Failed movie franchises

Note : In the 80's, following the success of Superman, they tried to launch another super-hero franchise in the same spirit. It seemed a good idea but the movie was really lame and flopped terribly...

Note : Before The Dark Knight, before Spider-man, before the X-men, there was the Punisher !!! Never seen it ? Me neither... It even failed to receive a theatrical release in the U.S.

Note : Mario was, probably still is, the most famous video game character and there have been many (most of them very good) games with him. So, it is quite natural that they decided to extand his realm to the movies. Unfortunately, it was a critical and financial disaster and we never saw Mario again expect, of course, in his lovely Nintendo games...

Note : One year after the Mario movie, they tried another video game adaptation... Being a big Street Fighter fan, I had to see it in the movie theater... What a terrible experience! One of the wortst movies I have ever seen... Luckilly, I was not the only thinking that way so there was no sequel for this pile of horsesh*t....

Note : Honestly, this one had some potential. A badass character, pretty good casting choice with Stallone, a nice mood... but still it didn't work out. Mostly for 2 reasons. First, they toned down the material (bye bye badassery...) and second, where was the f*cking mask ?!? Stallone has the mask on maybe 10 minutes for the whole movie while it is one of trademark of the character... Anyway, you know the drill, financial and critical misfire = no Dredd 2...

Note : Maybe we have a winner here. Cool super-hero=check, cool moody poster=check, cool lead actor= let me see, who is the lead actor...Michael Jai White... Who the f*ck is that ? Ah yeah! I know, he got killed by the Joker in the Dark Knight!! What a perfomance ! Sorry, I'm just being ironic here... Anyway, Michael (or is it Michael Jai?) didn't have enough star power to pull this movie for a sequel...

Note : Ooooo... It was big and it was bad... Big budget doesn't always mean big success. Even if you include a nice open ending with little baby godzillas... It was supposed to be a trilogy but they dropped the whole thing when this flick was a flop.

Note : Nowadays, when you hear this title, you think of an awesome super-hero flick which has recently become the 3rd highest grossing motion picture ever made. Before that, there was another movie bearing the same title which is, arguably, the worst TV-show adaptation ever made. No doubt if it wasn't that bad and made some bucks, it would have started a new franchise but it wasn't meant to be...

suggested by Leo

Note : Not only it was a huge flop and arguably one of the worst movies ever made, the original plans called for a sequel to be produced, which would have been based on the second half of the novel by L. Ron Hubbard. These plans were scrapped due to the poor critical and public reaction to this film. Thank God for that...

suggested by Leo

Note : I'm probably one of the only people on Earth who actually likes this movie... I think it is one of the most thoughtfull super-hero movies out there. But I'm maybe the only one who thinks so and it failed terribly badly.

Note : I don't think it was that bad. Actually, Daredevil is a pretty cool character and it would have been nice to see more of him. But it failed badly and, for a long time, it seemed that Ben Affleck would never come back as a super-hero following his statement "Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me and something I wouldn't want to do again soon." but, apparently, he did change his mind after all.

Note : For the 2nd time, they tried to start a franchise around The Punisher, and again, they failed gloriously ! Actually, this one did better than the 1st one. It was released in the US and made nearly four times what it cost. Eventually, a sequel was planned (well done !), but Thomas Jane eventually bowed out as it was taking too long to produce (too bad...). Personally, I couldn't care less about this movie. No loss for me !

Note : Honestly, I thought it was pretty good and they were supposed to make more movies (there are 13 books so that should be enough material) but it seems that they eventually dropped the whole thing so we won't see Count Olaf and the Baudelaire siblings for anytime soon.

suggested by Jamie

Note : I don't think it was that bad. I mean, of course, it is loud and dumb but I thought it was a rather fun watch. However, I'm one of the few who thought so and it was destroyed by the critics and any plan for a sequel was scrapped.

Note : They hoped so bad they will get new the Indiana Jones with this... No way ! How dare they compare Matthew McConaughey with the Great Harrison Ford ?!? Anyway, it was a huge (deserved) flop with a reported $100 million dollars loss.

Note : Honestly, I don't think it was that bad. Before it came out, there was a huge buzz surrounding this flick. After almost 20 years, Superman was finally back on the big screen and it was (and still is ) one of the most expensive movies ever made. Unfortunately, it was nothing great and the movie really tanked at the box-office and it was a huge blow for all the people involved (Bryan Singer, Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey) concerning their career. In 2013, Zach Snyder and Christopher Nolan will come out with a new reboot and we will see if they have more luck.

Note : There was a nice open ending. That's how confident they were... But no sequel ! It is a very hated movie but I don't think it is that bad.

Note : Again, a nice open ending...They tried so bad to reproduce The Lord of the Rings success but it didn't work out and the sequels were cancelled. It's too bad because it had a great cast (Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, and the voice of Ian McKellen), some very nice visuals and the story was not bad at all.

Note : Once again, 5 years later, they tried again to launch a franchise around the big green guy and once again... they failed ! In spite of casting Edward Norton, one of the best actors around, it didn't become the success they hoped.

I have a theory about this. The issue is the Hulk himself. Why ? 2 reasons.

1. The audience wants Bruce Banner to become the Hulk. That's what we came for !! But Bruce Banner doesn't want to transform. So the audience wants completely the opposite of what the main character wants and it creates these 2 antagonist drives in the story which doesn't provide a fluent narration.

2. The Hulk is incontrollable and goes rampage everytime he is pissed off. He doesn't have any purpose than to destroy everything around him which sounds nicer than it actually is. At the end of the day, how can you build a story around a character who doesn't have any purpose at all ?

I like both Hulk movies but because of those 2 reasons, I don't think a Hulk movie can really be successful.

Note : It had a nice concept and it was rather successful at the box-office (more than $200 million worldwide gross) but the critical reception was not enthousiast at all so we won't see any Jumper 2 for anytime soon...

Note : This is the stuff of legend !!! For the 3rd time, they tried to create a franchise around Frank Castle and, for the 3rd time, they failed so bad ! When will they finally drop this guy?!? This one had the largest budget yet at $35 million but it made only $10 million... At the 2010 Comic Con, Marvel said they planned for yet another reboot of the character. You gotta to be kidding me...

Note : Everytime they adapt a fantasy novel, the Hollywood producers always hope they will get the new Harry Potter. This, for example, was the first book of a trilogy but I guess we won't see the other books adapted for anytime soon. Personally, I would blame Brendan Fraser, but that's me...

Note : Honestly, I don't get why they cancelled the sequels. Christian Bale is a great actor, it looked pretty cool and it was not a failure at the box-office. And the McG argument is not valid ... Even Charlie's Angels had a sequel !

Note : I finally saw that one and, honestly, I thought it was not that bad. But like 'Jumper' a year before, they obviously tried to surf on the super-hero wave but it didn't work that really good and the planned sequel(s) was cancelled.

Note : In the shadow of 'Twilight', there was another book adaptation dealing with teenagers an vampires but it was barely noticed. It's too bad since it was not bad at all but there won't be any sequels even if they provided a convenient open ending.

Note : What were they thinking?!? That we forgot what happened the first time?!? I mean, it was not as bad as the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle but still pretty horrendous. In itself it is quite a weird achievement but not if you want to built a succesful movie franchise...

Note : I was a big fan of the cartoon (Dragon ball, not Dragon Ball Z) so I eventually saw this one just out of sheer curiosity but it was so bad... It seems to be a typical example of "how-to-destroy-a-potential-movie-franchise-and-piss-off-fans-all-over-the-world"...

Note : This is such a Pirates of the Carribean-wannabe... Jake Gyllenhaal is a very nice actor and tries very hard but he is no Johnny Depp and the story is rather convoluted. It could have worked but just did not. No sequel this time, Mr Bruckheimer !

Note : Ok, it wasn't the worst movie in 2010 but, for me, it was definitely the biggest disappointment. At the end, which is completely preposterous like the rest of the movie, there is a nice open ending pointing to an obvious sequel which hopefully will never be made...

Note : Not so long ago, a movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan was patiently awaited by movie fans around the world. Those movies were... good ! Seriously ! Now, all his movies are awaited with dread (What will be the next turkey ?!?). With The Last Airbender, he was going towards a complete new direction and we hoped for the best... But unfortunately, Shyamalan decided now to destroy kids dreams aswell. Luckily, we won't be able to follow Aang adventures anytime soon...

Note : It reminds me of 'Push', another similar failed attempt to create a franchise around some teenagers with some super-powers, in the sense that the makers managed to create an interesting world but instead of exploring the implications of such a chaotic world, they just chickened out and made it as bland as possible to make sure that the average audience wouldn't be challenged during one single minute while watching this. Anyway, in spite of a nice open ending, there is no plan for a sequel.

Note : I thought there was some good stuff in this super-hero flick but it was a huge flop and barely made any money. Strangely, they announced right away they would make a sequel. But now, we are almost 1 year later and absolutely nobody is attached to this movie so I won't think it will be made anytime soon.

Note : On one hand, to reboot such an iconic character doesn't seem to be a bad idea. But, on the other hand, how can you replace the Allmigthy Arnold Schwarzenegger?!? Of course, it is not possible and we won't hear from Conan for a couple of decades again.

Note : First of all, I have to say that I really enjoyed this flick (even though I do think that the Swedish version was better). It was even one of my favorite movies that came out in 2011. Still, at this point, it is pretty obvious that part 2 and 3 won't be made and, as a result, as a franchise, it is a failure.

Note : Even though I thought it was not bad at all, this flick was a huge flop. Disney notoriously spent around $250m and I hope for them they will get there money back. Eventually, they made some plans to make some sequels but I don't think they will go through it.

Notes: I know, I know... This movie has just been released but I simply don't see the sequel coming out anytime soon. Indeed, the whole thing was just way out of budget and way out of control. The producers must feel lucky that they managed to cut their losses and since Brad Pitt barely does any blockbuster at all nowadays and I don't see him coming back for a second installment since it went so bad the first time around.

Notes: Even better... I haven't even seen this one yet and it has been released for only 3 days(!) but I'm already scratching any plan for a sequel. For a huge production like this one, it is pretty simple, in the first week-end, it has to be a massive success, otherwise, you can simply forget it. It terribly underperformed in its first week-end and if you take into account the really low ratings on IMDB, I'm pretty sure you can forget any hope for a sequel.

Notes: Even though I'm not sure that the first reboot about Jack Ryan starring Ben Affleck called 'The Sum of All Fears' was supposed to launch a new franchise, this new reboot with an even younger Jack Ryan played by Chris Pine was definitely supposed to have some sequels. There were even plans to make some spin-off starring Kevin Costner's character. Well, since the critics were really lukewarm and it didn't do very well at the box-office, all these plans were eventually cancelled.

Notes: At some point, Guillermo del Toro was approached by Universal to take over and lead thei monster universe which they now call the 'Dark Universe' but he turned this offer down and he has since then stated that it was one of his biggest regrets. Since then, Universal has tried twice already and failed both times to launch their 'Dark Universe'. The most recent attempt was in 2017 with 'The Mummy' but it turned out to be a flop. In fact, only a few years before, they already envisioned this movie as the first installment in this universe but they eventually decided to let it exist on its own and started all other again with 'The Mummy'. Between this movie and 'The Mummy' is difficult to choose which one was the most underwhelming but it is pretty obvious that none of them could start up such a huge franchise.

Notes: Honestly, this movie was pretty much Arnold Schwarzenegger's last chance to have a box-office hit but even though I thought it was not bad, it was yet another flop. They were planning a new trilogy even before this first installment was released but I would be really surprised if those were actually made.

Notes: After some very negative buzz about the production, after watching the really weak trailer, eventually, it turned out to be a massive critical disaster and a huge flop at the box-office. Seriously, it has been a while since a super-hero flick turned out to be such a disaster. Of course, they were planning to make some sequels but those were cancelled eventually.

Notes: Following the footsteps of Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley, Chloë Grace Moretz decided she should also have her own franchise based on a Young Adult novel, which wasn't really a bad decision career-wise. The only point was that the whole thing turned out to be pretty weak, I'm afraid, and I'm pretty sure they won't release any sequels after all.

Notes: Right from the start, this reboot was criticized and it turned out to be a flop which was hardly surprising. The funny thing is that, like many other movies in this list ('Salt', 'World War Z', 'Green Lantern', 'Terminator Genisys', 'Fantastic Four', 'Jumper' ...), the studios claimed right after the release that a sequel would still come up because they were so confident but it seems that it won't come up after all.

Notes: Before this movie was released, there was a decent buzz and many were hoping that it would manage to avoid the curse around most of the video-games movie adaptation. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a huge critical flop and since it didn't do well at the box-office at all, we won't get to see another movie dealing with this video-game anytime soon. As far as I was concerned, I thought it was visually pretty neat but even though Michael Fassbender tried really hard, the story turned out to be more idiotic than really entertaining.

Notes: Above all, it was such a misguided idea to make yet another movie about King Arthur. I mean, seriously, there have been already so many movies about this story and its character and, even though Ritchie did manage to recycle Sherlock Holmes (which was in fact slightly overrated), he obvisously didn't succeed here in providing anything new or really interesting about this classic tale. Well, this movie was supposed to be the first installment of a planned six-film series. Seriously, I don't understand why they make such an announcement before a movie is even released. I mean, they could say 'If the movie is successful, we might have some ideas for a sequel'. Anyway, this movie turned out to be one of the biggest box-office bombs in 2017 so we won't see any of these 5 sequels.

Notes: I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be actually much more watchable than I expected, at least, during the first 30 mins. Indeed, they gave not one but two really unexpected and insane car crashes and the whole ‘Breakfast Club’ vibe was actually pretty neat. Unfortunately, this positive first impression didn’t last for very long, I’m afraid. The main issue was that it took them no less than 90 mins to finally become some freaking Power Rangers. Indeed, not only this movie lasting 2 hours was just way too long but, above all, it took them forever to finally get their damned suit on. Eventually, it was pretty obvious that this movie was supposed to be the start of a new franchise (they even teased the upcoming addition of a Green Ranger) but I’m afraid this movie was not successful enough since no sequel was released afterwards.

Notes: Even though Universal made a bigg fuss about launching (again) their 'Dark Universe', eventually, they made the huge mistake of apparently spending more time and energy in their marketing campaign than in actually delivering a good movie. It's such a shame because, with Tom Cruise, they had one of the biggest stars in the world, the material was pretty awesome and, yet, the end-result was only watchable at best. Anyway, since this movie was a critical and commercial flop, as a result, you might wonder if they will move on with their other planned movies in this universe such as 'The Invisible Man' starring Johnny Depp, 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' starring Russell Crowe and 'Bride of Frankenstein' starring Javier Bardem

Notes: Even though many fans were hoping for a 3rd installment directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Ron Perlman, as the years went by, it was pretty obvious that it would never happened though. Well, instead, they eventually decided to reboot the whole thing, pretty much selling the deal concerning del Toro's trilogy. To be honest, I do think that David Harbour looked really awesome but, unfortunately, he was apparently the only thing that I really worked in this new version. Indeed, the damned thing turned out to be a big critical and commercial failure and we won't be seeing again the boy from Hell any time soon, I'm afraid.

Notes: Since James Cameron was this time involved and since the iconic Linda Hamilton was back as well, many hoped that they would finally manage to do something interesting with this franchise. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a decent watch but not much more than that. Even worse, it scored even less at the box-office than their previous attempt, ‘Terminator Genisys’. As far I was concerned, the plot was just so damned generic. Anyway, once again, they had to scrap their planned trilogy and, at this point, they should just give up on this franchise.

Notes: While Marvel managed to get back the rights on pretty much all their characters, Sony is one of the last studios which still has the rights for some Marvel characters, especially Spider-Man. Unfortunately for them, all the movies they made were some major critical flops, even ‘Venom’ but, at least, it was a box-office success. However, even if I don’t think it was so bad, ‘Morbius’ was completely destroyed by the critics and since the audience didn’t care much for it either, I’m afraid this franchise is already dead.