Once upon a time, the movie trilogy was the gold standard. While sequels were viewed with suspicion, the potential for greater box office success proved irresistible, and great sequels likeThe Godfather Part IIandThe Empire Strikes Backgave the hope that quality could be maintained or even surpassed with a follow-up film. There was sort of an unwritten rule that you went out after three—a beginning, middle, and end chapter to complete a series. This didn’t always pan out of course, and more often than not the sequels failed to live up to the quality of the original, but the aim was true and the narrative mirrored a solid three-act structure.
The current Hollywood climate, however, has changed drastically. Studios now have interconnected universe and forever-franchise fever, largely due to the massive box office and critical success of Marvel Studios. Instead of makingIron Man 2andIron Man 3in quick succession afterIron Manwas a hit, Marvel instead chose to continue making standalone stories that took place in the same world asIron Man. Films likeThorandThe Incredible Hulkwere technically sequels toIron Man, making quick references to events or characters from theJon Favreaufilm, but they were very much their own stories. They built to the crossover eventThe Avengers, then splintered again with standalone sequels likeCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, and now this expansion and contraction of storylines—mixing characters, settings, and scenarios—has become the winning formula.
Marvel has been able to do this with varying degrees of success, but rival studios took notice and have begun operating under the assumption that franchises can extend well past three movies, often to the detriment of the storytelling.Pirates of the Caribbean, for example, came to a clear and extremely satisfying conclusion inPirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. All three films were directed byGore Verbinski, and they followed a strong narrative arc all the way through. This resulted in a three-movie story that was coherent and characters that followed fulfilling and dynamic throughlines.
However, with dollar signs in their eyes, Disney opted to keep going.Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tidessaw the franchise retooled a bit—many of the main characters from the original trilogy were jettisoned because A) Their stories had come to a satisfying conclusion; and/or B) The actors didn’t want to come back. Instead,Johnny Depp’s standout supporting character became the protagonist, and the resulting film—On Stranger Tides—is a lifeless, meandering film with no stakes. This year’s fifth installment,Dead Men Tell No Tales, went another route—trying to reengineer a backstory for Jack Sparrow while also providing eyeroll-inducing connective tissue to the original trilogy by introducing the offspring of well-known characters. This too proved to be a forgettable and unfulfilling experience, and audiences responded in kind—Dead Men Tell No Talesis the lowest grossing installment in the franchise since the first movie.
At World’s End, while maybe not as tight asCurse of the Black Pearl, provided a fitting and satisfying conclusion to thePirates of the Caribbeanstory. This could have ended as a great, thrilling trilogy. But instead the current trend of the “Let’s Beat a Dead Horse” blockbuster led Disney to wear on.
Then there are theTransformersmovies, which, granted, weren’t exactly pristine quality to begin with, but just kind of droned on without much of an overarching structure to the narrative. SureDark of the Moonserved as a trilogy-capper of sorts, but the fourth installmentAge of Extinctionstill sought to continue and expand the story of the indistinguishable chunks of anthropomorphic metal that somehow pass as characters in this franchise.
There are of course exceptions. TheFast and Furiousfranchise just released its eighth entry to a whopping $1.2 billion worldwide, but that series of films is evolving constantly and has never really been about narrative cohesion. And the aforementioned Marvel movies take a different track—whileCaptain America: The Winter Soldieris technically the secondCaptain Americamovie, in terms of story and character it’s more of a sequel toThe Avengersas it has to follow Steve Rogers’ character developments from the team-up movie in addition to other story points in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
My point is not that Hollywood shouldonlymake three-movie franchises, but I’d love to see that become the norm again. As studios aim to launch “Dark Universes” or “DC Extended Universes”, we’re losing the fulfilling story potential of a great trilogy. 20th Century Fox’sPlanet of the Apesfranchise is a perfect example of one that took the trilogy path to terrific results.Risefeeds intoDawnwhich then feeds intoWar, andMatt Reeves’ concluding installment brings the arc ofAndy Serkis’ ape Caesar to an emotional and finite conclusion. If Reeves and Fox instead had wanted to set up further Caesar adventures in a fourth, fifth, and sixthApesmovie, we likely would not have gotten the cohesion and ambition ofWar for the Planet of the Apes. It’s a film that is barreling towards concluding the story arc of its central character. If it were preoccupied with not tying uptoomany loose ends and saving story threads for future movies, we probably wouldn’t have gotten the emotional ambition and stakes that are on display in the finished product.
Not every movie trilogy is perfect, but there’s something neat about a three-part story wrapped in a nice bow. SureBack to the Future Part IIIisn’t near as tight or impactful as the original, but itconcludesthe story. EvenIndiana Jones and the Last Crusadehas its characters riding off into the sunset, and althoughSteven Spielbergcame back for an underwhelming fourthIndymovie, that initial trilogy still stands as a pretty great series of storytelling.
So here’s my plea: don’t let the trilogy go extinct. Maintain the three-part series as a viable franchise-making option for the sake of cohesion, impact, and structure. Go out with a bang, not with a whimper.
