#film-sequels

#film-sequels

The visually lush, technologically impossible film series proved it was much more than a one-hit wonder with Avatar: The Way of Water, a sequel 13 years in the making. Both it and the original grossed a little over $2 billion, so betting against the next film in the franchise feels a bit counterintuitive. Still, there's a chance, however small, that Fire & Ash doesn't meet the same record-breaking standards as its predecessors.

Wicked: For Good is aiming to be the 11th direct sequel to be nominated for Best Picture and the fifth sequel to be nominated the year directly after its predecessor. Of the three Best Picture-nominated sequels in the last four years, there's Top Gun: Maverick, a legacyquel to a movie that was seen as popcorn fare in the 1980s, and Avatar: The Way of Water and Dune: Part Two, sequels to previous Best Picture nominees that boasted both box-office success and dazzling visual filmmaking.

M3GAN 2.0 embraces camp silliness by elaborating the absurd nature of its killer robot protagonist, blending humor with horror and affirming its cultural meme status.

This is the first movie in the series not directed by Brad Bird, one of its biggest strengths being its classic 1960s retro-futuristic tone.