Ten Films That Destroyed Their Franchises

Franchises are all the rage now. Audiences love returning to see the characters they have grown to admire and cheer (or jeer). However, some franchises often crash and burn because of one movie that makes it fall apart. Here is a look at ten films that destroyed their franchises.

Death Note– Not the anime, but the Netflix remake. Though there is only one movie so far, the director has wanted to make more, despite the poor reaction from fans of the anime and general audiences. Even if a sequel gets made, it is unlikely to generate the same buzz after this first misfire.

Star Trek NemesisThe Next Generation crew of the USS Enterprise engage against a clone of Captain Picard who has taken over the Romulan Empire. The film was much maligned by fans and critics. It set back films and television shows of the series for several years before the reboots.

Transformers: Age of Extinction– Starring Mark Wahlberg, this entry into the Michael Bay led adaption of the toy-line/show was so convoluted, The Last Knight made almost no money. Instead, Bumblebee has been billed as a reboot.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3– The turtles in a half-shell journeyed to feudal Japan to stop a Shogun and greedy British pirate from stealing a magic lamp. Lame. It put a pause on Ninja Turtle action for several years, although an animated sequel was made later.

Superman Returns– Flying off the success of Batman Begins, Bryan Singer directed a sequel to the series starring Christopher Reeves (replaced by Brandon Routh). It presented a wimped out, yet overpowered the Man of Steel that haunts us to this day. A new franchise never got off the ground as a result.

The Last Airbender– The first of a planned trilogy, M. Night Shyamalan adapted the animated series from Nickelodeon. It fell so flat with bad acting, poor reverence for the source material, and a lack of imagination. Future films were cancelled.

Blade: Trinity– The behind-the-scenes antics of the film’s lead and his well-known feud with the director damaged this movie to the point that it is unwatchable. No more films about the Marvel Comics half-vampire hero for a time.

Terminator: Genisys– While it had an interesting plot and a well-chosen cast, The Terminator sequel suffers from one of the worst plot twists in human history. While it paused the franchise for some time, a new film is in the works that ignores all of the movies except for the first and T2: Judgement Day.

Prometheus– The fifth film in the Alien franchise is a “side-story” that has a wimpy connection to the source movies that were great and instead focuses on other links. While a better sequel was made, it seemed to wear out the welcome of the science fiction series.

The Last Jedi– A grim Luke Skywalker? A space-floating Leia? A Mary Sue apprentice in Rey? What was there to like at all in this movie?

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or novel you would like me to review. While you are at it, check out my movie review of The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs and my comic book review of Batman issue 66. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more posts like this one.

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One thought on “Ten Films That Destroyed Their Franchises

  1. Totally agree with Star Wars and the Terminator. Star Wars is possibly my favorite franchise of all, A New Hope is my favorite movie of all time. While I enjoyed The Force Awakens, after watching The Last Jedi, I was thinking “I don’t care how this trilogy ends anymore!” I think Rian Johnson ruined any sort of “surprise” J.J. Abrams set up in TFA – the kind of stuff that fans were curious about and dying to know! Terminator 1 is one of my favorites (I argue Kyle Reese is one of the best action heroes ever and it’s also a movie that did action and romance well), haven’t seen T2 in ages but I’m sure it’s good… but when I saw Genysis and how it basically screwed with the Sarah Connor / Kyle Reese story I was angry!!! I never want to see a Terminator movie again 😦

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