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Which franchise would you open?

Kim Hollis: In terms of franchise potential, how would you rank these titles with other upcoming or likely sequels: Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon and Wreck-It Ralph? What's your thought process behind your ranking?

Edwin Davies: 1. How To Train Your Dragon 2. Despicable Me 3. Wreck-It Ralph

I've ranked these based on how likely I think it is that the sequels will be good, and therefore how long the franchise will run in general. The way I see it, How To Train Your Dragon has a vast and unexplored world that has been fleshed out somewhat in a series of 10 books. Even if the films deviate from them - and they already have - that's still a wealth of material for them to draw upon which should sustain the series for years to come without resorting to just rehashing the same things over and over. There's plenty of room for development. Despicable Me strikes me as less likely to work in the same way since the first film was such a surprising success that whilst the second film will probably be huge, it also runs the risk of being a letdown creatively if they don't come up with a story as good as that of the first. The same could be true of Wreck-It Ralph, which I think ends so perfectly that any follow-ups would struggle to match it. However, I rank it lower than Despicable Me only because Despicable Me already is a franchise, whereas we don't know yet how Wreck-It Ralph's legacy is going to develop. If they do decide to make a follow-up, there's probably a lot more that they could do with Wreck-It Ralph in terms of what characters from old games they could introduce, but it seems a little bit limited since the characters can't leave the arcade in the way that the toys could leave Andy's house in the Toy Story sequels. It's a world that is a little too rigid to allow for much evolution.

Jason Barney: How To Train Your Dragon was one of the best children's movies ever, and it gave us one of the most charming fantasy characters of all time, Toothless. Much of that film remains easy to recall, as it was just so damn good. Any chance to bring my son back to that universe and see him smiling and laughing the way he did would be a real treat. Toothless was very much like a pet for many families. I would expect most parents would jump at the opportunity to have their kids entertained by him again.

Felix Quinonez: I haven't seen Wreck-It Ralph yet so I don't really know whether or not the story justifies a sequel or if it would just be a cash grab. As far as the other two go. I think How to Train Your Dragon seems more of a logical choice to extend into a franchise. There is already source material in the books and there just seems to be a lot to explore in that world. In my opinion Despicable was a great movie but I wonder if the sequel is really necessary. The previews already seem to put the minions in the forefront. That's because they were the breakout stars of the first one but it also seems to suggest that the protagonist's journey reached its natural conclusion. It also makes the sequel appear more a calculated move than a natural progression of the story.

Kim Hollis: I would agree that How to Train Your Dragon soars high above all others, followed by Despicable Me and then Wreck-It Ralph, at least as of now. How to Train Your Dragon is pretty much a perfect film as far as I'm concerned, and I'm sure there is a lot more that can be explored in that mythology. The minions make Despicable Me, but the first film had an incredibly sweet story and I anticipate more of the same. I would also note that with regards to the minions dominating the trailer for the sequel, they similarly were the focus for the original film, so I wouldn't read much into that.

David Mumpower: I believe that all three are well positioned as reliable franchise titles. I agree with the assessment that How to Train Your Dragon is the strongest of the bunch. Its shocking box office performance and the existence of several books full of fertile story possibilities assuredly identifies it as the best. Second is a much more interesting discussion. We celebrated the emergence of the Minions during the domestic run of Despicable Me. Their ubiquity in not only the movie's advertisements but also promotions for Best Buy and other corporate powerhouses create a substantial level of awareness. Anecdotally, when the trailer for Despicable Me 2 aired at our theater, the energy in the building spiked tangibly. Kids LOVE those things. So I view Wreck-It Ralph as the third place entrant yet I feel just as strongly that Disney debuted an instant franchise title that has everything kids want. Plus, this title has the advantage of the Disney marketing machine, the most powerful force in the industry. All three of these franchises are potent blockbusters.

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