The silver screen has always been home to long-running and beloved series, yet it seems readily apparent that the amount of originality in the cinema has decreased.
From remakes of beloved Disney Renaissance films to modern juggernaut movie franchises like The Fast and the Furious, original movies seem to be on the decline.
Yet, is this actually the case? And even if it is true, has the quality and reception of these movies taken a hit?
When taking a look at recent blockbuster releases, sequels like Joker: Folie à Deux, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice brought back well-liked IP to the big screen.
However, the reception of these movies is mixed, with both audiences and critics lambasting Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker sequel, with audience and critic Rotten Tomato scores both being at a miserable 32%.
Meanwhile, the Tim Burton-helmed Beetlejuice sequel, released more than 36 years after the original, boasts a respectable certified fresh rating of 77% and an audience score of 79%.
Despite the small sample size, it is evident that the reception of these movies shows no correlation with whether or not the story is a sequel.
But what of other movies in theaters right now? Just how many bring new characters and stories to the big screen?
Beyond the aforementioned sequels, movies like Paramount’s Transformers One, despite not being a sequel, still continue long-running expanded universes with new stories, while the seemingly original production in DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot is actually an adaptation of a well-known novel.
While there are original works in the movie industry, it is clear that most of the big names in theaters are not original works.
Continuing on, the prior movies discussed were sequels or standalone films, which begs the question, How do large franchises such as Marvel fare?
Looking recently, Deadpool and Wolverine, despite being a financial and critical success, belies an ongoing problem with large cinematic universes.
Previous titles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe such as Eternals, The Marvels, and Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania had poor critic scores yet had decent to good audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
This fact leads one to conclude that audiences are still receptive to the continued narrative provided by the MCU sequels. Yet this doesn’t provide the entire context.
Those movies were box office flops when compared to prior Marvel successes, making significantly less money than other MCU movies. Notably, The Marvels did not even break even on its production budget of $273.8 million, even when factoring in a $55 million subsidy for filming in the UK.
Further, these movies had theatrical releases in 2021 and 2023, years that had 4 and 3 Marvel movies released each, respectively.
It is also noteworthy that Deadpool and Wolverine, the latest Marvel movie, has received favorable reviews and made more than $1.3 billion in the global box office, all while being the only MCU film to be released in 2024.
Those points lead to the conclusion that viewers flagging interest in the franchise may have to do with the inundation of these films each year rather than the lack of originality dissuading ticket sales.
And it’s safe to say that non-original media can still be well done and engaging, as audiences are still receptive to sequels and reboots, as evidenced by the previously mentioned staggering $1.3 billion success of Deadpool and Wolverine.
So, while originality in movies may not be much of a factor in commercial and even critical success, a film’s quality and fatigue caused by constant film franchise releases certainly have an effect on box office success.
