The hangover of The Hangover remains...

Do sequels work? This is a common question that people debate about, though the answer seems simple. That they generally do! At least it is always worth a shot to make a sequel, if the first movie has been a phenomenal success. And if sequels did not work, we would never have had so many franchises that in the past have ran over an entire decade or two, at times. So when The Hangover, released in the summer of 2009, stunned the production studio by grossing $277 million at the US box office and $469 million in worldwide revenues on a meagre production budget of $35 million, they did the smart thing that anyone eager to earn more would have done. They made a sequel. They named it The Hangover 2. They brought in the same cast. They wrote a similar script. And they released it in the summer of 2011. And then what? They started counting the moolah. The Hangover 2 has had an amazing opening weekend, grabbing $118 million in the first four days itself (it is a long weekend in US, remember) which is more than double of what the original earned in its opening weekend. But while the original movie grew through word-of-mouth, the sequel should see a strong decline second weekend onwards. The Hangover 2 should however earn enough to make the producers want to make a third one in the series. But if they do, my request to them would be, at least bring in some freshness to the plot. Don't start again with a call from Bradley Cooper, then wind up backwards for the search of some missing person and end it finally with a bunch of photographs revealing the happenings of the forgotten night. The cast is good enough to pull up something new next time round, so try it! Though with this kind of response to The Hangover 2, advices like mine are bound to fall flat.

Kung Fu Panda 2 was the first big animation movie of the summer season released during the weekend, but the competition from The Hangover 2 has acted as a damper to Po and the Furious Five. The movie raked in $54 million in its opening weekend, which is slightly less than the original. Dreamworks would be disappointed with the numbers, I believe, as they would have expected Kung Fu Panda 2 to better its predecessor, which appears now to be a tough task. What has gone wrong is tough to say, as the reviews for the movie remain strong. Cars 2 is still a few weeks away, and maybe that could help Kung Fu Panda 2 reach around the $200 million mark at the US box office before its stint ends. But for me, if there was a third movie that I would wait for, it would have to be about the adventures of Po rather than learn about another missing person due to a hangover! Guess my taste for once, differs from the others...