In college I had a business teacher who owned a used car dealership. He told us that too often car salesmen go for the quick sale at the expense of the customer. This wasn't something he wanted at his dealership because once the sale was made that person would never come back. Instead he would treat the customer fair and rather than just buying one car, they would come back over the years buying several. I don't know if those days are gone. Loyalty like that may be some nostalgic idea that no longer works in today's world.
Looking at the movie industry it's apparent that most times there isn't any concern with longevity, but rather just the immediate profit. If the first movie is successful then a sequel is drafted with one of two possible motives: A) Continue the story in a logical and progressive way that builds on what was already established while managing to bring something new to the screen. Or B) Profit off the success of the first movie and possibly create a hook for additional sequels. Now both can be true, but very few tend to pull that off. There's a certain robots from outer space movie from this past summer that comes to mind. The first movie was entertaining, as much as one could expect from something based on a toy line from the 80s. The second movie, however, felt like a street crime. You're not even sure what's happening at first, but next thing you know your money is gone and you're going to spend hours trying to recover from the incident. In the movie's defense, it's made a lot of money. It's made much more money than a movie of that quality should. Rotten Tomatoes has it listed at 19% and yet it managed to make over $400 million. How is it that only 1 out of 5 people liked the movie, but it was one of the highest grossing movies of 2009?
The point isn't to bash this movie in particular. Rather it's about what this movie and movies like it represent. If you were to ask the critics if this movie was a success they would say no. It failed on several levels and will ultimately forgotten among the other mindless action pictures. Now if you asked the studio or director if it was a success, they would say of course. It more than made back the cost to make it. Enough so that they're already working on another movie. This movie has entered into a slightly strange netherworld of success. On one hand it's considered to be a terrible movie in terms of storytelling. On the other it's a financial success. So which is it really?
Let's try an example. You're working for a software company and just completed a large project. The whole thing has taken a lot of time, effort, and money to finish. The software ships and millions of units are sold, but 80% of the people who buy it can't stand what it does for them. They can't return the software once it's been opened so they're left with feeling unsatisfied. Is your software successful? Maybe in the immediate present it is because you've got the money in hand. The problem is the next time you go to release something whether or not if anyone is going to bother. Your last outing felt like being gang raped by rabid monkeys so why would anyone shell out money again?
I recently read an article that talked about the disaster that was Batman & Robin. It went on to say that despite being a terrible movie, it was one of the most important comic book movies ever made. It was so bad that it actually caused lasting change throughout the entire genre. There is a demotivational poster called Mistakes that says "It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others." That is what Batman & Robin has become. It's a cautionary tale to other filmmakers. The movie was both a critical and financial flop. What would have happened if it had made a ton of money? People may have hated it, but someone was paying to see it. Would the lesson still have been learned?
I think the sequel can be more important than the original depending on the motive behind it. In movies it can establish a franchise. In music it can show that a band's success wasn't just a one time thing. It's when the second one is done solely to capitalize on the success of the first that things start to fall apart. I could make up some numbers about the number of fans lost after the second movie, but it's hard to know. People can be strangely forgiving about their entertainment.
