Hollywood's Risky Bet on Failing Franchises
Thaddeus oversees the editorial direction of the site’s coverage of the film industry. His contributions focus on box office performance and key trends shaping the movie business.
Hollywood franchises made an outsized contribution to the box office totals for 2025, with nine of the ten highest-grossing domestic releases linked to an existing franchise. This is a long-established pattern that goes back to the 2010’s, when only one or two films out of the top ten in a year were original. However, this dominance of franchises belies the fact that these sequels and spinoffs have been less reliable performers in the post-pandemic era.
In 2025, franchise films such as the third AVATAR (FIRE AND ASH), the second WICKED (FOR GOOD), and all three MCU movies released during the year (CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, THUNDERBOLTS*, and THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS) were less successful than their predecessors. Analysts point to a decline in quality (WICKED and MCU) and innovation (AVATAR).
Studios have a tough needle to thread, creating a film with characters and storylines that audiences will recognize without making them so familiar that it comes off as stale. One example of a well-executed franchise movie is DUNE, which benefited from a significant increase in box office for the second movie in the series (DUNE: PART 2) compared to the first DUNE. Many reviewers commented that DUNE: PART 2 featured an even more interesting story with more technical innovations. So, whole-franchise movies are just as important as they always have been; their success seems to have become less of a guarantee.
