Why do we need so many prequels?

Don't forget nostalgia! With the exception of Star Wars where the prequels had a different tone and feel than the original trilogy which made a lot of sense and Star Trek Enterprise.

Prometheus is a near exception except for Shaw's recorded message was a shout out to the original Alien and Alien Covenant played it straight with recycled key moments from Alien such as the xenomorph's tail slipping between its victim's legs and again another xenomorph is launched out of an airlock.

Star Trek (reboot) movie series and Star Trek Discovery are the biggest offenders here. Star Trek reboot is a semi-prequel since it focuses on a young spock and a young Kirk while also focusing inside an alternate timeline created by Prime Spock and Prime Nero. Into Darkness rehashes Wrath of Khan and the episode where Khan was first introduced. I haven't seen Star Trek Beyond so I can't make judgement on that. Star Trek Discovery from what i heard is set between the original series and Next Generation yet shares more in common with the reboot continuity.

The Hobbit Trilogy uses nostalgia from the Lord of the Rings film to match both trilogies in tone while also borrowing from Tolkien's auxiliary appendix books and having to invent lore due to not being allowed to reference the events of the Silmarillion by the Tolkien Estate.

It would be difficult to continue the story after AR, because people do not want to have anything to do with AR. And to make retcon of Alien 3 - need a lot of courage. In the end - only the first Alien asked questions about the universe and it would be interesting to answer them.

However, I agree, this could also work with the sequel. I have some ideas where Prometheus happens after Alien!

Star Wars is saga. Prequels is only name. For convenience.

The This had a good work with prequel.

Hey dk, if you ask me, I say - I hate the local oriented prequels for the dead characters. I really hate the idea about semi-prequel to Alien 3, where they show to us how the egg got on board of Sulaco and even the new adventures of Hicks, Newt, Bishop and Ripley. Why? What's the point? If Alien 3 is still the next stop.

Because, in addition to earning money on prequels by companies, this is a great opportunity for universe fans to see stories about their favorite characters.

This isn't only a problem with prequels, but with sequels and reboots as well. The lack of originality in so many movies, much of which are made by studios like Di$ney, is baffling.

Yes, sometimes a sequel / prequel can be absolutely necessary, however, like you said dk, there are a great many films that would be better as standalones, like (in my opinion) A Quiet Place (but skrew that I guess).

Audiences nowadays like to be spoon-fed, constantly wanting more, because what they have now just isn't enough for them, and they have a problem with speculating or leaving unknown plot points to their interpretation... and studios give into it.

It's obvious that these studios see this as an opportunity to make tons of money, and they forget to come up with completely original ideas. A big problem is that people a lot of the times forget to support actual good and orginal films, instead focusing only on big blockbuster universes like the MCU, which is a shame. 

IMO its because we don't like endings. Endings breaks immersion. Maintaining immersion is Writing 101.  

Prequels are safer because the 'ending' is the beginning of something we are already know.   

double post