Surprise, it’s not Star Wars. According to analysis of percent increase in sales over the original feature, the most successful second act in Hollywood since 1960 is The Boondock Saints II (2009), which grossed 300 times more than the first Boondock Saints (1999) when adjusted for inflation.
Check out the charts below to see most and least successful film do-overs over the last half-century.
MOST SUCCESSFUL SEQUELS
The ten films below had the highest percent increase in domestic box office sales relative to the previous film within the franchise.
So what’s the least successful spinoff? Basic Instinct 2, which made $7 million, nearly 30 times less than the original haul of $201 million.
LEAST SUCCESSFUL SEQUELS
The ten sequels below had the worst sales relative to the previous film within the franchise.
Use the interactive graph below to see how all franchises have performed at the box office since 1960. Hover over dots, representing 638 films of 219 franchises, or search for your favorite film to see how it fared next to juggernauts like Star Wars and Jurassic Park.
The makers of the least successful sequels might learn a thing from history. Not every genre has an equally happy return. While animated sequels frequently outdo their forerunners, the opposite is true for comedies. Take a look at how different kinds of sequels have performed at the box over time, based on data from IMDB.com.
FRANCHISE REVENUE BY GENRE
Genre according to IMDB.com, ranked from most to least successful