The success of "Twisters" proves that America's affection for sequels still endures.

 

"Twisters" made a record-breaking debut over the weekend, surpassing expectations and indicating that disaster movies, Hollywood's newest leading man Glen Powell, and sequels are still popular with American audiences despite franchise exhaustion rumors.

With an $80.5 million domestic weekend, the sequel to a 1996 thriller featuring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt has smashed records as the highest-grossing natural disaster film opener - which is apparently its own category. The previous titles holding this title were "2012" with $65.2M and "The Day After Tomorrow," earning only slightly more at $68.7M over their first three days in theaters before being overtaken by this latest blockbuster hit!

2024 is shaping up to be a year dominated by sequels, as evidenced thus far. The worldwide earnings for "Dune: Part Two" surpassed $711 million, while the 10th installment in the franchise and fourth in its modern saga - "Kingdom of the Planet of Apes"- garnered $396 million globally. Furthermore, "Bad Boys: Ride or Die," which marks Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's fourth entry into their namesake franchise, likewise amassed $388 million around the world.

Subsequently, Pixar released "Inside Out 2," a sequel that has grossed $1.4 billion and is now the highest-earning film from Pixar ever created, second only to Disney's "Frozen II" as the top-grossing animated movie in history. With such success under its belt, Pixar announced intentions to pursue further opportunities for sequels should they prove similarly victorious like their latest creation - "Inside Out 2."

Despite franchise fatigue being a common issue, "A Quiet Place: Day One" and "Despicable Me 4" managed to surpass expectations by earning significant profits. Although "Inside Out 2" outperformed the previous movie at the box office this time, the latter claimed victory in terms of top spot attainment. Critics suggest that films like these solidify audience interest in subsequent releases based on their proven success rate - as seen with past successes such as 'Twisters.'

Several original films have struggled while there were multiple wins. Kevin Costner's personal endeavor "Horizon" earned $32 million, but its already filmed sequel was pulled from theaters for now. Additionally, Apple's "Fly Me to the Moon," which starred Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, only made $9.4 million domestically. In comparison with 2023 when three original movies including "Barbie," Oppenheimer,” and “Sound of Freedom” dominated at the summer box office; these numbers don't seem great enough..

Several sequels underperformed this year, including "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" which grossed just $26.3 million in its debut weekend despite being the fifth installment of the popular franchise led by George Miller. Likewise, "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," a follow-up to 2021's soft reboot of the beloved '80s films, earned around $45 million over its opening weekend - roughly on par with its predecessor from last year.

Jamie Broadnax, founder and CEO of Black Girl Nerds - a podcast and film culture website, suggests that people tend to get weary of movie franchises when they are bombarded with an excessive number of titles. She cites Marvel Studios as an example.

In 2023, Marvel encountered difficulties with its sequels, as "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" and "The Marvels," both connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, failed to achieve the level of success that was expected of them.

This weekend marks yet another test of the power of sequels, as Marvel's "Deadpool and Wolverine" hits theaters. This is the 34th installment in the MCU series, and third film in the highly anticipated "Deadpool" trilogy. Industry projections estimate an opening weekend box office haul of around $160 million, putting it on par with other successful sequel debuts like "Iron Man," "Thor," and Guardians of The Galaxy." In fact, this will be Imax's widest release ever for a movie - showing at 1,642 screens across 83 markets according to Craig Dehmel from Imax Distribution.

Is it possible that we will witness the release of sequels in 2024? Some potential candidates like "Alien: Romulus," "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," "Joker: Folie à Deux", and"Gladiator II," are being considered for production. Additionally, a continuation to the horror film Smile is currently under development. Whether these films can meet or exceed their predecessors' success from this year remains unknown; nevertheless, current trends suggest that there's still life left in creating sequels.

According to David Gross, the publisher of Franchise Entertainment Research newsletter that analyzes box office trends, it is essential for a prominent franchise series to retain its audience base over time. However, he also stated that viewers' responses are based on one movie at a time.