The next big thing

With the last Harry Potter movie due to be released in just under a month, I've been wondering what that next epic story will be. To my knowledge, no story has encompassed a total of eight feature films. It is a testament to the power of the author's work that it has managed to remain such a commercial success, given the editing that has had to be done to the last novels to make them fit into the cinematic time frame.

It still begs the question, will any movie series ever be so big?

You could argue that the Twilight and Transformers series could fit the bill, but I have a problem with that.

I mentioned that no story has encompassed eight films. Star Trek fans everywhere have probably already figuratively jumped down my throat. I don't think they count, in that the stories (with the notable exceptions of II, III and IV) stand alone. The sequels take the previous movies into consideration, but aren't necessarily part of the same story. The same can be said for Twilight and Transformers.

One large story line, such as Ms. Rowling has produced simply doesn't translate well into film for the most part. The Harry Potter series was fortunate enough to be different, and to really be one story arc, leading to the upcoming conclusion. It will be many years before we see anything similar, in my humble opinion.

If anyone feels differently, what do you believe will be the next big thing?