Sony Doubles Down On Sequels As Investors See Roster Take Shape

Over the last few years, the most profitable films for Sony Corp (ADR) SNE have usually been sequels or franchise films. It's a trend that is likely to continue, as the studio has begun finalizing its plans for next year and beyond.

Analysts likely remember the buzz in 2015 when news broke that Sony had greenlit two new "Bad Boys" films and rescued Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series from an extended purgatory. The moves came together fast and somewhat unexpectedly, with only a handful of solid information attached.

Last Friday, Sony began confirming some of the rumors tied to those films and started assigning and shifting dates for those and other top projects. The biggest news comes with a slight shift for "Dark Tower," as the film will slide from January to February to take advantage of President's Day weekend.

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The move is designed to try and echo the success of this year's "Deadpool" as fan favorites Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey have now officially signed on board. In turn, "Bad Boys 3" will move from winter to summer with a June 2 debut. Sony also has slotted its new "Barbie" film for May 12, 2017, Mother's Day weekend.

The trio now join the company's "Spider-Man" reboot and sequels to "The Equalizer," "Resident Evil" and "The Smurfs" on a very crowded release schedule. It was also reported on Saturday that the long-rumored "21 Jump Street"/"Men In Black" crossover could also happen as early as 2017.

All together, this is a slate that investors will want to keep an eye on.