Sequels are a summer norm as much as the big budget blockbuster. So are movies based on material previously seen, like comic books and television shows.
This summer, though, there seems to be an overabundance of sequels storming into theaters. The summer season usually starts with the first big movie to be released, in this case "Spiderman 3," and ends on Labor Day.
Between that time there are 14 sequels being released and six other big films that are based on previously known material.
Now when we think of sequels we usually think of “the second film” and with five direct sequels (“28 Weeks Later,” “Hostel part II,” “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” “Evan Almighty,” and “Daddy Day Camp.”) that might seem like a lot, but the motto for this summer season might as well be “Third times the charm” with six films (“Spiderman 3,” “Shrek 3,” “Pirates… 3,” “Ocean’s 13,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” and “Rush Hour 3.”).
There are even two other films opening that go above two and three; “Live Free or Die Hard” which is the fourth film in the franchise and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” which is the fifth film.
Just when you think people have run out of original material, there are six films coming out whose original source material has been seen before. “Transformers” was a wildly popular cartoon and movie, “Hairspray” is adapted from the film and musical, “The Simpson’s Movie” is self explanatory, “Underdog” is a live action version of the old cartoon, Rob Zombie's remake of "Halloween" and the Nicole Kidman film “Invasion”? It sounds a lot like the many versions of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” but this time as a political thriller.
Has creativity been forgotten? Since when does taking someone else’s ideas and tweaking them a bit make them original?
The only three films getting a lot of publicity that are completely original this summer are two comedies and an animated film; “Knocked Up,” “I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry” and the Disney/Pixar "Ratatouille."
We know for sure that summer 2008 holds, yet another, Harry Potter film, as well as the Marvel comic film “Iron Man.” Is there a chance for “Rush Hour 4”?
Is it too late to start coming up with some original ideas?
