No More Sequels! Well At Least Not So Many...

'Sherlock Holmes 2' to Face-Off with 'Mission Impossible: 4' and 'Chipmunks 3'

This has gotten crazy. I know the sequel business is the Hollywood cash cow, but we consumers need to make it known that we're no longer interested in non-stop unoriginal films. Do we really need a fourth installment of 'Mission Impossible'? I'd contend we didn't even need a second one. 'Chipmunks 3'? Pure greed. Studio executives cynically bank on a mass of kids and parents spending oodles of cash on yet another goofy chipmunks affair. And they're probably right. Don't be surprised if its 3D too. 

Clearly, these same executives have somewhat of a tin ear when it comes to grasping the mood of we filmgoers. May 2010 saw the weakest start of the summer season since 2001!

After record-breaking grosses through April, 2010 hit a wall in May, which turned out to be one of the weakest starts to a summer movie season in recent years.

Overall business came in at $905 million, which was down 11 percent from May 2009 and nearly five percent from May 2008. May 2010 ranked as the seventh highest-grossing May on record, following the all-time highest-grossing January, March and April as well as the second-highest February earlier this year. Box Office Mojo

 Now May 2010 was rife with sequels, starting with the universally-disappointing 'Iron Man 2', followed by mediocre performances by 'Shrek Forever After' and 'Sex and the City 2'. I think the trusty-old "let's just make a sequel' bit has worn out its welcome. 

You see, with ticket prices increasing, this stagnant economy, and an overall dour national mood...people are not going to just shovel hard-earned money (or credit) to well-marketed junk. Unfortunately, if these sequels were up-to-snuff, we wouldn't be having this discussion. But they weren't, which leads me to my next point...

Creatively, what else can you do at with a fourth installment??! We didn't need a second film for 'Sex and the City', we had six wonderful television seasons and a satisfying big-screen adaptation, leave those ladies alone. But no. Four 'Shrek' movies is also gratuitous. At what point has the audience seen it all before??! 

Did I fail to mention that they're shooting a fourth 'Pirates of the Caribean' film as we speak?

Ugh.