Fans generally have a rough idea of ​​what to expect from film franchises, but some franchises are forced to abandon their original premises in order to sustain themselves. This is often the case when a franchise emerges unexpectedly from a major independent film. To turn these films into long-running franchises, filmmakers sometimes need to come up with completely new ideas.
Popularity and box office success often determine whether a film will get a sequel or not, even if there was originally no intention to expand the story. In these cases, many franchises conform to pre-established genre tropes, becoming more generic action or science fiction franchises because they offer more potential for varied narratives. It's not always easy to do this without betraying the spirit of the franchise, but it is possible.
10
Fast and Furious
Fast and Furious went from street racing to international espionage and major heists
THE Fast and Furious the franchise quickly spiraled out of control, but it's worth remembering that it started out as a relatively grounded story of an undercover cop infiltrating a group of street racers. Ultimately, the success of the first film meant there was a lot of franchise potential. 2 Fast 2 Furious in fact, it continues the same premise, with Brian disguising himself as Roman.
After 2 Fast 2 Furious, the franchise began to move away from the idea of ​​undercover police work.
After 2 Fast 2 Furious, the franchise began to move away from the idea of ​​undercover police work. Brian and Dom got together for real in 2009 Fast and Furious, and before long they were organizing robberies together. Eventually, Dom's team also started getting involved in international espionage, and the idea of ​​Brian as a cop was largely forgotten. The franchise managed to continue after Paul Walker's death, showing that Brian's story became secondary. Fast and Furious 11 could be the biggest and most explosive film yet, and that wouldn't have been possible if the franchise had stuck to its original idea.
9
Foreigner
Alien was forced to change after exhausting its premise
THE Foreigner The franchise started with a brilliant sci-fi horror film and followed it up with a more action-packed sequel. The first two films are still the best of the Foreigner franchise, but they created a problem for the future. Foreigner it derives much of its intrigue from the mystery of the xenomorph's ever-evolving nature, from facehugger to chest-buster to fully formed being. Once the xenomorph can be understood and seen in the cold light of day, the mystery begins to evaporate.
The first two films are still the best of the Foreigner franchise, but they created a problem for the future.
Aliens Dealt with this problem by changing gears. The sequel is packed with much more gun action than its predecessor. There are still some chilling moments of horror, but many of them are built on dramatic irony, as Ripley and the audience are the only ones with knowledge of the aliens' destructive potential. Other sequels and prequel films have increasingly strayed further from the initial conceptuntil Alien: Romulus I tried to bring things back to basics.
8
The Pink Panther
The first film has little to do with the rest of the franchise
1963 The Pink Panther is a hilarious crime caper that focuses on the battle of wits between a dashing jewel thief and a clumsy detective. It doesn't immediately warrant a sequel, but it ended up becoming one of the longest-running comedy film franchises of all time, and there are reports that it's being revived once again with Eddie Murphy taking on the role of Inspector Clouseau.
The first film doesn't immediately guarantee a sequel, but it ended up becoming one of the longest-running comedy film franchises of all time.
To create a viable future, the Pink Panther the franchise left David Niven's thief behind and decided to focus solely on Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau character. The first sequence, A shot in the darkis an Agatha Christie-style cop who makes no mention of jewelry robberies. Subsequent sequels returned to the story of the rare diamond known as the Pink Panther, but it wasn't always that way, and the true essence of the franchise became Sellers' performance as the idiot detective.
7
John Wick
John Wick evolved its premise in some surprising ways
John Wick represented a breath of fresh air when the first film was released in 2014. It shook up the action genre that has already been imitated countless times. Instead of trying to recover the magic of this first explosive outing, the John Wick the franchise has changed a lot over the years, and 2023 Chapter 4 highlights how far you've come. Comparing the most recent film to the first highlights how the franchise evolved from an initially small-scale premise.
John Wick is a fairly straightforward revenge thriller about a retired hitman who returns to the criminal underworld when his fragile peace is disturbed by a group of thugs. What makes the film so unique is the subtle world-building, with elements like The Continental and the mysterious gold coins hinting at a wider world of killers. The franchise's sequels dive headlong into this world, and John tries to overthrow an unfair system. The action gets more stylistic, the characters get more eccentric, and the grounded, gritty appeal of the first film is almost completely abandoned. The premise isn't entirely forgotten, but it evolves in unexpected ways.
6
The Hangover
Comedy franchises often run out of space quickly
The Hangover is built around the premise that four friends spend the wildest night of their lives during a bachelor party in Las Vegas, and three of them wake up the next day struggling to figure out what happened while trying to locate their missing friend. Most comedy films are built around a singular premise that cannot be repeatedand The Hangover is especially unique because the idea is that the events of the film are extremely unlikely.
The franchise suffered a drastic downward trajectory, as it never managed to present another premise as fun and exciting as the first.
The HangoverThe immense success led to a sequel, but instead of innovating on the premise, it tried to repeat it. The idea that such a bizarre event would happen twice isn't that funny. For the trio, The Hangover It completely abandoned its original premise, with the friends being kidnapped by a crime lord. The franchise suffered a drastic downward trajectory, as it never managed to present another premise as fun and exciting as the first.
5
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park was forced to expand its facilities
The change in Jurassic Park the franchise is best illustrated by the change in its name. THE Jurassic World the films seek to expand the scope of the originals. To do that, they need to bring back another dinosaur-themed amusement park, as if no one learned anything from the many deaths in the original trilogy. This concept usually works very well as it relates to the theme of arrogance.
When exceeding the limits of the park, the Jurassic Park the franchise has abandoned the haunted house-style horror that gives Steven Spielberg's original film so many of its memorable moments. There are still a lot of scares in Jurassic World franchise, but the more recent films also have more of a focus on spectacular action on the big screen. Jurassic World Rebirth promises a new dawn for the franchise, but will likely continue that trend.
4
Rocky
The Rocky franchise managed to switch protagonists while still feeling authentic
Rocky is the definitive underdog story, following the exploits of an amateur boxer trying to make it big in Philadelphia. As the franchise produced more and more sequels, it became a more generic sports movie franchise. After 2006 Rock Balboa, the franchise was considered closed, but came back with a bang Belief. THE Belief The franchise era gradually moved more and more away from the franchise model. Rocky films.
THE Belief The franchise era gradually moved more and more away from the franchise model. Rocky films.
The first Belief The film follows many of the same story beats as Rocky, ending with a defeat in the ring that still feels like a victory. The sequels don't have the same adherence to the franchise's history. Eventually the only thing that truly unites Rocky and Belief is the sport of boxingas Donnie's journey evolves in a natural way that deviates from Rocky's story. It's as if there were two separate boxing franchises with the same name.
3
Mission: Impossible
The Spy Thriller became a more generic action franchise
Looking back at the original Mission: Impossible the film highlights how much the franchise has changed. It says a lot about the film's priorities that the most moving and iconic scene is the Langley robbery, in which Ethan is suspended from the ceiling by wires. Mission: Impossible is a tense spy thriller that doesn't lean into explosive action until the final chase scene, which presents a stark contrast to the rest of the franchise.
How the Mission: Impossible the franchise continued, abandoned its original premise in favor of spectacular action set pieces. There are some films that still feature the kind of nerve-wracking tension of the original, but Mission: Impossiblehis acrobatics became a central part of his appeal. Ethan Hunt's most important ability in the first film is his intelligence, not his ability to absorb blows and perform remarkable stunts.
2
Planet of the Apes
The Prequel series changed the focus of the franchise
The original Planet of the Apes depends on a brilliant twist, and that's forced the franchise to keep finding new ways forward. Once the revelation that the planet was Earth was exhausted, the sequels delved into time travel, mutants and other science fiction concepts to see what would happen. The original franchise has an uneven reputation and has never regained the power of the first film.
THE Planet of the Apes The prequel series reinvigorated the franchise, mainly because it found an interesting path worth exploring without retreading the same ground as the original.
THE Planet of the Apes The prequel series reinvigorated the franchise, mainly because it found an interesting path worth exploring without retreading the same ground as the original. The prequels focus more on the apes' perspective with each entry. There are still humans in supporting roles, but they are no longer the main characters, like George Taylor in the original. The future of Planet of the Apes the franchise may try to balance the human and ape stories a little more.
1
Die Hard
The initial idea for Die Hard could only last one more sequel
There are some things that do Die Hard stand out from similar action films of the time. Alan Rickman's villainous role is a big plus, the Christmas setting has made it a holiday cult classic, and the action scenes are relentlessly exciting. The most important factor is Bruce Willis' performance as John McClane, however. John became one of the greatest action heroes of all time, and the franchise managed to move away from its original concept by focusing on him.
Subsequent Die Hard the films tell all kinds of different stories, with John McClane being the only factor holding them together.
Die Hard 2 plays it safe by repeating a similar story to the original. Once again, John McClane is in the wrong place at the wrong time and is forced to eliminate a team of terrorists before tragedy strikes. Die Hard 2 it almost manages to tell a similar story, but it probably wouldn't have been sustainable without some new ideas in the sequels. Subsequent Die Hard the films tell all kinds of different stories, with John McClane being the only factor holding them together.