I would argue that the Lord of the Rings series would be the biggest risk of the four listed. If only because it is the lone series of the four that hasn't already faced accusations of "jumping the shark." Also, the previous LotR installments did not feel episodic, they felt like serials, where the other films were all self-contained, with the possible exception of PotC 2 & 3. Consequently X-Men, Spiderman, and Pirates of the Carribean have less to lose as their third installments did not win Best Picture. Far from it.

Which franchise would be making the biggest mistake by continueing past the original trilogy?

"X-MEN": This francise is played-out. MAYBE going into each character individually MIGHT work, but having all the X-MEN together wont. No longer interested in ANY of the inner-character relationships. Though I will go on record of saying the first "X-Men" was OUTSTANDING. It has just progressively fizzled with each new movie.

"Pirates of the Caribbean": a close second. This francise is played-out too. The only reason its got a better chance than than "X-MEN" are the creativity of its founding screenwriters. They MIGHT be able to breath fresh life into this, but I wouldn't bet on it.

"Spiderman" has A LOT of tread left. Growing up I watched this cartoon series religously. Used to run home from school just to catch it on time. Electro, the Rhino, the Scorpion, Mysterio, the Lizard -- though he was hinted at in Spiderman 2... LOTS more villians to explore. Drawback: Tobey McGuire's age, other series actors age.

"The Hobbit": Scott, I couldn't agree with you more. BUT this is more of a stand alone move. It's not dependant on "The Lord of the Rings." Actually, "The Hobbit" is a prequel to it.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

I would love to see The Hobbit especially if Del Toro is at the helm.

I'd have to say Pirates, mostly because The Hobbit can be viewed w/out LoTRs, X-Men and Spider-Man can always start fresh like Batman did, but Pirates felt like a trilogy and would come off as trying to cash in if they went for a 4th film.

Aren't they looking to make a fourth Bourne film? That scares me more than anything. To me, it's one of the few great movie trilogies in existence. I'd hate to see it ruined.

I agree with you Scott, The Hobbit would be the only one that I'm interested to watch. It has everything. Peter Jackson, Del Toro, most of the cast from the LOTR films, and also, I guess, most of the artistic crew...So yeah, count me in for this one.

As for the other one, I don't think that it's crying for a fourth part, not at all.

Well given how boring the last two POTC films were, I have zero interest in seeing a 4th.

X-Men could easily be reborn with new mutants/character dynamics, but the key would be keeping the real-world verisimilitude and not slouching off into comic-book la-la land.
No idea how they're gonna drag Spidey back from the brink of 3, which was just awful. I'm probably alone in having no interest in The Hobbit right now.

As for which would be making the bigger mistake? Depends on the team behind it and whether they're in it for the money or the glory. My gut says Pirates could be a disaster. A 4 hour-long disaster.

Can't disagree more about X-Men. IMO 2 was a better movie, despite my admiration for the world-setting of the first. 3 suffered because Fox set a release date at the expense of everything else. Say what you like out about Ratner but he'd have had a much harder time f*cking up a great script.

Agree about Bourne; although I love the films I think they should leave it there. I just can't see how the returns won't diminish.

I'm most interested in seeing the Hobbit, though I'm a little miffed that they're breaking into two parts (at least the last I heard). I only saw the first Pirates, and that was enough. I'll have to excuse myself from voting on that one because I'm surprised they milked as much as they did out of it so they could make eight more for all I know. I just didn't like it.

As for the franchise I actually followed and that I'm least interested in, in my opinion it's a tie between X-Men and Spidey. I may have to give the "least" award to Spider-Man though, mostly due to the cringe-inducing swing-dancing scene from the last one. It was truly horrible, and horrifying. I couldn't believe what I was watching. If that's the direction the writing's going, then it's going downhill. I'd rather see a Ghost Rider sequel.

With every film franchise, there's a law of diminishing returns: a sequel is never as good as the one that precedes it. Three of those four you mention bear this out.

That said, I am slightly interested in seeing The Hobbit, although that isn't actually a sequel. As for the rest, I couldn't care less.

Woah, you opened up a can of worms there, dude.
Godfather 2, Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back, Spider-Man 2, X-Men 2, The Two Towers. All offer something a little different whilst furthering the story, and are at least the equal of their progenitors IMO. And they're just the obvious, oft-cited ones...

Oh, and The Bourne Supremacy.