Sequels/Prequels - Disney wins again

Looking at 2019's releases almost all sequels managed to either flop, underperform or at best fail to surpass their predecessor. Expect for Disney, it seems they can't make a mistake when it comes to sequels and building franchises, which is (unfortunately) the big thing most of the studios is trying to achieve the last few years. Let's take a look at the titles released so far this year, in chronological order:

1) Glass - not a flop, it did earn money, but not that well received by the critics and most importantly earned less than Split.

2) The Lego Movie 2 - a monumental flop. Earning only 191M which meant beating only Ninjago which is not that big of an achievement, taking into consideration the cast, budget and marketing.

3) Happy Death Day 2U - with a production budget of only 9M this was expected to be a success, and it was but a soft one. It earned half of what the first part Happy Death Day did, 64M vs 125M.

4) How To Train Your Dragon 3 - it's difficult to say a movie earning more than half of billion dollars is not a success. But out of all three franchise titles it was the weakest domestically and took second place when worldwide numbers were taken into consideration. But still weaker than its predecessor.

5) Tyler Perry's A Madea family Funeral - I'm counting this one as a win for the studio, not just because of the small budget but it was also among the TOP3 franchise titles. I'm just happy this one was the last part.

6) Captain Marvel - not a sequel per se but a part of a bigger universe so it's on this list. 1.1B worldwide, a win for Marvel/Disney.

7) Shazam! - the same scenario as Captain Marvel, not a direct sequel so can't compare its box office with anything, but following 1B-crossing Aquaman and a hopeful revival of DCEU, this had to earn more money, it's not a good sign when it's debatable if a movie managed to break even. A movie that won't be remembered all that long, at least Captain Marvel's lead controversy gave it media presence and will help its sequel. Shazam on the other hand was talked about the first few days, but it died out soon thanks to Avengers Endgame.

8) Hellboy - haven't seen it so I'm not sure if they were trying to reboot the Pearlman's franchise or not, but this was a flop.

9) Avengers Endgame - 2.7B, earning more than Infinity War (which is a better movie personally but that doesn't matter), yet another success for Marvel.

10) John Wick Parabellum - finally a non-Disney release that's a big win.

11) Godzilla King of The Monsters - not that great reviews, with a 170M this probably won't break even, earning even less than Godzilla 1998.

12) Dark Phoenix - FLOP.

13) The Secret Life of Pets 2 - probably breaking even, a minuscule success at best. Part one earned 875M while this part dropped waaaaay down to 223M. The studio can't be too happy with these numbers.

14) Men In Black International - flop.

15) Shaft - not that great reviews, earning only 18M can't be a sign for the studio to give a green light for a sequel.

16) Toy Story 4 - earning decent money, it's too soon to say whether or not it will top the franchise but it's a success for the studio.

17) Annabelle Comes Home - will cover its budget but people at WB won't be happy, the weakest part of the franchise.

I've left out remakes so until the studio makes a sequel titles like Pet Sematary, Aladdin, What Men Want and Dumbo aren't here.