Movie sequel overload?

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Movie sequel overload?

When Hollywood execs find something that works, they just can't help but milk that cow dry. But when it comes to movie sequels, when is enough enough?

You'd think having the word "final" in the name of a movie would preclude it from having a sequel, much less four, but you'd be wrong. The release of "Final Destination 5" is in keeping with a trend of sequels this year. In fact, one in five films out in 2011 is a sequel. In honor of this, we'd like to know which movie sequels you could do without.

Some may have thought the "Planet of the Apes" franchise was over back in the 70s after the original 1968 film was followed up by four sequels, but the apes swung back into action with a remake in 2001 and most recently a prequel released this summer. That's a total of seven 'Apes' movies!

The "Harry Potter" series finally wrapped up this year, with the release of the eighth and final film, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2." Despite the ten-year span and the long-running movie times, audiences stayed with the franchise, which has grossed $7.5 billion to date.

"Jaws," the film that had audiences stepping away from the water, spawned three sequels including a 3-D film back in the days of red and blue lenses.

Demonic doll Chucky terrorized audiences in five "Child's Play" movies over the span of 16 years. The horror films got more campy as the series went on, ultimately becoming more humorous than horror film.

According to Wikipedia, 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" is "loosely based" on a magazine article about late-night car racing. If you can believe it, that one tiny magazine article has fueled five "Fast and the Furious" movies with yet another one, ingeniously titled "Fast Six" on the way in 2013.

Competitive cheerleading movie "Bring it On" drew teen girls to theaters in droves back in 2000. And the cheering continued with four direct-to-video followups. GOOOO SEQUELS!

"The Bourne Identity" (2002) turned boyish Matt Damon into a full-on action movie hero. The film, based on the Robert Ludlum book, was followed by "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) and "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007), and will continue with "The Bourne Legacy" in 2012. P.S. Remember when Julia Stiles seemed to be in every movie?

In his review of 1997's "Anaconda," Mark LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said: "[It] is about a snake that eats everybody. That about says it all." Despite glowing reviews like that one, Hollywood execs greenlighted three followups, two of which were made-for-TV, which seems a more appropriate venue for these films. Would you like to see another film in the series, perhaps with J.Lo reprising her role from the original flick?

One of the most prolific movie franchises has to be the James Bond series, with six actors playing Bond in 22(!) feature films. And 007 won't meet his demise any time soon, with a 23rd film on the way next year.

"The Twilight Saga," a series of movies based on Stephenie Meyer's young adult vampire novels, will continue later this year with the Nov. 18 release of part one of "Breaking Dawn," the fourth film in the franchise. But don't worry kids; part two will be out next year. And then we can finally drop this Edward vs. Jacob business, right?

There are three movies in the original "American Pie" film series, with a fourth -- "American Reunion," being shot in Atlanta -- in the works. There are also four straight-to-video "American Pie" spin-offs. That's one heaping helping of "Pie."

Fedora? Check. Bullwhip? Check. AARP card? Wait, what? After playing action hero Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones in three movies in the 80s, Harrison Ford returned to the series at the age of 66 in 2008's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." A fifth film is currently in the works, though there's much speculation that 25-year-old Shia LeBeouf, who was introduced in the last film, will take over for Ford in a new generation of the series.

If you are a die-hard fan of the "Die Hard" movie franchise, you'll be happy to hear that a fifth film will be released next year and star Bruce Willis says he's already thinking about a sixth -- "I Died Hard," perhaps?

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You'd think having the word "final" in the name of a movie would preclude it from having a sequel, much less four, but you'd be wrong. The release of "Final Destination 5" is in keeping with a trend of sequels this year. In fact, one in five films out in 2011 is a sequel. In honor of this, we'd like to know which movie sequels you could do without.

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