10 Movie Franchises Saved From Extinction By Sequels

Okay, so we debated whether it was kosher to include this one in the list, since the Bond franchise has by now both jumped the shark and been saved from said fate more times than Q’s booby-trapped pens have shot someone. Eventually we decided that each new Bond is a clean slate, and therefore if they jump the shark, it’s up to the same iteration of the iconic character to undo this. Sorry, Brosnan—Daniel Craig gets credit for bringing things back on track with 2006’s gritty, Bourne-influenced Casino Royale.

That said, Craig’s own Bond ran into trouble in his next instalment, the dour and impenetrable Quantum of Solace, a film which was about as interesting and easy to understand as its pretentious title. Not even a gold plated Gemma Arteron could save this flop, and the film fell into the self-serious, soon-to-be-forgotten political thriller quagmire alongside the same year’s Body of Lies.

Luckily, from its explosive opening sequence to its killer Adele title track to its gonzo Home Alone style finale, 2012’s Skyfall soon redressed this fun/ self-importance imbalance, as well as giving us an all-time villain via Javier Bardem’s chilling performance. Soon the series was back on track, provided there wasn’t any trouble with rights in its future…