40 Best Movie Series That Are Perfect for Your Next Movie Marathon
Get a blanket and some wine, ’cause you’re about to live on your couch.
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Once you pop a movie series, you can't stop! Do you have a bunch of free time and a couple of streaming services to divide it between? Or maybe a bunch of those classic movies you're supposed to watch by the time you're 30 to get through? Well, you've come to the right place. Even if you haven't been miraculously gifted several days of free time to binge-watch, these movie series are the ones to start catching up as soon as possible. These are for the movie lovers who enjoy a good story told over the course of a few films—and TBH, the stories may not even be that good all the time, but the characters and set pieces are fun, k? I will defend my love of movie trilogies and franchises to the death, y'all. It's nice to get invested in characters and spend some time with them.
Some of these movies are so tightly woven that they absolutely were made as one cohesive piece of art—think Lord of the Rings and the Before Sunrise movies. Others might have taken a bit of a...meandering path to get there, but we still love the destination—basically anything Marvel, but especially Thor, Iron Man, and Spider-Man. Some kinda figured their vibe out as they went along—lookin' at you, Fast and Furious movies! But no matter the road we took to get there, sometimes it's just fun to witness the evolution of an epic idea or character (and spend a lil time with some actors you love). So check out these 40 movie series and be prepared to waste your whole weekend.
The High School Musical Trilogy
When you just want to turn your brain off, there's kind of nothing better than an HSM marathon. You already know the songs and probably at least some of the dances. They're earnest, breezy, and way funnier than you remember.
The Star Wars Prequels
Some hate them. Some love them. Some love to hate them. But you can't deny that watching the Star Wars movies about the downfall of Anakin Skywalker is a journey. They're fun to marathon, even if you are making fun.
watch the phantom menace
watch attack of the clones
watch revenge of the sith
The Chronicles of Narnia Series
Are you ready to get taken to a dream world of magic? This series of films, based on the classic novel series, is the perfect cozy watch. It's exciting and adventurous but also magical and whimsical. Who doesn't wish they could slip through a closet and into a realm where the real world's problems no longer exist.
Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot Series
While you wait for the next Knives Out movie, treat yourself to a marathon of the other popular ensemble whodunnit series these days. There's really nothing better than watching a bunch of movie stars argue with each over whether or not they did a murder.
The Captain America Movies
This trilogy, within the MCU, has a WWI period piece, a spy thriller, and a crossover event so huge that it might as well be an Avengers movie. But at the heart of all three is the heart of the Marvel Universe, sweet Steve Rogers. And soon we'll be able to see a new hero officially take on the "Captain America" mantle on the big screen, Steve's 21st century bestie Sam Wilson, in Captain America: Brave New World.
watch captain america: the first avenger
The Red Curtain Trilogy
Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge, all directed by Baz Luhrmann, aren't connected by plot or character. But the auteur considers these three films to be a series because they're all related to the performing arts. Show your love of dance, theatre, and music by binging these films!
The Night at the Museum Movies
The beautiful ongoing story of a kid connecting with his father at an eccentric job, a statue of Teddy Roosevelt who becomes a mentor, and a little cowboy and Roman soldier in love.
The Magic Mike Series
Why stop at one male stripper movie when you could watch all three. Only one of them is a stone cold masterpiece (*cough* Magic Mike XXL *cough*) but all three have the goods. I'm talking about dancing, obviously.
The X-Men Movies
Wanna watch superheroes that are more about their own messy relationship drama than saving the world? This is a binge that can be as long or as short as you want. You don't have to watch all of the Wolverine movies (including Logan), all of the Deadpool movies (including Deadpool and Wolverine), or the infamous The New Mutants. You could even keep it simple and just watch the newer movies from First Class on for James Macavoy and Michael Fassbender reasons. I won't judge!
The Ocean's Eleven Series
These films are packed with A-list actors and give us a smart, thieves-stealing-stuff mystery every single time. It's also constantly, consistently one-upping itself. (The Sandra Bullock-Rihanna movie Ocean's 8 is also very good but takes the series in a new direction, once you finish with these three.)
Spider-Man: Homecoming
I mean, you could technically list all the Marvel films on this list, but there's simply too many to consider them a "series" at this point. If you wanna isolate some films you might like (or want to dip a toe in the huge franchise), consider the hilarious but surprisingly moving Tom Holland-Zendaya Spider-Man movies. Don't worry, more Marvel recs are coming.
The Mission: Impossible Series
Watch Tom Cruise go from an up-and-coming star to the mega-mega-A-lister he is now (and these movies are basically a huge part of the reason why). The fact that he does his own stunts, still, is a big part of the draw—these movies are never not fun to watch, even though some of them are better than others.
watch mission: impossible—Ghost Protocol
The Bridget Jones Series
If you're not familiar: In the early 2000s, Bridget Jones basically stood in for every miserable single person who just wanted their crush to notice them. She's incredibly flawed and funny, constantly trying to un-f*ck up her life, and that's honestly relatable 24/7.
The Die Hard Movies
Fair warning (and I'll prob say this a lot throughout this list): The early movies are better than the later ones. In fact, I would argue the first and third are the ones you should really prioritize, but maybe do the first three and watch 4 and 5 if you're bored. Bruce Willis as a frustrated, hilarious cop just trying to save a bunch of people is a fun time.
The Step Up Movies
The first one (aka the one where Channing Tatum met his ex Jenna Dewan and they have off-the-charts chemistry) is probably the best. But honestly, if you don't mind kinda silly, mostly mediocre plots and you love watching people dance, this is the series for you.
The Twilight Movies
Speaking of silly! If you never managed to watch this the first time round (which prob means you're younger than me, congrats), it's worth seeing why this was such a phenomenon. All the actors involve agree it's a weird, kinda creepy premise that an old vampire is stalking a teenager, but you can't deny that RPattz and KStew are doing their very best.
Watch the twilight saga: new moon
watch the twilight saga: eclipse
A Nightmare on Elm Street Films
These movies go from scary '80s slasher to OTT campy fun real fast, but if you love horror, you can't really miss the series that helped define the genre (the remake is fine, not great). Plus, Nancy is the ass-kicking final girl and curly haired queen we all need rn, so I'm only including the first three, plus the other film she appears in.
watch a nightmare on elm street
watch a nightmare on elm street 2: freddy's revenge
The Cornetto Trilogy
The films in this "trilogy" don't have a ton in common except for the people involved (Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost) and the fact that each ones takes a genre (zombie, cop, sci-fi, in that order), makes fun of it, and also becomes a really solid film within that genre. All three are worth the watch.
The Harry Potter Movies
I mean, you've probably already watched at least some of these. But if you're missing a couple of the films or just getting into the series for the first time, know that each movie is kind of its own thing. The tone, visual style, and pace vary, and it took a while to figure out the vibe you see in the last few movies, but the path to getting there is fun.
watch harry potter and the sorcerer's stone
watch harry potter and the chamber of secrets
watch harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban
watch harry potter and the goblet of fire
watch harry potter and the order of the phoenix
watch harry potter and the half blood prince
The Paranormal Activity Movies
The found footage horror film got a makeover with Paranormal Activity. And it was so successful it spawned a bunch of others with similar-ish premises, but nothing beats the "couple sets up home video in their bedroom, then sh*t starts to go sideways" of the first.
watch paranormal activity: the marked ones
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