20 Movie Franchises That Carried On For Way Too Long

9. Saw

The Movies: Saw (2004), Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), Saw IV (2007), Saw V (2008), Saw VI (2009), Saw 3D (2010) The original Saw opened to $18.2m on its way to a worldwide gross of over $100m during the Halloween weekend of 2004. And just like that, a new horror franchise was born. Armed with a tiny budget of just $1.2m, a unique concept and a hell of a third act twist, the movie was a lot more cerebral than the 'torture porn' label the franchise would become associated with. Of course, it would quickly go the route of every other major horror franchise with a slew of quickly and cheaply made sequels being released every year to solid Halloween weekend debuts, only to burn out quickly at the box office in a few weeks. The novelty of the often ingeniously-designed traps wore off after a couple of movies, the backstory and mythology of the series became increasingly complicated and convoluted, with the characters being reduced to standard horror archetypes in no time. Nevertheless, due to the low production costs the Saw series became the highest-grossing horror franchise in history with worldwide box office receipts of $873.3m. Franchise fatigue set in quickly, with grosses steadily declining between Saw III ($164.9m) and Saw VI ($68.2m). However, the added novelty of 3D saw the 'final' movie in the series rebound with over $136m, showing the gimmick could extend the legs on a tired franchise. Despite being billed as 'The Final Chapter', it has been rumored recently that Lionsgate are 'actively developing' an eighth installment, if they can find the right take on the material. I can't wait...