Is Hollywood putting all there eggs in the sequel basket?

This summer there are 12 big sequels.  Everything from Iron Man 3 to Smurfs 2.  There are some good reasons why executives like to keep rolling over the same material.  It makes marketing films easier, and a successful "franchise" can mean studios can create other revenue - everything from action figures to theme park rides.

Still, as Rebecca Keegan notes, sequels are nothing new.  The Greek poets, she says, knew how to tell a story and then build another behind it.  But lots of creative types in Hollywood aren't thrilled by the prospect of continually rehashing material.

Whatever.  Seems like, at least for the foreseeable future, sequels will be coming back, and back, and back...