Jesse Eisenberg in "Now You See Me 2"Lionsgate
"Now You See Me 2" couldn't muster up the surprise success of its predecessor.
The sequel to the 2013 heist film earned $23 million in its opening weekend, while its original managed a better $29.3 million. That's not a huge difference, but it will be a disappointment to the studio executives who hoped to cash in on love for the first title.
"The Conjuring 2" actually came in first place at the box office this weekend, earning $40.3 million — only 3.6% less than its original.
But most sequels, at least so far this year, have been bombing.
There has long been talk of Hollywood having a "sequel problem" — "sequelitis" as Variety calls it.
There are many to choose from at the theater nowadays. Do you want to watch the latest installment in an ongoing superhero franchise? (Take your pick between "Captain America: Civil War," "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice," or "X-Men: Apocalypse.") Or a live-action remake of an old cartoon? (It's a lose-lose with "Alice Through the Looking Glass" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.")
Studios are trying to build the next big Harry Potter or Marvel franchise, but not every film can be "Captain America," which has seen a steady increase in its domestic gross since the first time Chris Evans' Cap graced our screens in 2011.
Take a look to see which of this year's sequels so far couldn't live up to their originals. Really, it seems only "Captain America: Civil War" managed to escape this list. But don't worry, you still have "Independence Day: Resurgence," "Ice Age: Collision Course," "Jason Bourne," "Star Trek Beyond," "The Purge: Election Year," "Bridget Jones's Baby," "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back," "Ouija 2," "Underworld: Blood Wars," and "Bad Santa 2" to look forward to this year.
All earnings have been adjusted for inflation to match their 2016 counterparts and are sourced from Box Office Mojo. Sequels that are still in theaters have been compared based on opening-weekend grosses.
"Kung Fu Panda 3"
"Kung Fu Panda" gross: $257 million
"Kung Fu Panda 2" gross: $176 million
"Kung Fu Panda 3" gross: $143 million
Time hasn't been a gift to the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise. The franchise's third installment dropped 44% in grosses from the original.
"Ride Along 2"
"Ride Along" gross: $145.3 million
"Ride Along 2" gross: $90.8 million
The Ice Cube-Kevin Hart comedy opened big in 2014 but saw its grosses drop 37.5% with its 2016 sequel.
"Zoolander 2"
"Zoolander" gross: $68.4 million
"Zoolander 2" gross: $28.8 million
Though a quotable classic, the original "Zoolander" never seemed to truly shine at the box office. That was even more true for the sequel, which dropped 57.9% in grosses.
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2"
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" opening-weekend gross: $597,000; total gross: $355.3 million
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" opening-weekend gross: $17.8 million
The cult classic about the Portokalos family actually had a very meak opening weekend, but then it grew tremendously in the next year. Its sequel, however, isn't exactly on track to have asimilar success.
"London Has Fallen"
"Olympus Has Fallen" opening-weekend gross: $98.9 million
"London Has Fallen" opening-weekend gross: $62.5 million
Gerard Butler managed to save the president but wasn't able to save the sequel from a 37% decrease in total grosses.
"Allegiant"
"Divergent" gross: $158.7 million
"Insurgent" gross: $133.6 million
"Allegiant" gross: $66.1 million
Every year since 2014, the "Divergent" franchise has released an installment in its trilogy, and every year, its total domestic grosses have dropped.
"The Huntsman: Winter's War"
"Snow White and the Huntsman" opening-weekend gross: $59.4 million
"The Huntsman: Winter's War" opening-weekend gross: $19.4 million
The haphazard sequel to the new take on the Snow White tale lost not only Kristen Stewart, but also 67% of its opening gross.
"Neighbors 2"
"Neighbors" opening-weekend gross: $50.5 million
"Neighbors 2" opening-weekend gross: $21.7 million
Apparently the promise of a shirtless Zac Efron wasn't enough to get everyone to return this year — it lost 57% of its opening-weekend gross.
"Alice Through the Looking Glass"
"Alice in Wonderland" opening-weekend gross: $125.3 million
"Alice Through the Looking Glass" opening-weekend gross: $26.8 million
Tim Burton's second live-action take on the classic Alice books didn't even come close to the first's opening. It dropped 78.6% in its opening weekend.
"X-Men: Apocalypse"
"X-Men: First Class" opening-weekend gross: $58.6 million
"X-Men: Days of Future Past" opening-weekend gross: $93.5 million
"X-Men: Apocalypse" opening-weekend gross: $65.7 million
The third installment in the rebooted X-Men franchise outperformed its original at the opening-weekend box office, but "Apocalypse" couldn't live up to the hype created by "Days of Future Past" and its mixing of X-Men old and new.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows"
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" opening-weekend gross: $69.6 million
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" opening-weekend gross: $35.3 million
The sequel's turnout at opening wasn't exactly worthy of a cowabunga. It only made about half of its original's opening gross.
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