James Bond & The 9 Longest Running Movie Franchises Ever

A film franchise is defined by many things – its box-office gross, its cast, and perhaps most importantly, its age and longevity. Even the biggest of them will fade away into obscurity someday, and the question is how long they can maintain their relevance until that happens. When speaking of revenue and popularity, the MCU might be at the top of the list right now, but in terms of years active, it is still in its infancy when compared to some.

It is no easy feat to run a movie series for decades and decades. Many, such as the Terminator franchise, have been suffering from a decline in quality for years now, while others have managed to maintain themselves better. Taking all of that into account, the following list looks at some movie franchises that have stood the test of time better than others.

10 Terminator – 35 Years (1984 – 2019)

James Cameron has directed a remarkable number of celebrated films, from classics like Titanic to modern hits like Avatar, and The Terminator was one of his earliest works as a director and writer. With Arnold Schwarzenegger in the most famous role of his career as an assassin cyborg, the films more or less centered around a post-apocalyptic future where humans have been driven to extinction by an AI system. Although the franchise has been suffering from the ever-classic dilemma of not being able to live up to the originals, it is simply too well known to be forgotten yet.

9 Mad Max – 42 Years (1979 – Present)

Created by George Miller, in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Mad Max civilization has crumbled into chaos and all kinds of resources are scarce, over which crazily dressed psychotic people fight with each other. Mel Gibson played the titular role of Max Rockatansky in the first 3 films of the series from 1979 to 1985. After a long 30-year gap Mad Max returned once again in its full glory in 2015’s Fury Road with Tom Hardy in the lead and claimed its place as one of the best action thrillers of the decade.

8 Alien – 42 Years (1979 – Present)

Ridley Scott set the bar for scary aliens too high with his 1979 film Alien. CGI may be a fantastic tool for breathing life into a particular scene or film, but there is something about the special effects and prosthetics used in the early Alien films that make them impressive even today.

The recent prequel films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant have been met with lukewarm responses from fans and critics, and further installments are in development.

7 Star Trek – 42 Years (1979 – Present)

The first Star Trek film came out in 1979, but the media franchise itself had existed long before that with the TV show Star Trek: The Original Series that was released in 1966. While many movie franchises produce spin-off shows after the initial success of the films, in the case of Star Trek the opposite had happened. Across multiple TV shows, film series, and reboots, the story follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise and its crew as they go to places where no man has gone before.

6 Halloween – 43 Years (1978 – Present)

The slasher sub-genre of horror rose to great prominence around the late 1900s, and 1978’s Halloween played no small part in its popularity. One of the oldest contemporary horror movie franchises, it introduced one of the most iconic horror villains of all time – Michael Myers. The continuity of the film series is something of a mess, as anyone familiar with the films will know, but through this messy sequence of remakes and retcons, it has managed to persevere for over 40 years.

5 Star Wars – 44 Years (1977 – Present)

Ambition is a director’s greatest weapon, and if Star Wars says anything about its creator George Lucas it is that the man was ambitious. Star Wars doesn’t always consist of the most original stories ever, but the perfection in its simplicity is what has made it a cornerstone of pop culture with one of the biggest and most critical fan bases on the planet.

Debates about which of the movies are better will probably go on forever, and through these passionate debates, the franchise will continue to thrive in the same blockbuster manner as it always has.

4 Rocky – 45 Years (1976 – Present)

Written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, the first Rocky film was produced with a small budget of around $1 million and grossed $225 million at the box office, making it a hugely profitable film. Thus began the saga of Rocky Balboa and one of the most iconic sports film franchises in the world. After 6 sequels, the series has now shifted focus to a different character and is thriving under the name of Creed featuring Black Panther actor Michael B. Jordan.

3 Planet Of The Apes – 53 Years (1968 – Present)

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and based on the book by French author Pierre Boulle, the first Planet of the Apes film takes place in the year 3978 and revolves around a group of astronauts who crash land on a planet and discover a society run by apes with human-like intelligence.

The success of the first film spawned 4 sequels and a remake was released in 2001, directed by Tim Burton. More recently, the series was rebooted in 2011 with a new trilogy that differs greatly from the previous films in terms of plot.

2 James Bond – 59 Years (1962 – Present)

The quintessential male action hero, James Bond is the world’s most famous spy, even if that sort of defeats the purpose of being a “secret” agent. A creation of writer Ian Fleming, the character first appeared in 1952’s Casino Royale and received a live-action film adaptation in 1962 with Dr.No, which would be the first of numerous to come. Several actors have played the role of James Bond over the years, and it is nothing short of extraordinary how a 25 film long franchise has been produced revolving around a single man and his escapades.

1 Godzilla – 67 Years (1954 – Present)

The first Godzilla film (originally called Gojira), a Japanese production directed by Ishirō Honda, was created as a metaphor for nuclear power in a post World War II Japan. Since its westernization and widespread popularity, the films have moved away from what they represented once, but as the most popular monster in cinema history, the franchise is still going strong as never before. The character has gone through countless remakes and reboots over its 67-year-old tenure, and is currently a part of its very own cinematic universe referred to as the Monsterverse.

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