As anyone who has been to the cinema recently will tell you, Hollywood are currently pumping out franchises and sequels like original concepts never existed.

We’ve had Pirate of the Caribbean 5: Salazar’s Revenge, Transformers 5: The Last Knight**, The Mummy, Cars 3, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Alien: Covenant, Baywatch, and Despicable Me 3, all within almost two months.

As a seeming result of “franchise fatigue”, each of these has underperformed to some degree in the United States, failing to match the only two blockbusters that have managed to do notably well this Summer: Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

The current state of cinema was been brought to a head over the weekend with the release of Despicable Me 3, the threequel opening to $72.4 million, down from an expected $85 million and below both Despicable Me 2 and spinoff Minions, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

While hardly a bomb, the below-expected domestic result — plus Summer revenue being down 8 percent from last year — has set alarm bells ringing among studios.

Films to get excited about in 2017 Show all 13 1 /13 Films to get excited about in 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director: Rian Johnson Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o Plot: No details yet, but it will continue directly on from Rey coming face-to-face with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. Release Date: 15 December 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Thor: Ragnarok Director: Taika Waititi Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, and Mark Ruffalo Plot: Story details are minimal as of now, but Thor's third return to screen has already been teased to feature a loose adaptation of the famous 'Planet Hulk' storyline. Release Date: 27 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 You Were Never Really Here Director: Lynne Ramsay Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola Plot: A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Annihilation Director: Alex Garland Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A biologist's husband disappears. She thus puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not quite find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Wonderstruck (image from Far From Heaven) Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Amy Hargreaves Plot: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Mother (image of Darren Aronofsky) Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Ed Harris Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (image from The Lobster) Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Alicia Silverstone Plot: A surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Director: Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Release Date: 6 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Lady Bird (image of director Greta Gerwig) Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (image of director Steven Spielberg and star Mark Rylance) Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Mark Rylance, Oscar Isaac Plot: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 How to Talk to Girls at Parties Director: John Cameron Mitchell Cast: Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, and Nicole Kidman Plot: An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Dark Tower Director: Nikolaj Arcel Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Taylor Plot: Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world. Release Date: 28 July 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Suburbicon Director: George Clooney Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A crime mystery set in the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, where the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and betrayal. Release Date: 24 November

Just look towards Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (Dead Men Tell No Tales in the US) for further evidence. The fifth film in the series has earned $165.5 million domestically over almost two months, down from $241.1 million the last instalment grossed. That fourth film was below At World's End ($309.4 million) and Dead Man's Chest ($423.3 million).

The latest Transformers has taken just $102.1 million over two weeks with further diminishing returns ahead. The last instalment managed $245.4 million, down from $342.4 million for Transformers 3 and $402 million for Transformers 2.

Then there’s Cars 3, which debuted to a series low $53.7 million, while The Mummy opened to $31.7 million, failing to top the box office thanks to Wonder Woman’s almighty hold. Deadline attributed the flop to franchise fatigue, yet Chinese audiences still lapped up Tom Cruise’s adventure (generally, studios make less from foreign revenue which is why there's an emphasis on the American gross).

Cars 3 - Trailer 3

Also notable is the King Arthur disaster, the film taking just $140.3 million worldwide from a $170 million budget. Baywatch was expected to take $40 million opening weekend, but after some divisive reviews took just $18.5 million.

"Is this a signal that the era of the franchise with sequels that go beyond a second instalment is coming to an unceremonious end, or is it more an issue of quality?” Paul Dergarabedian of comScore pondered, talking to THR.

Reviews have seemingly had quite a significant impact on box office receipts, particularly aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. The Mummy holds just 15 percent, Transformers the same, Baywatch going up to 20 percent, King Arthur holding 18 percent, and Pirates 29 percent.

On the flip side, Wonder Woman and Guardians Vol. 2 have benefited from positive reviews, the former — which has quickly become the highest grossing DC Extended Universe film — being rated 92 percent, James Gunn’s space adventure holding 81 percent.

Come next weekend when Spider-Man: Homecoming reaches cinemas, expect a similar boost from the current 93 percent, certified fresh rating, as will the positively received War for the Planet of the Apes.

As Dergarabedian continues, studios are looking to change tactic, taking inspiration from surprise hits like Get Out, Split, The Beguiled, and Baby Driver, all critical and commercial successes. Whether that tactic becomes “making good movie” over “cashing in on franchises” remains to be seen.