Launching a film franchise is not an enviable job. The modern film audience expects a certain level of gravitas from a movie. You want to produce 3, 5, or even 7 Hollywood blockbusters in a row? Sounds great, but you'd better to be ready to deliver 3, 5, or even 7 world ending scenarios, each original in their own right, and each gripping enough to keep us coming back for more. Oh, and did we mention that they all need to tie together to construct a larger plot which makes us feel like it was all worth our time and money? No pressure though, right?