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Now that Fast & Furious 7 has hauled in more than $1 billion at the box office, theres no way an eighth movie isn’t in the works. Franchises are big business, after all its hard to think of a successful movie that hasn’t had a sequel tacked on, while even book-based franchises are seeing their final instalments split in two to persuade their loyal audiences to come back to the cinema just one more time.
But while it might not have happened to Fast & Furious yet, most long-running movie franchises eventually run out of steam. Stories need an ending, after all, and at some point, movie-goers run out of patience. When does that point come? Well, its different for every franchise. Let’s get specific
Saw (2004 2010)
The franchise: There are plenty of horror franchises out there, but none that barrelled into cinemas with the relentless inevitability of Saw. After the first movie made mega-bucks, a sequel was greenlit, and then another, and another, and another. None of the films were particularly well-received critically, but the series nadir was Saw 3D though in terms of box office return, Saw VI was the low point.
Signs of trouble: The one-a-year release schedule didnt give Saws creators much time to stop and think, but it wasn’t until the final film that cracks started to appear, with director Kevin Greutert complaining about his contract forcing him to direct Saw 3D instead of Paranormal Activity 2.
Shouldve given up: After the sixth film thats when the money stopped rolling in, and it also provided a perfectly acceptable end to the story.
Paranormal Activity (2009 present)
The franchise: The first film was an ultra-low budget haunted house story that was subtly creepy and came along just as horror fans were tiring of torture porn. It made so much money a sequel was practically required by law, but the second film wasnt as warmly received. Paranormal Activity 3 picked up the pace again, but beyond that, they might as well have not bothered.
Signs of trouble: Paranormal Activity looked set to snatch the Saw franchises Halloween release date, knocking out one film a year for four years but then Paranormal Activity 5 failed to materialise in 2013, and the spin-off The Marked Ones limped out in January 2014 instead.
Shouldve given up: Paranormal Activity 3 wouldve been a good place to stop.
American Pie (1999 2012)
The franchise: Initially a raunchy and silly comedy about high schoolers trying to lose their virginity, the American Pie franchise rumbled on for so long that, in the most recent sequel, those kids were getting back together for their thirteen-year reunion.
Signs of trouble: Though there are only four official American Pie movies, theres also a string of straight-to-DVD spinoffs that feature one or two peripheral cast members.
Shouldve given up: American Reunion did pretty well internationally, but in the US its disappointing returns suggest audiences had had their fill of pie. And nobody needed the spinoffs.
Taken (2008 2015)
The franchise: The Taken franchise is an example of one successful movie spawning more sequels than it can really support. The original was a decent enough action thriller; the two sequels so far, increasingly dull examples of Neesploitation.
Signs of trouble: How many times can one mans daughter get kidnapped?
Shouldve given up: Each sequel so far has seen diminishing box office returns, as well as critical ones. Taken probably shouldve been a one-off.
Star Wars (1977 present)
The franchise: After George Lucas finally convinced a studio to take a chance on his space opera, Star Wars became the highest grossing film to date. Its almost impossible to imagine a world without the original Star Wars trilogy now, almost painful to imagine the sequels might never have existed.
Signs of trouble: Maybe the reverence afforded to the first trilogy was the problem, but when Lucas returned to the franchise to make the prequel trilogy, well, it kind of took the shine off. But The Force Awakens promises to heal those wounds
Shouldve given up: After Return Of The Jedi, but if we must acknowledge six Star Wars films, then we might as well have nine of them. It cant get any worse, right?
The Twilight Saga (2008 2012)
The franchise: Four books, four movies, right? Wrong. The enormously popular vampire love story saw its final instalment split in half, forcing Cullen-fanciers to cough up five times instead of four. Judging by the box office takings, it was the right decision and the final movie was one of the best-reviewed of the lot.
Signs of trouble: Surprisingly, none, really. Twilight haters gonna hate, but the fans stayed loyal throughout.
Shouldve given up: Splitting the final movie in two mightve been a cynical cash-grab, but the franchise got away with it.
Die Hard (1988 2013)
The franchise: Detective John McClanes terrorist-fighting career spans five movies and 25 years. The first movie frequently appears on lists of the best action movies ever made (as well as lists of brilliant alternate Christmas movies) but his most recent outing was significantly less thrilling.
Signs of trouble: The introduction of McClanes son, Jack, as a kind of new generation law enforcement officer, shouldve been a tip off that maybe the good detective was getting a bit long in the tooth.
Shouldve given up: After the third one, in 1995, wouldve been a logical place to stop, but actually 2007s Die Hard 4.0 was a decent return to form. Though it probably shouldve stopped there.
Psycho (1960 1998)
The franchise: Most people dont tend to think of Psycho as a franchise: Alfred Hitchcocks chiller works perfectly well as a standalone. Unfortunately, in the 80s a series of sequels were produced, bringing back Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and putting him in one ridiculous situation after another.
Signs of trouble: Trying to turn as classic suspense movie into a slasher franchise was a doomed idea from the beginning. The kind of plot gymnastics the sequels have to perform to put Norman back in the Bates Motel and conjure up relatives of his victims for him to grapple with just highlight how tidily the first film ended. And the money they made wasnt really worth it, either.
Shouldve given up: After the first one. Lets not even talk about the remake.
Halloween (1978 2009)
The franchise: The granddaddy of slasher movies, John Carpenters Halloween introduced the killer who always got up again. And again. And again. No matter what the heroines of his movies put Michael Myers through, hed always be back for the sequel. To date, thereve been ten Halloween movies, counting the two remakes.
Signs of trouble: The ending of the first Halloween, when Dr Loomis (Donald Pleasance) looks over the balcony to find that Michaels body has vanished, is definite sequel bait. But after the second movie, Carpenter and his co-producer Debra Hill tried to take the franchise in a different direction, delivering a creepy story of killer Halloween masks without a Myers in sight. Unfortunately, audiences werent keen, so Michael was brought back for a series of increasingly daft sequels.
Shouldve given up: After the second one, as far as Michael Myers is concerned. Even Halloween H20 ignores everything that happens after the second movie.
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The stats on the number of women working in the film industry are always depressing. Female directors, in particular, are thin on the ground but since the 90s, the number of female screenwriters and directors has, somehow, gone down. So thats bad news.
Whats the good news? Well, at least the women on this list are kicking ass. Here are fifteen of the most prolific female screenwriters working today
Lucinda Coxon
The writer: Lucinda Coxon is more of a playwright than a screenwriter, with more than 11 produced plays under her belt. But shes written for the screen on and off since 1997, and shes got a couple of particularly exciting projects coming up: Guillermo del Toro brought her on board to work up the script of Crimson Peak, and she also adapted David Ebershoffs novel The Danish Girl for the big screen.
Biggest hit to date: Wild Target
Look out for: The Danish Girl.
Irene Mecchi
The writer: Irene Mecchis filmography is made up almost entirely of animated films: she started out at Disney by writing a short about an environmentally conscious dinosaur called Recycle Rex in 1992, and has since racked up writing credits on The Lion King, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hercules, Brave and more.
Biggest hit to date: The Lion King
Look out for: Strange Magic.
Diablo Cody
The writer: The controversial stripper-turned-blogger-turned-screenwriter might only have five movie credits to her name right now, but since those all date from 2007 and afterwards, and she also wrote 27 episodes of a TV show along the way, it seems like Diablo Cody belongs here.
Biggest hit to date: Juno
Look out for: Ricki And The Flash.
Leslye Headland
The writer: Another one with only a few credits (but ones shes racked up fast), Leslye Headland started her career as a staff writer on Terriers then moved onto movies: she wrote and directed Bachelorette, and squeezed in two more movies before this years Sleeping With Other People, which she also directed. Phew.
Biggest hit to date: Bachelorette
Look out for: Sleeping With Other People.
Aline Brosh McKenna
The writer: Harvard grad Aline Brosh McKenna nabbed herself an agent off the back of a six-week screenwriting course, and never looked back. Her movies tend to be women-centric comedies, including 27 Dresses and Morning Glory.
Biggest hit to date: The Devil Wears Prada.
Look out for: Shes attached to a live action take on the backstory of 101 Dalmatians villain Cruella de Vil, though details are currently sketchy.
Katie Dippold
The writer: Another up-and-comer, Katie Dippold currently only has one produced film on her CV but she also has 54 episodes of MADtv and seven episodes of Parks and Recreation to her name. And since her first movie only came out in 2013 and shes already getting stuck into two more, wed say shes a name worth knowing.
Biggest hit to date: The Heat
Look out for: Ghostbusters.
Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah
The writers: Writing partners Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah started a script together the first night they met, and though that one mightve been a dud, theyve been responsible for tons of comedies ever since 10 Things I Hate About You was their first produced script, but theyre also behind Legally Blonde, Shes The Man and The House Bunny.
Biggest hit to date: Legally Blonde
Look out for: Theyre writing Expendabelles, the all-female take on The Expendables franchise.
Linda Woolverton
The writer: Linda Woolvertons notched up a lot of firsts in her career. After starting out writing for childrens TV shows in the 80s, she became the first woman ever to write an animated film for Disney when she penned Beauty And The Beast which was, itself, the first animated movie to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. More recently, with Alice In Wonderland she became the first woman to write a billion dollar movie alone.
Biggest hit to date: Alice In Wonderland
Look out for: Alice In Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass.
Leslie Dixon
The writer: Leslie Dixon earned a name for herself writing comedies, from Outrageous Fortune to Look Whos Talking Now and Mrs Doubtfire. But after writing so many comedy movies in a row, she worried that shed run out of humour and moved into thrillers, starting with The Thomas Crown Affair. Shes vacillated between the two genres ever since.
Biggest hit to date: Mrs Doubtfire
Look out for: She’s attached to a TV series based on her script for Limitless.
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]]>We count down the 50 greatest sci-fi movies ever made, including old favourites like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Matrix as well as newer flicks like Edge Of Tomorrow and Her, and give you a fabulous feature on each and every one of them.
Expect everything from a dissection of a classic scene from Back To The Future to an interview with Scarlett Johansson about Under The Skin, a set report from Guardians Of The Galaxy, and an appreciation of The Truman Show.
Clocking in at 148 pages, The Ultimate Guide To Sci-fi Movies comes on glossy, high quality paper and is very much something to keep.
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Rampage, which debuted in the distant past of 1986, concerns itself with the affairs of three individuals – George, Lizzy, and Ralph – who are subjected to bizarre medical experiments and become giant monsters (of course). This takes up literally about three seconds of intro screen, after which it’s time to climb buildings, smash tanks, eat people, and wage war on the military-industrial complex until you run out of quarters. Attempts to restart the franchise on N64 didn’t go far; the last time we checked in with the series, it was to give the PS2 version a 6/10 (opens in new tab).
Those prone to worst-case-scenario thinking will doubtless be wringing their hands and saying, “a movie about ordinary people who become giant monsters? Sounds great, surely someone will ruin it!” However, Uwe Boll, cinema’s preeminent ruiner of dodgy game storylines, already made a movie called Rampage (opens in new tab) a few years ago, which wasn’t anything to do with the game and did very badly. Surely the game’s bad karma has thus been erased and we can all look forward to a movie which will pay undue attention to making sure it gets this shot just right:
Above: Um, that’s a tiny little naked lady down the bottom there. Yeah, this was somewhat notorious back in the day
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