The rule of Hollywood is that if a smash hit movie gets followed up by an even more successful sequel, further installments are all-but-guaranteed. And yet, the opposite proved to be true in the case of Journey to the Center of the Earth, although we suspect that Dwayne Johnson is at least partly to blame.
After all, scheduling conflicts ruled Brendan Fraser out of the second chapter, with The Rock stepping in to continue their tenuous association that saw them both appear in The Mummy and G.I. Joe franchises without actually sharing any scenes together. The opener earned a solid $244 million on a $60 million, before Johnson applied his signature “Franchise Viagra” touch.
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island brought in $335 million from theaters to exponentially increase the IP’s earning power, with threequel Journey from the Earth to the Moon tentatively announced in 2014. Obviously, it never happened, even if the star and producer’s Seven Bucks claims to be committed to getting around to it eventually.
It’s Fraser’s stint at the helm that’s been erupting in popularity on streaming, though, with Journey to the Center of the Earth having escaped from certain death to find a Top 10 spot on HBO Max in multiple countries, per FlixPatrol. The wholesome icon headlining a big budget fantasy is a generational core memory for audiences of a certain age, with his recent Academy Award win encouraging folks to dig deeper into his back catalogue for more charming goodness, which the film delivers in spades.
