Movie Franchises That Died Too Soon
Many of us look forward to seeing the next movie in a favorite series! Here we look at a few movie franchises that came to a halt after failing to meet expectations at the box office.
How Can One Box Office Flop Ruin a Movie Franchise?
There are all kinds of ways for a movie franchise to falter, and a bad movie can send studios scrambling. box office failure is a real risk, which can quickly turn a promising movie franchise into a canceled one! However, not all failures are simple. Movie franchise cancellation can also occur after the movie franchise cast and movie franchise director change hands!
What is "Second Movie Syndrome"?
There's a common concept called "second movie syndrome." The movie franchise story might have had a strong start with a popular first movie, but subsequent releases (or "second Movies" in these series), sometimes fall flat.
What Makes a Movie Franchise Successful?
There is no guarantee for movie franchise success! A series may have to balance great characters and plot points with incredible visual spectacle! For instance, audiences love amazing movie franchise world-building, such as worlds fans want to explore and stories they want to be part of! But at the end of the day, it takes a strong film to get a fanbase!
Why Do Some Movie Franchises Get Second Chances?
While some fans think movie franchise ending is always definitive, this doesn't mean these series are forever canceled. Many have gotten new leases on life. There are quite a few stories that were resurrected with a reboot, especially after a TV series adaptation proves to be successful, which can generate enough excitement to start a movie franchise reboot potential!
What Can I Watch That Had A Box Office Failure?
A lot of fans might be sad they missed out on these series:
- The Chronicles of Narnia (especially The Voyage of the Dawn Treader), which was very ambitious but also faced the common risk of being an abridged franchise.
- The People of Sparks series, adapted as City of Ember, was praised for world-building but fell short on story potential! The visuals were fantastic and featured talented actors such as Saoirse Ronan and Bill Murray!
- Jupiter Ascending with a fun cast like Mila Kunis and Eddie Redmayne. Movie franchise reception wasn't very strong.
- The Millennium Series which starred Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. A movie franchise adaptation was attempted with the second installment but didn't have great movie franchise critics reception.
- The Mortal Instruments was praised for having interesting movie franchise visuals, however, fell short of delivering the movie franchise characters fans wanted.
- Wonder Woman aimed for great visuals with Wonder Woman 1984, and though audiences didn't hate it, it was another series with major second movie syndrome and unfortunately got cancelled.
- Battle Angel Alita with incredible visual production and Rosa Salazar. There's a good chance for a sequel in the future because the directors, James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez are supportive.
- Treasure Planet. It was the first movie franchise adaptation from a popular Disney movie with great movie franchise world-building that featured great elements and unique movie franchise characters. Despite that, the first release wasn't a huge success!
- The Barsoom Series adaptation John Carter was full of amazing ideas, but didn't meet studio executives' expectations.
- Power Rangers Reboot got good reviews for movie franchise story.
There are still so many movie franchises that will capture your interest. They often offer entertaining stories that have potential!
