The reason that modern Hollywood has become increasingly reliant on big-name franchises when it comes to making a profit is simple; they pretty much market themselves. If a brand has a built-in fanbase and wide appeal, audiences are going to flock to the theater on opening day to see it, regardless of what the critics are saying. A huge number of sequels have suffered from the law of diminishing returns when it comes to the quality of the final product, but still do huge business at the box office based solely on the popularity of the brand. With that being said, plenty of the biggest and most popular franchises in history boast at least one entry that is regarded as a genuine classic, often more. Think along the lines of James Bond, Indiana Jones, Die Hard, Star Wars, Batman, Jurassic Park and Alien to name but a very small few. Every single one of these franchises feature at least one movie that stands out as a disappointment, but all of them also contain a true classic. Then there are the rare exceptions like the Lord of the Rings and Toy Story trilogies, where every entry is of the highest quality. However, there are also a large number of blockbuster franchises that tend to be greater than the sum of their parts, and this article will take a look at ten such brands. Many of these franchises contain good, even great movies but none of them truly stand out as cinematic masterpieces. There are others that contain their fair share of average movies as well, not to mention some terrible ones. The common thread is that despite raking in huge amounts of cash at the box office, not a single one of these franchises contain a movie that can stand on its own merits as a five-star classic. Do you agree that none of these franchises contain a classic movie? Does it even really matter in the grand scheme of things? Are there any other franchises that you would have included? As always, sign off in the comments below.
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