbuster, there hasn't been a new release in the franchise for over 35 years. But in fairness, the at-sea movie's influence has rippled throughout the movie industry, and the franchise could be to blame for universally hated movies like The Meg and The Shallows.
More than any other genre, horror franchises tend to be capitalized on the most. It's obvious why, as they're much cheaper to make than any other genre but still have a guaranteed audience. Along with Saw, the Halloween series has 12 movies, and the Friday the 13th series has 12 movies too. And unsurprisingly, the Hellraiser movies have also almost reached a dozen.
The upcoming Hellraiser reboot featuring a female pinhead marks the 11th movie in the franchise, and TheChainLink2 thinks that's way too many. The Redditor explains that "the studio had to make a new movie every few years or they’d lose the rights," which explains the decreasing quality of the movies. However, the upcoming reboot is truer than Clive Barker's original vision, so it could be a return to form for the series.
The Land Before Time is the most inoffensive movie franchise ever, and a biannual direct-to-DVD release full of catchy songs for toddlers isn't hurting anyone, but some Redditors have a problem with them. PaulRuddsButthole believes the series is a far cry from what made the original theatrically released movie so great.
The Redditor argues that "there’s been, like, 13 or more sequels. The original movie was a masterpiece. The sequels kind of does their own thing." Though there are some great movies in the Land Before Time series, there hasn't been a new film in the series since 2016, so the dinosaur movie franchise might have finally become extinct.
Plastic-superhero thinks the iconic Terminator franchise has gone on for way too long, and they're not alone, as the reviews and declining box office figures for each consecutive release speak for themselves. The Redditor gives some simple advice to the studio, "Let it go." Unfortunately, it has gotten to the point where the bad movies in the series outnumber the good movies.
The sci-fi franchise is made up of six films, with the final four movies failing to capture what made the first two great. However, the Redditor does doth their cap to the spin-off TV series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and if the movies followed in the same direction as the show, they would have had a much better reception.