Film sequels carry a certain stigma of ruining the films their fans love.

Sequels bring in lots of money, already have a fanbase dedicated to the film and are easier to write compared to coming up with a completely new idea. This makes them very popular with the film industry, despite the common fear many have of them and the fact that they often do poorly.

Since 1996, 532 film sequels have been released and over 500 of these films had lower ratings than the original, according to Vox, a popular new website. Still, these films brought in more money than the original production had. Even though the pattern of money and low quality value is quite evident, they are still popular enough that filmmakers continue to push them out. In 2016 alone, 37 sequels are scheduled to be released, and over 200 are estimated to be released from 2016 to 2020.

Many titles have been released recently, such as Finding Dory, Through the Looking Glass and Ghostbusters. Classic films are getting sequels that will be released in the next few years, such as Rings, Beetlejuice 2 and Godzilla Resurgence. Though many have loved the original films, it is almost common knowledge that the sequel will never be as good as the first film.

Although there may be exceptions, they are very few. Less than 5% of sequels are rated higher by critics. Finding Dory was among the small percentage of sequels that received better ratings than the original film. Other exceptions include Kill Bill: Vol 2, The Dark Knight and Captain America: Civil War.

Children’s films, especially those created by Pixar and Dreamworks, have a higher chance of producing a well-received sequel. Sequels for action, comedy and horror films often have a higher drop in score than any other genres, though it isn’t surprising as they usually already have low scores. Infamous sequels with the highest point decrease include Independence Day: Resurgence, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 and The Hangover Part II, according to Metacritic scores.

An average sequel declines 8.5 points in critic scores compared to the original. Movies like Through the Looking Glass declined by 18 points from the first film, Zoolander 2 declined by 27 and Independence Day: Resurgence declined by 27.

Though film critics openly hate sequels, fans seem to enjoy the concept of them. The average film makes about $20 million in the box office upon its release, while sequels make an average of $160 million, earning sequels over eight times the amount of money compared to the original.

Shrek 2, The Matrix Reloaded and Despicable Me 2 are notable for earning more money than the first film, even though the critic scores dropped at least 10 points for each one.

Writing a sequel to a successful film is a difficult task for one to take on when wanting to please fans, and it is something very few writers achieve. To create a new story from a resolved one and still make it new and related to the previous one is something few sequels have ever accomplished. There is a balance of freshness and relatability that a sequel must have in order to succeed. Though most do not expect film sequels to be better, few want to pay money to see a movie that was not as good as the original.

Since the original film was successful, often writers do not work as hard on the sequel. Their fans are already attached to the story and its characters, so the pressure is less pressing.

Sequels are not going away anytime soon, as long as they still bring in money for those creating them. Although it is obvious to many that they are just for the money, the success of the first film will draw in and disappoint audiences.

COMPUTER ART BY ABBEY KOSTYAL