The right sequence to watch most popular movie franchises – PART 2

For those who are fans of long-running movie franchises, this might just be the right place to be. Before you read the article make sure you have read part 1 of this post The right sequence to watch popular movie franchises, where we covered the top 10 franchises. And we are back with more movie franchises that have so many sequels that one can easily lose track of the right order. So here we go with the right sequence to watch most popular movie franchises.

11. Batman

You can watch every live-action Batman movie, starting with Adam West and ending with Ben Affleck, in under 24 hours. It’s going to be one hell of a long day. But the Dark Knight is not only worth it, his films are different enough to never feel stale.

Highs: The 1966 film is exactly the right kind of silly camp fun we need right now, and after that, you are going to get four of the best superhero movies ever made. The Tim Burton/Michael Keaton films and the first two installments of The Dark Knight Trilogy are unimpeachable. But even “bad” Batman can still be fun.

Lows: You’re also going to get some of the worst superhero sequels ever made. The Batfleck was good, but the movies he starred in? Not so much. Oh, and at some point, George Clooney’s Bat-nipples are going to show up for two hours and there’s nothing you can do about it.

• Batman: The Movie (1966)
• Batman (1989)
• Batman Returns (1992)
• Batman Forever (1995)
• Batman & Robin (1997)
• Batman Begins (2005)
• The Dark Knight (2008)
• The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Cut (2016)
• Justice League (2017)

12. Fast & Furious

With life slowed down to a monotonous crawl, we really need some high-octane adventures. And since even during good times the Fast & Furious franchise is a wonderful escape, it’s exactly what we’re craving right now.

Highs: Fast 5. The best part about this franchise is how it went from entertaining to an absolute juggernaut of the genre. The later you get into this marathon, the more you’re going to enjoy it.

Lows: 2 Fast 2 Furious is the only true stinker in the bunch. But unfortunately what’s worse is that we all know when we sit down to watch the entire franchise we’re going to have to deal with the sad passing of Paul Walker. It still sucks and always will.

• The Fast and the Furious (2001)
• 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
• Fast & Furious (2009) – 107 minutes
• Fast Five (2011) – 130 minutes
• Fast & Furious 6 (2013) – 130 minutes
• Furious 7 (2015) -137 minutes
• The Fate of the Furious (2017) – 136 minutes
• Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) – 134 minutes

13. Jurassic Park

You know what’s still cool and always will be? Dinosaurs. Also, big-budget films with incredible special effects and big-name actors. The Jurassic movies have all of those things in abundance.

Highs: The original film remains one of the greatest blockbusters ever made. And The Lost World is still an excellent sequel. There are also tons of great action sequences in the two Jurassic World movies. And you know what’s still freaking awesome? Dinosaur fights.

Lows: You might find yourself preferring to be eaten by a dinosaur during the absolutely ludicrous Jurassic Park III. It’s really, really bad. If you think some of the dialogue in the Jurassic World films are clunky at times, the third film makes them look like Shakespeare.

For the Completist: Colin Trevorrow released a ten-minute short, “Battle at Big Rock,” in 2019, but that’s really it. You could also read the novels and comic books, or play one of the ten million Jurassic Park games they’ve released. It would take roughly ten years.

• Jurassic Park (1993) – 127 minutes
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) – 129 minutes
• Jurassic Park III (2001) – 93 minutes
• Jurassic World (2015) – 124 minutes
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) – 128 minutes

14. Transformers

Based on Hasbro’s hit toy line, Transformers has become a successful franchise for Paramount over the last two decades.

In total, the studio has released six films as part of the sci-fi series, garnering $4.86 billion at the global box office. Included in that figure is an animated feature film based on the toy line, which tallied $5.8 million in sales at theaters in 1986.

Like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the Transformers film series has benefitted from strong ticket sales internationally. Around $3.28 billion of its total box office has come from markets outside the U.S. and Canada.

• Transformers: The Movie (1986)
• Transformers (2007)
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
• Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising (2013)
• Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
• Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
• Bumblebee (2018)

15. The Conjuring

When The Conjuring first hit theaters in 2013, it scared the world and earned a whopping 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Such strong foundation lends itself to a slew of sequels; this franchise has nearly 10, with the most recent, Annabelle Comes Home, coming out in 2019.

• The Conjuring (2013)
• Annabelle (2014)
• The Conjuring 2 (2016)
• Annabelle Creation (2017)
• The Nun (2018)
• The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
• Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

16. Spider-man

Highs: The first two films and the last two films are excellent, offering a fantastic start and finish so you can begin on a high note and end on another. You might have your own personal favorite, but all three actors who have played Peter Parker on the big screen were great in their own way.

Lows: This binge doesn’t exactly come to a crescendo in the middle. It basically crashes into the Mariana Trench. The downfall starts with Spider-Man III, which features the worst Venom ever and a black-haired Tobey Maguire dancing. (Technically it’s dancing, but not really). And let’s not even get into The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

• Spider-Man (2002) – 121 minutes
• Spider-Man 2 (2004) – 127 minutes
• Spider-Man 3 (2007) – 139 minutes
• The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – 136 minutes
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) – 142 minutes
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – 133 minutes
• Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) – 135 minutes

17. Indiana Jones

Perhaps one of the longest-running film franchises in cinematic history is James Bond. Since 1963, there have been 24 films featuring the famed secret agent. These films have collected more than $6.89 billion globally.

Like Batman and Spider-Man, James Bond is an icon in the film industry. Seven actors have taken on the role 007 — Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

After the release of “No Time to Die,” the 25th James Bond film due out in October, there will be a hunt for an eighth.

• “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)
• “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984)
• “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989)
• “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008)

18. The Hunger Games

As the Harry Potter and Twilight film series neared their inevitable conclusions, Hollywood tripped over itself trying to find the next young adult novel-inspired sensation. It ultimately landed a winner in Suzanne Collins’ best-selling dystopian adventure series The Hunger Games, casting then-rising star Jennifer Lawrence in the central role of Katniss Everdeen and surrounding her with A-list veterans like Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland.

Later installments attracted the significant talents of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, and Geoffrey Wright, among others, and every entry except for the last one finished in the top three box office earners of its year. Its legacy is apparent in the slew of similarly adapted young adult movies that sprung up in its wake and just as quickly disappeared, would-be franchise-starters like The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Beautiful Creatures, Seventh Son, and The 5th Wave.

Both critics and audiences found the final chapter of The Hunger Games, split into two films, a tad underwhelming compared to the first two, but its averages across all four installments were still fairly strong, and its eighth-place finish in the box office category helped to propel the series into the top 10 overall.

• “The Hunger Games” (2012)
• “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (2013)
• “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” (2014)
• “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” (2015)

19. Harry Potter

The Harry Potter franchise has only gotten larger since the Boy Who Lived first appeared on screen in 2001.

In addition to the eight films based solely on Harry Potter during his time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Warner Bros. launched a series of films that explore the larger Wizarding World. Known as the Fantastic Beasts series, these films, of which two have been released, follow Newt Scamander as he gets caught up in a decades-long battle between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald.

In total, these 10 films have generated $9.18 billion at the global box office. Three more films in the Fantastic Beasts series are expected to hit theaters in the coming years.

• “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001)
• “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (2002)
• “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004)
• “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005)
• “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (2007)
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (2009)
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” (2010)
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” (2011)
• “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” (2016)

20. Mission: Impossible

Whenever someone brings up Mission: Impossible, my go-to response is “You know Tom Cruise does his own stunts?” So here I go: Did you know Tom Cruise does his own stunts?! Seriously. That alone makes these dazzling action films worth the watch.

• “Mission: Impossible” (1996)
• “Mission: Impossible 2” (2000)
• “Mission: Impossible III” (2006)
• “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (2011)
• “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” (2015)
• “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” (2018)

We hope that the article helped you find the right sequence for some of the movies for which you always wondered about. We will keep covering more interesting topics on Hollywood, till then keep coming back and checking out our Hollywood section. Don’t forget to drop your comments, they keep us going 🙂