Summer 2010 Launch Any Franchises?

Summer 2010 has generally been a bust in my eyes, with a few bright stars in a sea of smokey black sky.

But I was wondering today if any new franchises will be launched out of the gloomy dusk of Summer 2010?

The weird thing is, so many films were already reboots or sequels that when you look at the box office receipts, nothing shines to the top as a "starting point" for a franchise.

Let's look at this summer's current top 10 domestic grossing films, which will obviously adjust as summer wraps up, as many of these films are still showing.

1. Toy Story 3 - The wrap up to an existing franchise.

2. Iron Man 2 - Just one cog in the franchise-of-franchises.

3. Twilight Saga: Eclipse - Smack in the middle of a franchise.

4. Inception - I'm sure people might want to see one, but I can't see director Christopher Nolan franchising this story, but I suppose it's possible.

5. Shrek Forever After - The end of a franchise that should have been finished before now.

6. Despicable Me - The receipts and animated film track record would indicate we should PLAN on Despicable Me 2.

7. The Karate Kid - A surprise 80s reboot - rebooted enough for a part 2 of the reboot? I don't see it, but hey, I would have never expected this return either.

8. Grown Ups - Part of Me would say no, but the other part of me thinks that if Adam Sandler, David Spade, Rob Schneider and company are probably all pretty free, so they might jump on another gig if presented.

9. The Last Airbender - I imagine the series provides plenty of source material for a sequel, but for the big 4th of July feature, it doesn't seem like this film succeeded enough.

10. Robin Hood - Um....not quite a franchise, but a story that will surely be told again. But I'm not planning on a follow up story.

So, I suppose the only strong franchise launch is Despicable Me.

But I'd say it's too early to count out Salt and The Other Guys. But beyond that, not a lot of fresh franchise material from this summer.

Image by Holeymoon.