4. It Did Earn A Profit
Okay, not quite that successful. But look at the numbers. Accordig to BoxOfficeMojo, its production budget was $50 million (though some sources place it at $45 million), and its worldwide gross was over $100 million. So the expenses were clearly covered, even when you factor in what would've been spent on advertising (which the studios rarely specify how much was spent, though it's never more than the production budget itself). Plus, plenty of sequels get greenlit with worse returns than that. Still, some studios would like a guarantee of better returns, but a sequel may be able to offer that, particularly because....