LEGALLY BLONDE - AUDIENCES BORED OF SEQUELS

Hollywood studio bosses have come under fire for releasing too many sequels - because audiences are increasingly shunning follow-up films.

According to new figures, cinema-goers are turning expensive sequels - like 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE and LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED, WHITE AND BLONDE - into box office flops.

And despite the poor performance of this year's (03) sequels so far, another nine have already been planned for next year (04), including BRIDGET JONES: EDGE OF REASON and SPIDER-MAN II.

NINA JACOBSON, production president of WALT DISNEY, admits, "Certainly a lesson to be learned is don't make sequels that cost twice as much as the originals.

"You're basically betting double or nothing that twice as many people want to go see your movie."