Did Planet of the Apes Start the Sequel Craze?
Planet of the Apes seems to be the 1st movie to have a sequels:
1. PotA
2. Beneath the PotA
3. Escape from the PotA
4. Conquest of the PotA
5. Battle for the PotA
Then came:
The God Father I, II and III
Then Came:
Jaws 1, 2, 3, 4...
Then Came:
Star Wars 4, 5, 6, 1, 2...
Then Came:
Star Trek 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
My 8 year old buy now always assumes that there will be sequel to every movie, he want to know when the next movie is coming out while we are walking out of the theater.
Is the above correct or was there another movie set to start off the Sequel craze beside the PotA?
1. The Love Bug $51,264,000 3/13/69
2. Herbie Rides Again $38,229,000 6/6/74
3. Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo $29,000,000 6/24/77
4. Herbie Goes Bananas $18,000,000 6/25/80
What about the Universal monsters series? Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, etc.... All of these movies had plenty of sequels...
I'm not sure if the Monster Sequels can be topped.
the idea of sequels is simple really.. if something works, do it again.. that they did.
A Cary Grant filmography alone is a great source for finding remakes, since in the 30s and 40s romantic comedy plots were recycled just as they are today, and were often used as a vehicle for Grant and his ilk.
Think about it... we're complaining about Hollywood being out of ideas for remaking movies from 20 or 30 years ago, a couple of the examples above are remakes of very successful, well known films done less than a decade later!
In terms of POTA, as I learned from Behind the Planet of the Apes, the success of the films lead to studio pressure for sequels but also ever-shrinking budgets. The first film was very expensive: the detailed make-up work so that it didn't look like the apes were just wearing cheap rubber masks cost a lot. In the later films, there were a lot more cheap rubber masks. So really, they shouldn't have been so cheap to make, but opportunistic studio execs made sure they were.
After the Thin Man (1936)
Another Thin Man (1939)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
So what's the longest running/most sequels?
Godzilla at 25 "sequels"? He started in 1954
James Bond | Godzilla |
Dr. No From Russia With Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live and Let Die The Man with the Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View to a Kill The Living Daylights Licence to Kill GoldenEye Tomorrow Never Dies The World is Not Enough Die Another Day | Godzilla: King of the Monsters Gigantis, The Fire Monster King Kong vs. Godzilla Godzilla vs. the Thing Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster Godzilla vs. Monster Zero Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster Son of Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Godzilla's Revenge Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster Godzilla vs. Gigan Godzilla vs. Megalon Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster Terror of Mechagodzilla Godzilla 1985 Godzilla vs. Biollante Godzilla vs. King Ghiodrah Godzilla vs. Mothra Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (II) Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla Godzilla vs. Destroyer Godzilla 2000 Godzilla vs. Megaguiras GMK: All Monsters Attack |
So what's the longest running/most sequels?
Actually, I've heard on a few non-consecutive trivia instances that Sherlock Holmes holds the title as most-filmed character.
James Bond never had a TV show.
One could argue that POTA, while not the birth of the sequal craze, was the birth of the Franchise craze. The original film was diversified into T-shirts, books, comics, toys, TV shows, etc. The sequels followed with similar results. I don't think that had ever been done before. Certainly not to as large an extent.
James Bond never had a TV show.
James Bond | Godzilla |
Dr. No From Russia With Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live and Let Die The Man with the Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View to a Kill The Living Daylights Licence to Kill GoldenEye Tomorrow Never Dies The World is Not Enough Die Another Day | Godzilla: King of the Monsters Gigantis, The Fire Monster King Kong vs. Godzilla Godzilla vs. the Thing Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster Godzilla vs. Monster Zero Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster Son of Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Godzilla's Revenge Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster Godzilla vs. Gigan Godzilla vs. Megalon Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster Terror of Mechagodzilla Godzilla 1985 Godzilla vs. Biollante Godzilla vs. King Ghiodrah Godzilla vs. Mothra Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (II) Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla Godzilla vs. Destroyer Godzilla 2000 Godzilla vs. Megaguiras GMK: All Monsters Attack |