8 Upcoming Movie Sequels That Are Doomed To Fail
Space Jam 2 would do great! In 1998.
It's understandable that movie studios would want to keep churning out sequels to any and all promising properties they can get their hands on.
As much as we all want our movies to have tons of artistic merit, the bottom line is that they're made to turn a profit, and sequels - no matter how outdated, irrelevant, or tired the franchise may seem - at least have a foundation from which to start generating cash.
But sometimes, you have to question the reasoning behind the decision to greenlight certain sequels. Zoolander 2? Why. Just why. Son Of The Mask? That was always going to fail. Independence Day: Resurgence? Don't even get us started.
Unfortunately for studio executives, there are a few upcoming sequels that could end up in the same esteemed (read: terrible) company, from movies that feel like they're being released too late, to properties that don't seem likely to resonate with today's movie-going public.
Hopefully we're dead wrong and these eight follow-ups are stellar pieces of cinematic beauty, but at the moment, they're not instilling us with a whole lot of confidence.
8. Tintin 2
2011's The Adventures of Tintin was a solid movie, but when was the last time you heard anyone talking about it? Who's clamouring for a sequel? Where's that giant pop-culture footprint that it left, a footprint that would demand a return to this universe and these characters?
Answer: there isn't one.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, the original was a decent family adventure that was generally well-received, but it came and went without making much of a splash, and it's hardly cited among the director's best work. For a sequel to be successful, the original needs to have left a strong lasting impression on audiences, and Tintin didn't.
It wasn't a massive hit at the box-office, either. With $373 million worldwide on an estimated $135 million budget, its theatrical run will have only just scraped it a profit, if you factor in high marketing costs.
If Tintin 2 launched in 2013 or even 2014, things would have been different. But - at this rate - ten years after the original? It'll be an entry in a franchise that's long since missed its chance at success. Sequels that wait too long don't exactly have the best track record.