The world of movie-making is an industry that has survived some of it's toughest battles throughout the past decade. The introduction of streaming services has massively impacted the kind of content we see in movies. The global pandemic saw the movie-making industry take a punch to the face, both creatively and financially, and the recent internal strikes across the SAG-AFTRA foundation saw Hollywood's creatives take a stand against the use of artificial intelligence in creating content for cinema.
But it seems very much the case that Hollywood still has one card up it's sleeve that very rarely seems to let it down - that being the power of the sequel.
Movie sequels play a huge role in modern day cinema, a much bigger role than what we may think. Regardless of whether a movie is marketed as a sequel or not, there are a large handful of films that go under the radar as sequels.
Recent examples of this would be M. Night Shyamalan's 'Split' which saw James McAvoy star as a grown man suffering from dissociative identity disorder. Upon the release of 'Glass' in 2019, it was revealed that the three films (Unbreakable, Split and Glass) would become a trilogy, but at the time very few audiences were aware of the idea that 'Split' originated from any recent source material.
Regardless of this, it goes without saying that the post-pandemic age of cinema has played the sequel card way more times than it should have. The most recent example of this would be Nia DaCosta's MCU debut, 'The Marvels'.
Although movies within the MCU are all generally classed as franchise movies as they all belong within the same cinematic universe, 'The Marvels' was without a doubt a sequel to the very successful pre-pandemic release of 'Captain Marvel'.
Despite it's predecessor grossing a worldwide box office total of $1.128 Billion, the sequel was a more than disappointing return to the storyline of Carol Danvers as it reportedly lost a whopping total of $237 million. Making the movie by far one of the least successful projects within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But on the other hand to this, there are still many sequels released in today's modern age of cinema that tend to flourish at the global box office. One of the most recent examples of this would be Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi/fantasy epic 'Dune: Part Two'.
The movie plays it's role as a sequel to 2021's 'Dune: Part One', based on Frank Herbert's 1969 novel. At the time, it was made unaware to audiences that there would be a 'Dune: Part Two' and that Paul Atreides' storyline would need wrapping across several movies.
But following the immense amount of financial success that 'Dune: Part One' oversaw following it's cinematic release in 2021, not much time had passed before Villeneuve announced that the film would receive it's sequel.
'Dune: Part Two', released in March of 2024, grossed over $711.8 million at the worldwide box office, proving that sequels still have more than enough to say in today's market of movie production. The movie has also been well received by a number of critics within the industry to the point where it is expected to bath in success at the 2025 Academy Awards.
The official development of Todd Phillip's 'Joker: Folie a Deux' is rock hard evidence that sequels are deemed close to essential to any successful movie nowadays. In 2019, Phillips (director of 'Joker') was questioned about the idea of a sequel to the cultural phenomenon that saw Joaquin Phoenix win his first Academy Award, and immediately shut the idea down.
"We have no plan for a sequel," - Todd Phillips (Sept. 2019)
However, 5 years and a Lady Gaga later, we are set to see Joaquin Phoenix put on the face paint one more time as Arthur Fleck and reprise one of the most iconic roles of his career.
Proving even further that if the fans want a sequel, they're going to get a sequel.
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