A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are and gives brief examples of movie series. The body shows a list of the most popular film series and franchises in the United States and Canada. Description Sometimes the work is conceived from the beginning as a multiple-film work—for example, the Three Colours series—but in most cases the success of the original film (or an original series in the case of the Skywalker Saga) inspires further films to be made. Individual sequels are relatively common but are not always successful enough to spawn further installments. As of 2022, the 30 films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe form the highest-grossing film series even when adjusted for inflation, surpassing J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World (11 films), Star Wars (12 films), Ian Fleming's James Bond (27 films), and J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth (6 films) series. Box office Longest-running film series and franchises See also Lists of feature film series Highest-grossing franchises and film series Media franchise List of highest-grossing media franchises List of longest-running video game franchises References Works cited Filmmaking