Five of the best film franchises

Want a cosy day in for a box set binge or looking for a plot to follow over several sittings? Famous film franchises are a great way to satisfy the craving.

These franchises were box-office smashes for a reason. If you’ve never seen one before, now is the perfect time to get involved!

Building the ultimate movie night setup

Before you can get stuck into any of these franchises, you’ve got to make sure you’re doing it in style.

You might be a bring-the-duvet-downstairs kind of movie-watcher, or you might fancy making your own popcorn. 

As well as those extras, you need to make sure your tech is on point. A sharp HD TV with a soundbar can bring the cinema experience into your home. And will you be streaming your movies? A VPN for Roku or similar consoles can prevent you from falling foul of buffering problems!

Harry Potter

The famous tales of ‘The Boy who Lived’ are responsible for $7,780,010,016 in total gross across eight films. If you want to read the books back, there are seven to get your teeth into. The final instalment, The Deathly Hallows was made a two-parter on the silver screen.

Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is where much of the action plays out. When you’ve finished the films, you could even take a tour of filming locations across the UK!

The Lord of the Rings

Another literary classic that was adapted for cinema. Peter Jackson’s three-part epic follows Frodo Baggins as he attempts to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron. 

The extended version of the trilogy runs for over 11 hours, so be sure to prepare plenty of snacks if you’re going to attempt it in one sitting!

Marvel Cinematic Universe

With 31 films in the MCU at the time of writing, it is sadly an impossibility of time’s structure to polish off this whole series in one day. With that many films involved, it’s little surprise that this is the highest-grossing franchise of all time.

The franchise is split across four ‘phases’ and releases for the fifth and sixth are already in the works. This epic story arc takes in superhero stories featuring the likes of The Avengers, Spider-Man and Deadpool.

The Dark Knight Trilogy

You have several options when it comes to taking in a series of Batman films. But we recommend sticking with Christopher Nolan’s trio starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman.

Heath Ledger’s mesmerising and poignant depiction of The Joker was awarded a posthumous Oscar. It is our pick of the performances across three films dripping with talented displays.

The Hunger Games

Here are other books turned into movies to finish with. This dystopian tale of a future world dominated by annual bloodsport is an eerie way to hold a mirror to society.

It may be the perfect time to revisit the first four films of the franchise, with number five due for release in November 2023.