Sequelsyndromereferstothephenomenonofincreasingnumbersofsequelsinthefilmmarket.Themainsymptomsarebox-officefailures,negativereviews,andoverwhelmingcriticismsonsocialnetworks.ManyHollywoodfilmsreleasedthisyeararesequelstopreviousmovies.Thissummer’ssequelsincludeMarvel'sCaptainAmerica:CivilWar,AliceThroughtheLookingGlass,TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2,FindingDory,andJasonBourne.Inthefuture,asequelwillbereleasedalmosteveryweekend,manyinChina.
However,thetrendofproducingaflatsequeljustbecauseofthefirstfilm’ssuccessisalittlebitinsane.MediafromtheU.S.callthisphe-nomenon“sequelsyndrome”.
ThefilmmarketofNorthAmericahasexperiencedweakgrowthforalongtime.Incontrast,China’sfilmmarket,accordingtotheGlobalEntertainmentandMediaOutlook2016-2020releasedbyPwC,aworld-renownedconsultingcompany,experiencedyear-on-yeargrowthof49percentin2015consideringitsboxofficetotalofUS$63billion,thesecondlargestnumberintheworld.Ifthetrendcontinues,China’sboxofficewillsoonsurpasstheU.S.andbecometheworldlargest.
However,filmfranchisesarenotnecessarilylucrativeeveninChina.Generally,Hollywoodfilmsarelosingtheiroverwhelmingadvantages.Withmoreandmoreoptions,ChineseaudienceswantHollywoodsequelsofhigherqualityandarenolongersatisfiedwithjustendlessspecialeffects,ChinesestarsandA-listnames.
MoviesthatperformpoorlyinNorthAmericagenerallydon’tdowellinChinaeither,especiallyasChina’sfilmmarketmatures.ChinaisnotthesaviorforHollywoodsequelsandHollywoodmustcureitssequelsyndromeonitsown.
AliceThroughtheLookingGlasswasreleasedontheChinesemainlandinMay2016.Fiveyearsago,AliceinWonderlandwashighlyacclaimedandperformedwellattheboxoffice.However,duetoanincoherentplot,itssequel’sreviewsandearningswerefarworsethanthefirst.