10 Movie Franchises That Got Better With Each Film

One largely unbroken rule of filmmaking is that the longer a movie series drags on, the worse it's going to get: just look at pretty much any horror franchise to see that law of diminishing returns kicking in after no more than two or three movies. Though studios simply won't care as long as their opening weekend is lucrative to fans of what came before, it can be pretty heartbreaking. But every so often, a franchise will come along that just seems to go from strength to strength, improving with each new installment. Granted, the majority of these exceptions to the rule are trilogies, because once a series gets to the fourth or fifth movie, it's pretty difficult to sustain let alone improve upon the quality of what came before (unless, as in a few cases here, it was never particularly great to begin with). Whether these franchises started good and got awesome, or started bad and unexpectedly improved, each has managed to top itself with each subsequent entry, proving that creative stagnation doesn't have to set in with movie sequels, even if it almost inevitably does the vast majority of the time. Here are 10 movie franchises that bucked the trend and restored faith in Hollywood's ability to make movie sequels that were actually worth the time and money.