For a nation that has long embraced creativity and a rugged individualism, we Americans savor consistency like we eat McDonald’s. Regularity might be as stimulating as the puzzle on a Happy Meal box, or sometimes about as wholesome as a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, but it’s at least familiar.
But nowhere is this predilection for the known more evident than in the Great American Sequel. While successors to our favorite pop culture products are nothing new, the Sequel has swelled in recent decades from the occasional case of a summer blockbuster (or bomb) to a full-blown epidemic. We have sequels to movies: 20 canon James Bond films, 10 “Star Trek” movies and yes, more than 100 “Girls Gone Wild” movies. Television? The 38-year-old “Star Trek” franchise boasts six series. And if just two “CSI” series and three “Law & Order” series aren’t enough for crime series junkies, fear not: the ‘character-driven’ “CSI: New York” is set for a September premiere and “Law & Order: Trial by Jury” (starring series veteran Jerry Orbach) will debut January 2005. Even soft drinks are sequels — witness Mountain Dew Code Red and LiveWire.
That television network executives are leaning on franchises shouldn’t be a surprise. Offering viewers something they know gives a spinoff series an edge over other new programs during the September premieres. But sometimes, fresh programs aren’t even making it far in the approval process. CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves has, he told CNN, seen only one new pilot this spring.
Of the 53 movies that have grossed more than $200 million at the American box office, at least 17 are sequels and at least 16 more spawned a series. Most of the others either are new enough that a timely sequel is still possible or upcoming (2003’s all-time No. 10 “Finding Nemo,” 2002’s No. 5 “Spider-Man”), don’t lend themselves to series (1994’s No. 42 “Ghost,” 1982’s No. 3 “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”) or both (2004’s No. 7 “The Passion of the Christ”).
That good original movies are rare enough is unfortunate; but that sequels are becoming the norm leaves even less room for them.
This trend has gotten worse in recent years, too. In 2000, one of the 10 top-grossing movies in America was a sequel (No. 3 “Mission: Impossible II”), and one was a remake (No. 1 “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”). In 2001, three were sequels and two were remakes. 2002 saw five sequels, and 2003 had six (including No. 1 “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” and both “Matrix” sequels, which finished in the No. 4 and No. 9 spots).
Movie sequels have mushroomed from a low-risk business decision and good way to spend a summer afternoon into a mass medium artistic crisis. If creativity and newness are the lifeblood of a healthy entertainment culture, too many sequels are a hemorrhage.
Interactive media have the same problem: Of the top 10 best-selling video games between Jan. 1 and Nov. 1, 2003, according to amazon.com, seven were sequels (including the rousing top seller “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” and No. 6 “Madden NFL 2004”, the 14th season of the series). The three that weren’t? They were PlayStation 2 titles No. 2 “Kingdom Hearts”, a not-exactly-a-sequel role-playing game that blends the successful “Final Fantasy” and Disney franchises; No. 7 “Enter the Matrix”, based on the Matrix franchise; and No. 10 “The Sims”, the adaptation of the best-selling PC game. In Japan, where the numbers are more dramatic, merely two of the top 100 games of 2003 were original titles.
At March’s Game Developer’s Conference, Toru Iwatani — best known for creating the super-hit “Pac-Man,” which has spawned many sequels in its own right — lamented, “The gaming industry will shrink unless we start to see new games.”
But there’s something to be said for the market value of originality, too. Because the above rankings for the top-grossing movies aren’t adjusted for ticket price inflation, they’re weighted heavily toward modernity. Compensating, which gives a reasonable estimate of the number of tickets sold, only five of the top 53 movies are sequels (three “Star Wars” sequels, “Thunderball” and “The Return of the King”), although several became the first in a series (No. 9 “The Exorcist” and No. 21 “The Godfather”).
In closing, I should disclose that I’m guilty of a degree of hypocrisy here: I like sequels. I grew up on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine.” One of the finest game cartridges of all time, I still maintain, is Super Nintendo’s “Super Mario All-Stars,” a collection of four games in the Super Mario Brothers series. I’m resigned to sequels, and even if having so many is a bad thing, that won’t stop me from paying for them — fueling more sequels — and enjoying the better ones.