Why So Many Sequel Movies This Summer?

Jake Tapper asked the entertaining question recently: Why are there so many movie sequels this summer? Now, I didn't have the time to see what I'm guessing was another CNN panel discussion segment with multiple points of view, all arguing like this is the most important and controversial issue of our time, but there's a very simple answer to this question of why there are so many movie sequels this summer, and it's this: Sequels are easy, Hollywood brass is lazy (and risk-averse), these movies make lots of money, and lots of us pay money to go see them; plus there are more platforms than ever before to make money on a high-profile movie release (like Pay-Per-View, NetFlix-style streaming, BluRay, Pay Cable, Airlines, Network TV, etc.). And that's the reason, plain and simple.