10 Franchises That Made It To Episode 7 Before Star Wars

Amidst the ever-building excitement directed towards Star Wars Episode VII very few people have really stopped to think that the most eagerly anticipated film of the year is the seventh instalment of a series that was only especially brilliant for the first two (or the fourth and fifth if you're not into the whole order-of-release thing). 

There's probably a reason why most franchises don't get up to Part 7 before they die a painful box office death, get rebooted with a half-assed remake, or some bizarre remake-reboot-prequel hybrid (or, in the case of Terminator: Genisys, all three at once).

But what about the precious few that overcome the slumps in box office and shifting tastes of the movie going public and continue churning out new adventures up to and beyond their own Episode VII? Were the sixth sequels in other series still worth sitting through? Are they shining beacons of a franchise regaining its lost mojo that Star Wars can look up to? 

Or are they signs of ever declining quality and creative bankruptcy to make us all worry for the fact that there's four more Star Wars pictures to come after this one?

What's the story?

Writer, star and occasional director Sylvester Stallone is the eponymous blue collar pugilist who battles the heavyweight champ, brain damage, Mr. T, and communism, all while running up a lot of steps in power ballad backed montages. 

The series started out an admirable mix of realistic and uplifting, albeit somewhat saccharine, and became increasingly preposterous until back-to-basics sixth episode Rocky Balboa clawed back a bit of respectability.

What's in Part Seven?

A finally retired Rocky returns to boxing to train Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of his killed-in-the-ring rival Apollo, and, yes, an over the hill Rocky did already train a hungry young fighter in the terrible Rocky V. Directed by Jordan's Fruitvale Station helmer Ryan Coogler, Creed is the first Rocky film without the Italian Stallion in the title and without a writing credit for Stallone.

How does it compare with the previous six?

Creed isn't released until November, just a month before Star Wars, so there's no way to say just yet. 

Described as being essentially a piece of Rocky fan fiction, this shares Star Wars' potential for both greatness and failure when it comes to giving the keys to the kingdom to an ascended fanboy.

Did it go beyond seven?

If Creed is a success, then we could well see the torch passed for a Stallone-lite spin-off franchise. That's a pretty big 'if', though.