Sequel Syndrome
Sequel syndrome refers to the phenomenon of increasing numbers of sequels in the film market. The main symptoms are box-office failures, negative reviews, and overwhelming criticisms on social networks. Many Hollywood films released this year are sequels to previous movies. This summer’s sequels include Marvel's Captain America: Civil War, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Finding Dory, and Jason Bourne. In the future, a sequel will be released almost every weekend, many in China.
However, the trend of producing a flat sequel just because of the first film’s success is a little bit insane. Media from the U.S. call this phe-nomenon “sequel syndrome”.
The film market of North America has experienced weak growth for a long time. In contrast, China’s film market, according to the Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2016-2020 released by PwC, a world-renowned consulting company, experienced year-on-year growth of 49 percent in 2015 considering its box office total of US$63 billion, the second largest number in the world. If the trend continues, China’s box office will soon surpass the U.S. and become the world largest.
However, film franchises are not necessarily lucrative even in China. Generally, Hollywood films are losing their overwhelming advantages. With more and more options, Chinese audiences want Hollywood sequels of higher quality and are no longer satisfied with just endless special effects, Chinese stars and A-list names.
Movies that perform poorly in North America generally don’t do well in China either, especially as China’s film market matures. China is not the savior for Hollywood sequels and Hollywood must cure its sequel syndrome on its own.
Alice Through the Looking Glass was released on the Chinese mainland in May 2016. Five years ago, Alice in Wonderland was highly acclaimed and performed well at the box office. However, due to an incoherent plot, its sequel’s reviews and earnings were far worse than the first.