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- Columbia Pictures
When a movie from your favorite franchise shows up, you may flock to the theater as soon as possible. A trailer for an upcoming movie from a beloved franchise can give you chills while seeing a performer return to a role is often nothing short of delightful. Basically, the franchises with the most movies are the ones you can't get enough of.
Some franchises have worn out their welcome, of course. When a series starts to lose its luster, the entries start to bypass theaters entirely. But, the most iconic cinematic universes have a way of coming back to the multiplex more and more.
With that in mind, which movies have been in theaters a whole lot more often than you ever knew?
Number of Movies: 27
Details: Inspired by Ian Fleming's fictional character James Bond, the movie franchise started with Dr. No in 1962. Sean Connery played Bond in Dr. No and in subsequent releases From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), and Diamonds are Forever (1971).
George Lazenby was Bond for one film in 1969, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but Roger Moore stepped in to appear as 007 in 1973. Moore's movies include Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985).
Timothy Dalton was Bond in 1987's The Living Daylights and 1989's License to Kill. He was followed by Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002).
Daniel Craig rounded out the Bond movies in Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).
Number of Movies: 38
Details: Thirty-three movies of the Godzilla franchise were released between 1954 and 2023 and are split into eras. The Showa era included noteworthy films like Godzilla (1954), Son of Godzilla (1967), and Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975).
The Return of Godzilla kicked off the Heisei era in 1984 and was followed by six movies including Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992). The Millennium era ran from 1999 to 2024 and included six movies, while the Reiwa era began in 2016 and is still in progress. Most recently, Godzilla Minus One was released in 2023.
American movies featuring Godzilla include 1998's Godzilla, 2014's Godzilla, and 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire were released in 2021 and 2024, respectively.
Number of Movies: 20
Details: To include every theatrical release that included or revolved around Batman is a bit tricky, but technically, the franchise began with two serial theatrical releases in 1943 and 1946 called Batman and Batman and Robin. Adam West was front and center as the caped crusader in Batman, based on the television series of the same name, in 1966.
It wasn't until 1989 that Batman was revived on the big screen with Tim Burton's Batman. Michael Keaton led the way and appeared in Batman Returns in 1992. Val Kilmer was in Batman Forever in 1995 and George Clooney donned the cowl in Batman & Robin in 1997. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), a feature-length expansion of Batman: The Animated Series, hit theaters in 1993 as well.
Direct-to-video animated projects aside (such as Batman: The Killing Joke (2016), Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016), and Batman vs Two-Face (2017)), the live-action Batman returned in Batman Begins starring Christian Bale in 2005. Bale reprised the role in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises in 2008 and 2012, respectively.
The Lego Batman Movie (2017) was released the year after Ben Affleck made his debut as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He later appeared in related DC comic book movies*, but never headed up another film. Robert Pattinson took over in The Batman in 2022 and the forthcoming The Batman - Part II (2006).
* DC Extended Universe movies include Suicide Squad (2016), Justice League (2017), Zach Snyder's Justice League (2021), and The Flash (2023). Joker (2019) and Joker: Folie a Deux (2024) take place in a separate Elseworlds universe in the Batman franchise.
Number of Movies: 12
Details: George Lucas introduced audiences to Hans Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and others with Star Wars in 1977. The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi followed in 1980 and 1983, respectively.
A new batch of movies hit theaters in 1999 with Episode I - The Phantom Menace, 2002's Episode II - Attack of the Clones, and 2005's Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. As prequels, these movies led to the retitling of the original movies as Episode IV - A New Hope, Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, and VI - Return of the Jedi.
In 2008, the first full-length animated Star Wars movie hit theaters with The Clone Wars. Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017), and Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) accompanied two stand-alone films in 2016 and 2018, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Number of Movies: 13
Details: Star Trek: The Motion Picture reunited Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise in 1979 and was followed by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn in 1982. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home were released in 1984 and 1986, respectively. The initial batch of movies ended with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).
Star Trek was revived via the Star Trek: The Next Generation series with Star Trek Generations in 1994. Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis were released in 1996, 1998, and 2002.
A reboot hit theaters in 2009 with Star Trek, followed by Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013 and Star Trek Beyond in 2016.
Number of Movies: 5
Details: Harrison Ford's first adventure as Indiana Jones was in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981. Followed by Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom in 1984 and Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade in 1989, Jones returned for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull in 2008. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ended the franchise in 2023.
