This summer has undoubtedly been the summer of sequels. Every top-performing movie this year has been a sequel to a movie that was made already. Sequels can be great, especially ones that have something new to add to the story. I would go so far to say that many of the sequels this year deserve their success.
But after going from June to August with familiar characters in familiar worlds, we are tired. Worse than that, audiences are bored. Watching remake after remake, and countless sequels and prequels to beloved films. Audiences want something new, fresh, original. This phenomenon is known as sequel fatigue.
Sequel fatigue is the phenomenon of audiences being done with sequels in totality. They are not interested in what happens in Despicable Me 4 (understandably), nor are they interested in the in-universe sequel to Twister. Sequel Fatigue makes audiences just not interested in movies because they feel like they are being sold poorly made nonsense. But what we all are wondering is how did we get here in the first place?
Objectively Too Many Sequels
The amount of sequels that have been released this summer is notorious. On one hand, the sheer amount is staggering and ridiculous. How on earth could there be a time where there are more sequels and remakes than original films all played back-to-back like this? On the other hand, who even is the audience for these films at this point? The portion of the audience that is passionate about movies and going to the movies are constantly overlooked, but they are the portion that cares the most about the quality of movies. But there is no reason for movie executives to ever prioritize these viewers.
The problem is that people who like movies, are always going to see a movie even if it is poor quality. Disney movies have been so notorious lately for underperforming expectations that when they do even slightly well it is news worthy.
A prime example of this phenomenon is inside out 2, where simply not being a bad movie made it a massive success. There are too many sequels, and there are too many sequels of poor quality. This has been occuring at higher rates because of how audiences have behaved in recent years. Going to the movies is expensive, particularly if you are going with a date or as a family. So audiences are inclined to select films that they know they will like, and sequels offer exactly that to the audience that is not seeing a new movie every week.
Therefore, to maximize profits from movie fans and casual moviegoers, it makes sense that studios want to capitalize on IP’s that are known to be popular to minimize risk. All of this is apart of the corporatization of the film industry often to the detriment to the artistic and storytelling elements.
Corporatization of Film
There is a direct financial incentive for movie production to prioritize sequel production over producing original movies. There is a large amount of risk when it comes to producing high quality movies. When hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested into a project, studios want to see not only their investment returned, but to additionally profit from the movie. It is not uncommon to hear of movies that completely flop and fail to return the investment made into them, which is a fate that most studios want to avoid.
Creating a sequel therefore can be seen as safe, with less time spent coming up with an idea, characters, finding new actors, etc more time and money are saved. Additionally, with audiences familiar with the characters, setting, they are more likely to see the movie because of their familiarity. But, there is a limit to how many sequels people can bare to see at a time. Sequel fatigue is the consequence of studios outproducing sequels to original movies at consistently high rates.
This effect doubles if the original movie itself comes from some other form of media such as comics. Marvel movies are highly succesful because they came with an established fanbase, and gained new fans through the movies made. And because all the movies were interconnected within the same universe, it allowed movies that were fresh to continually be made while still reducing costs associated with production. But as we have experienced, even “universes” have a clear tipping point.
Even Marvel Can’t Be Marvel
When it comes to sequel fatigue, there is not better example than the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the beginning the films were fantastic, with interesting characters and stories that could be told over and over again. Everything was fantastic from the writing and acting to the set design and special effects. The collection of movies was a cash cow that seemingly could be milked indefinitely. Until suddenly, audiences were over it.
The movies became boring to the audience because they were so culturally relevant that once the main story concluded with End Game, the story was no longer interesting. Rather it felt, drawn out and unnecessary and far too complicated for the average viewer or the super-fan to enjoy. Since End Game, Marvel has failed to produce movies that are of the same popularity and relevance that they once enjoyed because audiences are tired. And far too many other movies have tried and failed to become their own cinematic universe’s because they fundamentally misunderstand what audiences want. It is not about the interconnectedness, or having characters from different movies interact with each other. Marvel was popular because they made good movies about superheroes. That is the extent of what people want, good movies.
So if you simply want to enjoy a movie on a date again, there is a very simple solution individuals can make. Go see an original movie, even if you are unsure if you will like it or not. The only thing individuals can do to influence what is being made is to do so with their wallets. Support original movies that are taking risks, and don’t support sequels that just leave you disappointed. We are all feeling the sequel fatigue right now, so if at all possible, don’t make it worse by watching bad sequels, and support your local movie theaters showing original movies.
