10 Upcoming Movie Sequels That Are Completely Unnecessary

Sequels are the lifeblood of Hollywood, which is something that's been blatantly obvious for a long time now, but announcing further adventures before the latest installment has even been released both removes any dramatic stakes and makes it abundantly clear that the filmmakers are holding back for repeat outings.

Too many movies these days are all setup and no payoff, which is the reason why so many proposed cinematic universes have failed at the first hurdle. The Dark Universe, King Arthur and the Legend of the Sword, Robin Hood, Power Rangers, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and countless others were so pre-occupied with letting us know that these movies were only a small part of a much bigger world and that there was so much more to come, they forgot to tell a decent enough story that would even convince audiences to come back for more.

Sequels aren't going anywhere, but they should at least happen organically or with good reason, other than simply trying to continue cashing in on a successful or popular property that has the all-important name recognition and brand awareness, that the studios continue to fawn over through a series of unnecessary follow-ups.

Gerard Butler has settled comfortably into his domain as one of the B-level action movie's biggest stars, and while there's always something strangely comforting about watching the gruff Scotsman barrel his way through an army of faceless goons, Den of Thieves is hardly crying out for a sequel.

The first movie seemed to reach a happy and pretty definitive ending, and it largely flew under the radar after earning a little over $80m at the box office and receiving reviews that could generously be described as mixed at best.

Den of Thieves didn't have a shred of originality about it, but Butler can't rely on those Various Things Have Fallen sequels forever so from his point of view at least, turning another one of his generic starring vehicles into a franchise makes sense.