Why Another?

One of our fine trade papers gets nasty with its review of an upcoming animated feature of a long-running and well-lovied series:

The “Ice Age” movies are so utterly featureless and interchangeable that if Fox reissued an old one under a new title, it’s quite possible that no one would notice. “Collision Course” offers an argument for extinction that even environmentalists could support. ...

And so the unspoken question hangs in the still Arctic air: Why make a sequel at all?

Welll. There's multiple answers to that query. I'll share them with you below. ...

And here. They. Are. In Order:

In 2002, the first Ice Age was released, and grossed $383,257,136. It took in almost 6 1/2 times its production cost of $59 million, and the studio was pleasantly surprised. Fox had been trying to sell its whooly-owned Blue Sky studio to the highest bidder only months before. (It quickly changed its corporate mind).

In 2006, the next installment was released, and collected $660,940,780 against a budget of $80 million. If you've got your pocket calculator out, this is more than eight times the movie's production cost.

Okay, so now we're up to 2009, wherein the third Ice Age gets released. This one's sub-titled "The Dawn of Dinosaurs" and carries a price tag of $90 million. World wide gross? $886,686,817 (This is a shade under ten times the movie's production cost.)

And then we arrive at 2012, and the release of Ice Age #4. And whattayaknow? This one does less well than its immediate predecessor. $9.5 million less well.

The feature pulls in a paltry $877,244,782 while costing $95 million to make. (9.23 times its production cost).

I'll let you, constant reader, puzzle this one out for yourself. Why do you think Fox/News Corp. is rolling out the fifth ... and likely far from last ... Ice Age?

(You won't need more than eight seconds to tee up an answer). ...

Rotten tomatoes hasn't rated the flick yet, but here's a short compilation of early reviews. Full disclosure: I haven't seen ALL the "Ice Age" movies, but the ones I have watched have been highly entertaining.