10 Reasons Why 2016's Blockbuster Season Sucked
6. Failing Franchises
Franchises have been a key part of cinema for decades now. If audiences love a movie, chances are they'll turn out again and again to see the same set of characters. However, a quick glance at this year's summer blockbusters makes it seem as though franchise fatigue may finally be setting in. Its all well and good churning out sequel after sequel, but the effort has to be put in to make them... you know, good.
It seems so simple on paper; if your movie sucks, people won't really want to pay to see it. Clearly this is something Hollywood has yet to realize given the sheer number of under-performing sequels that hit multiplexes this year.
Alice in Wonderland may have made over a billion dollars, but wasn't exactly well-regarded. The sequel was just as bad, and earned less than $300m. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows earned less than half than its predecessor, as did Independence Day: Resurgence.
Even the usually-reliable X-Men, Ice Age, Kung Fu Panda and rebooted Star Trek franchise suffered from the law of diminishing returns this year. Could the sequel bubble be at bursting point? Unlikely, but surely the studios will now begin to realize that you can't just slap a familiar title onto something and expect audiences to lap it up regardless of quality.