To Sequel or Not…that is the question

Fast and Furious…not to my liking, but we have a couple guys in our family that would disagree. Star Wars…what number?

Bourne...something? These are all movies that just spring to mind as I sit here. Movies that have sequels…and then more sequels…and then more…you get the picture.

Here’s an idea. What about a movie where a little girl and a little boy meet, and they are friends?

Next movie, they date,

next one they are married,

next one have a family,

next one they are empty-nesters, and maybe the last one is life in an assisted living facility?

Does that make six movies? Not interested in seeing those? No, there would not be fast cars in all of them…but there could be in the teenage one. No, there wouldn’t be scary little aliens lurking about and speaking in a low voice and probably no guns. (As you can tell, I have not spent much time watching Star Wars!) Those are all things that sell and make big money. Those are movies people will spend time on and watch again and again. So, there are sequels…and lots of them.

Sometimes, in my humble opinion, it is best to just let a book or movie…go. There is a certain thrill and anticipation in wondering what happened. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Rhett Butler puts on his hat and strides down the sidewalk into the swirling mist. For many, many years, we didn’t think Rhett cared a fiddle stick for what happened to Scarlett O’Hara Butler. In the back of our mind we could wonder, what if?

Then came the sequel…and again, in my humble opinion, it was not good. It would have been a wonderful stand-alone story-line, but it shouldn’t have come after, Gone With the Wind. It somehow took away the wonder of that last scene in the book and the movie.

Should you write a sequel? That is the question.