2011 Sets Most Sequels Record, With 'Breaking Dawn' As One Of Five Part Fours

Cinematical and Box Office Mojo have been doing some math, and they've basically figured out that: 1) the "creative types" in Hollywood have been less creative as of late; 2) the producers like to find a successful formula, and keep re-using it; and 3) to get people to pay $12 for a movie at the theater, just give them what they want. Source Via @spunk_ransom.

So it's no surprise that 2011 will set the record for most sequels, as well as hosting "the highest amount of part fours in history: five."

'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol,' 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,' 'Scream 4', 'Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World,' and 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One)' are all on the way. Not content with stopping at merely two records, 2011 will also see another record broken when it comes to part fives, with, fittingly, five part fives arriving in theaters ('Fast Five', 'Final Destination 5,' 'Puss in Boots,' 'X-Men: First Class,' 'Winnie the Pooh'). Oh, and we should also tack on those two part sevens ('The Muppets,' 'Rise of the Apes'), and the one part eight ('Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2') for extra measure. 

That's a helluva lot of sequels. Cinematical's Erik Davis ponders:

So what does it say about originality and our own movie-watching habits when 27 sequels -- almost one-fifth of all wide releases -- are released in one year? Is Hollywood seriously running out of ideas, or are they just providing more of what's proven to be popular with moviegoers in the past?

Speaking to USA Today, Brandon Gray, who wrote the sequel article for Box Office Mojo, says, "It's truly unfortunate that story is held in such little regard, when that's what sells the picture more than any other element." But is he right? When deciding on which movie to go see, are your average moviegoers really looking at story first, or are they mainly using the knowledge they already have stored inside their brains to make most of their movie-watching decisions?

The good thing is that over 40 films were sold at this year's Sundance Film Festival, proving Hollywood is still willing to take risks on new voices with original content, perhaps more than ever before. It seems the trend isn't so much tied specifically to more sequels as it is to more of just plain everything.