Since the 1870’s and beyond, movies have been a form of entertainment for the masses. Movies come in a wide variety of genres, from sci-fi movies to documentaries; many of these stories are made for sequels to be created. However, as of the dropping of the first trailer to “The Devil Wears Prada 2” on Nov. 12th, 2025, I’ve been thinking. Is this really necessary?
Sequels have picked up speed in the 1970’s but became a staple in the 2000’s. Many popular examples include the “Star Wars” franchise and the “Home Alone” movies.
Take the “Back to the Future” trilogy. The first movie has a 92 percent on rotten tomatoes, while the second has a 63 percent. Most of the fans of the movies can agree that the second wasn’t nearly as good as the first.
With a lot of sequels, it can reverse the work of the first and make the first of the movies seem worse.
On the contrary, however, there are movies with a sequel where the second movie is actually the better one such as “Paddington 2” where it had a 99 percent on rotten tomatoes.
I feel it should be mentioned that I am in fact a fan of many sequels and some of my favorites are sequels. However, nowadays with big studios like Hollywood or Disney, they are simply producing sequel movies or remakes instead of original ideas and new concepts. This is mainly because of what is called a cash grab, where they make a sequel to a beloved movie- not because they want to, but because they knew the first movie made them a lot of money, and so they make another which is typically worse because they know that it will make a lot of money due to fans loving the first and wanting to see the new one.
A sequel should be something that makes sense in the movie’s universe. It should follow in chronological order to the events already happening in the series. An example of movies that do this well would be the How to train your dragon movies, which are deeply interconnected and make sense in its own universe. Meanwhile, many romantic comedies fail to portray the original with the same quality.
If a movie does get a sequel, it should be because it is actually well thought out and does the original justice. A great example of this are the “Incredibles” movies, because though the first movie is a 96 percent on rotten tomatoes while the second is 93 percent, it did a great job continuing the story further.
Ultimately, movies that should have sequels are the ones where it adds and makes the original story even better than the first, instead of being a cash grab. There must be passion in the project instead of greed. Do not make a sequel if it ruins the original.
