10 Announced Movie Sequels That Shouldn't Happen
The world REALLY doesn't need Dogma 2.
Sequels are unquestionably the lifeblood that powers the film industry, because Hollywood is loath to roll the dice on risky original ideas - unless you're called Christopher Nolan - when they can just give audiences more of what they've already shown up for.
It makes economic sense even if it regularly results in creatively bankrupt fare being listlessly sloughed into cinemas and on streaming services, at which point audiences are left to lament that these uninspired follow-ups were ever made at all.
After all, it's tough not to see a bad sequel as a waste of the artistic time and energy of those involved, especially if it's clearly produced for purely cynical reasons rather than because someone involved actually had a great idea worth exploring.
Barely a day goes by without a new sequel being announced in Hollywood, and in recent times these are the ones that had most asking, "Why?". Money is always the answer of course, but even so, the majority of the following planned sequels feel so unnecessary and after-the-fact that you have to question if they even have the potential to turn a profit at all.
10. Gladiator III
It's nothing short of a miracle that Gladiator II actually got made after more than two decades of trying, and more to the point that it was actually pretty good, if not nearly as statuesque as its Oscar-winning predecessor. But before the sequel was even in cinemas, director Ridley Scott was busy talking-up plans for Gladiator III, revealing that he actually had a few pages of the script already written.
Gladiator III will focus on the continuing adventures of Lucius (Paul Mescal), yet considering that Lucius was ultimately one of the more tepid aspects of Gladiator II - lacking the full-throated gravitas of Russell Crowe's Maximus - are many truly enthused to see more from this character?
Moreover, there are the additional hurdles of Scott's age, being 87 years old at the time of press, and the fact that Gladiator II's gargantuan budget put a huge dent in its box office profits. Sir Ridley and company should probably quit while they're ahead and just appreciate that they made a pretty good Gladiator sequel against the odds. Trying to do it again is just tempting fate.