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Right now, as I write this, CinemaCon is happening, and there’s been a photo going around of a screen from the event, showing the line-up of big releases coming in 2026, and there’s a certain pattern in them that might be familiar.

Here’s the list.

• Avengers: Doomsday
• Spider-man: Brand New Day
• Shrek 5
• Toy Story 5
• Ice Age 6
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Moana 3
• Mega Minions
• Jumanji III
• The Hunt for Gollum
• Scream VIII
• Street Fighter
• Masters of the Universe
• Clayface
• Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
• The Mandalorian & Grogu
• The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping
• Fast X Part 2
• The Odyssey
• Project Hail Mary
• Hoppers

Twenty one titles are revealed here, and it’s pretty obvious from this that Hollywood is still relying on classic franchises and big IPs to keep it running. Twelve of them are direct sequels to older movies. Of the rest, we’ve got two in the new DCU, despite not knowing whether Superman will fly or fail, a new Star Wars movie that’s a spin-off of a Disney+ show, a kind of prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Masters of the Universe and Street Fighter reboots, which leaves just three new movies. One based on a recent best seller (Project Hail Mary), one based on an ancient tale (The Odyssey), and one that seems to come from the only big studio with any creativity left Pixar (Hoppers).

Some of these entries seem desperate, really wringing the last out of old franchises. Both Shrek and Toy Story has great trilogies that were ruined by careless and unnecessary fourth entries, and now they are each getting a fifth film. Really, what else is there to say about these characters and their stories that won’t involve either heavy retconning, or just retreading the same ground covered by previous movies?

Who really wants a sort of prequel to Fellowship of the Ring, that’s based off a handful of lines spoken by Gandalf during the Council of Elrond? That’s what The Hunt for Gollum is, and who knows what lengths they will go to in order to string it out into a two-hour movie.

Seeing this list it doesn’t seem so much that Hollywood is simply being lazy in creating new and original movies, but rather more that they are terrified of trying anything new, and are clinging on to anything that already has a recognizable brand or a good track record, getting in those fifth and sixth sequels, or using any excuse for a spin-off.

More news from CinemaCon show that the John Wick franchise is being bled for all it’s worth, with a prequel, sequel, spin-off, and show in development, alongside the upcoming Ballerina movie.

These aren’t the only movies that will come out next year, but they are obviously some of the biggest, being displayed proudly by the studios in this way, they are their flagship projects, but clearly, they are not leaders in any way, but rather the last remnants, running on the legacy of their predecessors.

Of course, at the same time, several of these will be billion dollar hits, just as the sequel line-up for this year will produce plenty of money makers. But as I’ve written before, it’s a dead end, and simply delays the inevitable. With these franchises being so strung out, and more and more of them hitting the dust, there’s only so long this model can last. If Hollywood doesn’t start making a move to turn things around soon, then where will they be once all of their IPs are dead?

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