Amid A Year Of Franchise Fatigue, Lionsgate's Sequels Left Fans (Mostly) Wanting More

'John Wick,' 'Hunger Games' and 'Saw' offered new installments that all earned decent notices, solid box office and a increased interest in further sequels

Among the trends in theaters last year was a slew of seemingly surefire or once-were-special franchise titles underwhelming or outright tanking. Recall the summer of 2016 when we saw many previously big-deal franchises offer new titles that were just seen as this week’s designated tentpole. Think Alice Through the Looking Glass, X-Men: Apocalypse, Independence Day Resurgence, Star Trek Beyond, Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. This year had a similar scenario play out, with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, The Flash, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I and The Marvels underwhelming or outright flopping. Amid this “franchise fatigue” environment, Lionsgate offered up new installments of four of its biggest franchises. Expendables 4 bombed, to the surprise of 0.0 people, but John Wick: Chapter 4, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Saw X were commercial successes that left audiences wanting more.