It's a well-known fact that Hollywood loves to run a franchise into the ground. I mean, why bother coming up with interesting or original ideas when you can simply churn out a sub-par sequel every couple of years? Most of the all-time great movie series tend to come in threes (Star Wars, Back to the Future, Toy Story and The Dark Knight, to name but a few) as not to overstay their welcome. Once you hit four and above, though... well, it's almost guaranteed to go downhill from there on. And sometimes a great movie has its legacy tainted by a series of sequels of diminishing quality. Other times, a movie that was never all that good to begin with somehow spawns a series of even more mediocre follow-ups. This article will take a look at 20 movie franchises that have long overstayed their welcome and explore why that might have happened. So brace yourself to read on, as we lament the fact that so many classic movies have been forever spoiled by a never-ending line of duds...
Honourable Mention: Star Wars
The Movies: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Episode V: Return of the Jedi (1980), Episode VI: The Empire Strikes Back (1983), Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), Episode VII (2015), Untitled Spin-Off (2016), Episode VIII (2017), Another Untitled Spin-Off (2018), Episode IX (2019) I've decided to include this franchise as an honorable mention because there is hope that perhaps a fresh creative perspective could rejuvenate the series, although then again I could be horribly wrong. Let's hope Disney don't run the thing into the ground with the announcement of a new Star Wars movie every year, beginning with JJ Abrams' Episode VII. The original trilogy consists of what are three of the most indisputably entertaining and popular adventure movies ever made, creating an enduring cultural phenomenon that has lasted for five decades. The prequels suffer from George Lucas' limitations as a director and screenwriter, as well as a sometimes unnecessary over-fondness for CGI but are adequate when considered as part of the larger saga. With episodes VII through IX, everything remains up in the air. Despite the announcement being made almost a year ago, there has been almost nothing on the news front, bar a couple of significant changes in the script department. With a summer production date looming large and a release date less than two years away, 2014 will no doubt bring plenty of major developments. Hopefully, the new trilogy is more akin to the original trilogy rather than the sub-par prequels.