Audience scores averaged across every film in 10 major franchises. The results might surprise you.
Published March 24, 2026
Not all franchises are created equal. Some deliver consistently great movies that audiences love from start to finish. Others coast on brand recognition while the actual quality nosedives after the first couple of entries. We decided to settle the debate with data.
We took the 10 biggest movie franchises of all time and averaged their audience score across every mainline entry. No spin-offs, no TV movies: just the core theatrical releases that define each series. The results paint a clear picture of which franchises earned their reputation and which ones have been living off goodwill for years.
The franchise that proved Keanu Reeves could anchor an entirely new action universe starting at age 50. The original John Wick (88%) was a surprise hit that reinvented action choreography for a new generation. Chapter 2 (90%) expanded the world without losing the visceral appeal. Chapter 3 (87%) pushed the action even further. And Chapter 4 (85%) delivered a satisfying conclusion. What makes John Wick special in this ranking is that every single entry sits at 85% or above, with Chapter 2 as the franchise peak at 90%. That kind of consistency across four films is the exact opposite trajectory of most action franchises.
Pixar's flagship franchise has delivered remarkably well over nearly three decades. Toy Story (85%) invented the modern animated film. Toy Story 2 (92%) proved sequels could be even better. Toy Story 3 (88%) gave audiences one of the most emotionally devastating endings in animation history. Toy Story 4 (82%) is the clear weak point in an otherwise legendary run. Some fans felt Woody's story had already reached its perfect ending. That single dip brings the average down from what would otherwise be franchise royalty, but 87% across four films is still exceptional.
Peter Jackson's trilogy is the gold standard of franchise filmmaking. The Fellowship of the Ring (86%), The Two Towers (85%), and The Return of the King (85%) are so consistently loved that the average barely fluctuates across all three films. Each film was shot simultaneously with a unified vision, and it shows. There are no weak links, no cash-grab sequels, no studio interference dragging the quality down. When audiences watch any entry in this trilogy, they walk away happy — and that consistency is unmatched.
Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy pulled off something remarkable: it made superhero movies feel like serious cinema without losing the entertainment value. Batman Begins (82%) rebuilt the character from the ground up after the Joel Schumacher era. The Dark Knight (92%) transcended the genre entirely. Heath Ledger's Joker turned a comic book movie into one of the decade's best films, period. The Dark Knight Rises (82%) couldn't quite match its predecessor, but it still delivered a satisfying conclusion that audiences overwhelmingly approved of. The massive spike on The Dark Knight carries the trilogy, tying it with LOTR despite the bookend films sitting lower.
The original trilogy remains legendary — A New Hope (89%), Empire Strikes Back (94%), Return of the Jedi (94%). Those three films alone would put Star Wars at the very top of this list. The prequels are more liked than many assume: Phantom Menace (85%), Attack of the Clones (87%), and Revenge of the Sith (92%) all score surprisingly well with audiences. The sequel trilogy is where the average takes its biggest hit: The Force Awakens (78%) started solidly, but The Last Jedi (68%) and The Rise of Skywalker (69%) left many fans unsatisfied. Six strong films can't fully offset three divisive ones, but the franchise still lands in the top five.
The MCU's Infinity Saga (Iron Man through Endgame) represents the most ambitious franchise experiment in film history: 23 interconnected films over 11 years. The highs are extraordinary: Avengers: Endgame (92%), Infinity War (88%), Black Panther (87%), and Iron Man (86%) all scored well above 85%. But the averages get dragged down by weaker entries like Captain Marvel (73%), The Incredible Hulk (71%), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (80%). The sheer volume of films means there are inevitable dips. That said, keeping 23 movies at an 83% average is a genuine achievement — no other franchise has maintained that level of quality at this scale.
George Miller's post-apocalyptic franchise spans nearly five decades and still hits hard. The original Mad Max (84%) was a low-budget Australian film that became a global phenomenon. The Road Warrior (75%) is a gritty cult classic. Beyond Thunderdome (79%) split audiences with its PG-13 approach. Then Fury Road (89%) arrived in 2015 and reminded the world why this franchise matters: it's one of the highest-rated action films in the database. Furiosa (79%) kept the franchise alive in 2024. The 30-year gap between Thunderdome and Fury Road makes this franchise's longevity remarkable, even if the middle entries sit lower than most fans remember.
Tom Cruise's spy franchise has defied aging in a way few action series ever have. The first Mission: Impossible (82%) was a stylish Brian De Palma thriller. M:I-2 (81%) divided audiences with John Woo's slow-motion excess. M:I III (84%) is actually the franchise's second-highest score. Ghost Protocol (81%) and Rogue Nation (82%) kept things steady. Fallout (77%) and Dead Reckoning (72%) saw declining audience scores despite strong critical reviews, suggesting some franchise fatigue setting in for general audiences even as critics stayed enthusiastic.
The Fast saga is a franchise of two halves. The early street-racing films scored surprisingly well: The Fast and the Furious (85%), 2 Fast 2 Furious (86%), and Tokyo Drift (82%) all delivered solid audience satisfaction. Then the franchise shifted to heist-action territory with Fast Five (78%), Fast & Furious 6 (79%), and Furious 7 (78%). But F9 (74%) and Fast X (70%) showed the diminishing returns of increasingly absurd set pieces. The franchise's willingness to go to space and defy every law of physics finally wore out audience patience. The earlier entries hold this average up, but the trend line points downward.
The Transformers franchise is the cautionary tale at the bottom of our list. The first Transformers (80%) was a genuinely entertaining blockbuster that introduced audiences to Michael Bay's vision of giant robot warfare. But the sequels followed a downward curve: Revenge of the Fallen (76%), Dark of the Moon (79%), Age of Extinction (71%), and The Last Knight (71%) each tested audience patience. Bumblebee (77%) was a change of pace that proved the IP could work with a different approach, and Rise of the Beasts (74%) was a modest return. But five below-average films out of seven entries makes Transformers the franchise where audiences keep showing up but keep leaving disappointed.
The biggest takeaway from this ranking is that consistency matters more than peak quality. Star Wars has two films at 94%, but its sequel trilogy drags it to fifth. Meanwhile, John Wick doesn't have a single film in the 90%+ range apart from Chapter 2, but its relentless consistency puts it in first.
There's also a clear pattern around franchise length. The top four franchises all have relatively few entries (3-4 films). The bottom four all have seven or more. More sequels means more opportunities for quality to slip, and audiences notice every time.
The smartest franchises are the ones that know when to stop, or at least, when to reinvent themselves. Mad Max took a 30-year break and came back with its best film. Toy Story kept its run tight at four entries. The franchises at the bottom kept churning out sequels on a schedule, and the scores reflect that creative fatigue.
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