The Sequel Era

We (the film industry) are headed down a path that benefits conformity and unoriginality and it needs to be reversed. 

            The Golden Age of Hollywood spanned from 1927-1948 and was run completely by the large studios of the time. Following that era, we had Americas version of the New Wave movement, the New Hollywood Era. Led by the Movie Brats (Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, and Scorsese, to name a few), the New Hollywood era, in my opinion was the real golden age. The sheer number of movies decreased due to the fall of the studio system, but original ideas, new techniques, and innovative filmmaking principles were crafted. Beginning in the 80s, we entered the Blockbuster Age of Hollywood, supposedly stretching out through present date. A new studio system was created, and marketing became one of the most important aspects of a film. Though that is all still true, it is my belief that we have entered a new era. Ladies and gentlemen, let me be the first to welcome you to The Sequel Era. 

The Sequel Era: driven by franchises, sequels, and the sole desire to make money. Looking back at 2019, you do not have to search too hard to find the top grossing films in the United States and to discover a repeating and revealing pattern within them.

1.     Avengers: Endgame - $2,797,800,564

2.     The Lion King - $1,656,309,419

3.     Spider-Man: Far From Home - $1,131,927,996

4.     Captain Marvel - $1,128,274,794

5.     Toy Story 4 - $1,073,392,125

6.     Aladdin - $1,050,693,953

7.     Joker – 1,048,923,625

8.     Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw- $758,910,100

9.     Frozen 2 - $758,060,467

The list goes on.

Gone is the day where actors like Vince Vaughn could flourish, playing role after role in original romantic comedies. In The Sequel Era, Hollywood is compressed. Empire giants like Marvel, Disney, and Netflix control the industry. Actors and filmmakers scramble to work for these giants, thrilled with playing the same superhero or same animated character over and over again, squandering original thought. 

I find myself falling into the trap of The Sequel Era, just like everyone else. I am drawn to the theater to watch films that I’ve been waiting to watch ever since the massive cliffhanger of the previous. 

Of course, a few Auteurs remain, and television has remained intact, with Netflix and Amazon Prime original series rising to the forefront. But the Sequel Era only includes film. It should’ve been apparent when Blockbuster ceased operations in 2014 that the Blockbuster Age of Hollywood was over. The Sequel Era was devious, sliding into our theaters at first with the fad of dystopian films such as the crowd pleasers of The Hunger Games series or the Divergentseries. And since then, it’s only grown stronger. Now we only flood to the theaters when the newest Marvel movie is released. 

Tenet was supposed to be the biggest film of the year, with previous Christopher Nolan films racking in over 50 million dollars in the opening weekend. But Tenet came up incredibly short, with just a measly 3.4 million. And while Covid-19 played a role, so did The Sequel Era’s tentacles. Black Widow was also released during Covid-19, as well as having a dual opening on Disney+ but it still grossed a grand sum of 80 million just from theaters on its opening weekend. There is only one explanation to this, movie goers no longer desire original content. It’s the sad truth that comes with mass consumption. 

If you’re thinking, “What about directors like Quentin Tarantino? He makes original content and is very popular!” well, let’s compare. In 2019 Tarantino had his highest ever box office gross on opening weekend. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood brought in 40 million dollars! Wow! Flashback two months prior and Avengers Endgame brought in a staggering 357 million on its opening weekend. There simply is no comparison. 

The point of this article is not to diminish the efforts of original auteurs but to bring to light the importance of recognizing this new era that we are in. If we don’t see it for what it is, it will overtake the industry completely and will kill what the New Hollywood Era worked so hard to achieve. 

Films are so important. They are the documents of our current society. They reveal our thoughts, our desires, and our fears. If we let our ideas be run by a monopoly, our generation of creators will be forgotten, and our era will pass without our voices being heard.