10 Movie Franchises That Were Robbed Of An Ending
Not every franchise gets its endgame.
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00:00 As Tony Stark once said from Beyond the Grave, "part of the journey is the end".
00:04 Of course, how a story arrives there is equally, if not even more important than the conclusion,
00:10 but that ending is crucial to its success.
00:13 This is no different in the movie industry, whether you're talking about a standalone
00:16 movie or a franchise, although in today's landscape it seems that almost everything
00:21 will eventually be turned into a franchise.
00:23 Even if that is the plan, however, things don't always pan out as anticipated.
00:28 Whether it's because of box office and critical failings, overambition, behind the
00:32 scenes issues or a combination of the above, many movie franchises don't get to reach
00:37 their end.
00:38 Is there anything more infuriating than getting invested in a story, only for it to be robbed
00:43 of its conclusion with no closure?
00:46 Whether for better or worse, in the end is debatable, but some franchises get quite far
00:50 into their story before having the rug pulled from under them, while others barely even
00:54 begin.
00:55 So, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, here with 10 movie franchises that were robbed
01:01 of an ending.
01:02 10.
01:03 King Arthur - Legend of the Sword Planning is absolutely essential when it
01:07 comes to building a movie franchise.
01:10 Without it, a studio runs the risk of suffering exactly what the Star Wars sequels went through;
01:15 three movies that were completely disconnected and seemingly going out of their way to retcon
01:19 the others.
01:20 However, you have to be sensible about these things.
01:23 Franchises like the aforementioned Star Wars, the MCU and any drawing from a book series
01:27 with a pre-existing passionate fanbase can reasonably expect success, but King Arthur
01:33 was none of these.
01:34 Of course, it's a famous story, but it doesn't exactly have the die-hard fans of Harry Potter.
01:39 This is why announcing a six movie franchise before the first movie had even been released
01:45 was incredibly risky, particularly when a leading man lacking the star power to put
01:50 such a franchise on his back.
01:51 As popular as Charlie Hunnam was as Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy, he couldn't lift King
01:56 Arthur above a disappointing and franchise-ending box office of $148 million worldwide.
02:02 Unsurprisingly, any hope of sequels died with this bomb.
02:06 9.
02:07 The Chronicles of Narnia The previous entry referenced movie franchises
02:11 adapting popular source material, and while this would certainly help the longevity of
02:15 such franchises in theory, this isn't always the case.
02:19 Look no further than The Chronicles of Narnia.
02:21 The seven books, written by C.S.
02:24 Lewis and considered classics by many, were published throughout the 1950s and have retained
02:29 audiences right up to the present day.
02:31 The film series, however, was hampered by issues that stopped it from getting anywhere
02:35 near the end of the source material.
02:37 The first movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, pulled in an impressive $745 million,
02:43 but both sequels performed considerably worse, with numbers of just over $400 million each.
02:49 This put the studio off producing any more movies for a while, though things were seemingly
02:53 back on track for the fourth of seven planned movies to release.
02:57 However, this hope was short-lived, not only because enough time had passed that the children
03:01 were too old to return to their roles, but because Netflix purchased the rights.
03:06 This effectively killed the franchise on the spot.
03:09 Noise was then made about a potential series at the streaming giant, though nothing of
03:13 note has been heard since.
03:15 8.
03:16 Spider-Man There will always be a passionate debate among
03:18 comic book movie fans as to which iteration of Spider-Man is the best.
03:22 Of course, all have their own merits, though Tobey Maguire's version of Peter Parker has
03:27 a certain advantage for being the original.
03:29 From 2002 through to 2007, Sam Raimi brought his trilogy to life.
03:34 People loved the first movie, the second is the best of the three, but the less said about
03:38 the third, the better.
03:39 It essentially spat in the face of everything that made the first two movies great, opting
03:43 to shove as many over-the-top characters and stories down audiences' throats as possible.
03:48 Even in spite of its poor reception, Spider-Man 3 performed well at the box office, and a
03:53 fourth movie was confirmed.
03:55 It was even given a 2011 release date.
03:58 But unfortunately, in spite of reportedly bringing back the core cast, as well as John
04:02 Malkovich and Anne Hathaway as Vulture and Black Cat respectively, Sam Raimi wasn't
04:07 happy with the script.
04:08 The acclaimed director ultimately left the project, ending Tobey Maguire's stint as
04:12 Spider-Man and opening the door for another.
04:15 Which leads us to...
04:16 7.
04:17 The Amazing Spider-Man
04:19 What was Tobey Maguire's loss turned out to be Andrew Garfield's gain, as The Amazing
04:23 Spider-Man saw the English actor's suit up as a very different Peter Parker.
04:28 Though Mark Webb's movies typically weren't as well received as Raimi's, there is still
04:33 a lot of love for Andrew Garfield himself.
04:35 Peter 3 was, to many, the MVP of Spider-Man No Way Home, bringing a great deal of depth
04:41 and emotion to proceedings, but according to the Sony leak of 2014, which claimed he
04:47 was let go for failing to show up to a press event in Brazil, he was the architect of his
04:51 own downfall.
04:52 The event in question reportedly would have seen the announcement of The Amazing Spider-Man
04:57 3, ironically a movie that fans want to see now more than ever, slated for a 2016 release.
05:04 Instead, with Garfield fired and a second Spider-Man franchise dead in the water in
05:08 seven years, Sony turned to Marvel Studios.
05:11 This was truly the final nail in the coffin, as Tom Holland was brought in to play in the
05:15 MCU, leaving The Amazing Spider-Man 3 on the shelf forever.
05:19 There is a slim hope for fans that the popularity of Garfield in No Way Home could spark a return
05:25 to the franchise, but for the time being, it doesn't seem particularly likely.
05:29 6.
05:30 Divergent
05:31 Things started off well for the Divergent series, but the movie franchise suffered largely
05:35 at the hands of cinematic trends that it tried to exploit.
05:38 The first of these trends was the world's obsession with young adult novels in the wake
05:42 of The Hunger Games' success.
05:44 Starting in 2012 and finishing in 2015, The Hunger Games is up there with the best young
05:50 adult film franchises, leading to adaptations like Divergent and The Maze Runner.
05:54 However, the Divergent series never reached the same level as The Hunger Games, and by
05:59 the time the third movie released in 2016, no one really cared anymore.
06:04 The young adult trend had passed, as was made very clear by Allegiant's sub-$200 million
06:10 global take.
06:11 It was at this point that the studio decided to abandon ship, leaving regret over the decision
06:15 to split the final movie in two.
06:17 Allegiant Part 1 performed so poorly at the box office that the franchise was killed on
06:22 the spot.
06:23 Talk of a TV movie was put to bed pretty quickly, with none of the cast even remotely interested.
06:29 5.
06:30 Eragon
06:31 In the same way that Divergent was essentially born out of the mainstream audience's brief
06:35 obsession with young adult novels, Eragon was a product of the fantasy movie craze of
06:40 the early 2000s.
06:42 Just three years removed from Return of the King came a movie in the same vein, albeit
06:46 far inferior.
06:47 Eragon, based on the incredibly popular children's book series, was cursed by the same trend that
06:52 brought about its release.
06:54 There was a massive call for fantasy movies of this ilk, but with the likes of The Lord
06:58 of the Rings and Harry Potter to compete against, there was never really much hope for the franchise.
07:03 Of course, it didn't help that the movie was as poor as it was.
07:07 Even without being mired in an oversaturated genre, Eragon gave critics and audiences little
07:12 to hang onto.
07:13 Even with a fairly decent cast, there was little to redeem it.
07:17 Like The Chronicles of Narnia, the full Inheritance Cycle source material, which is the book series
07:22 Eragon is part of, was never destined to make it to the big screen.
07:26 Only the first book was adapted, at which point the studio saw fit to pull the plug,
07:30 and it's hard to argue with that decision.
07:32 4.
07:33 Hellboy
07:34 There are plenty of reasons for a movie not to be made, and many on this list have focused
07:38 on the likes of poor showings at the box office or seeing an actor fired.
07:42 Hellboy 3, however, seemingly never got made simply because of Guillermo Del Toro's ridiculous
07:47 schedule.
07:48 He and actor Ron Perlman created a Hellboy that earned itself a loyal army of fans.
07:53 After The Golden Army released in 2008, such fans immediately looked to a third Hellboy
07:58 movie, while the director didn't.
08:00 Instead, Del Toro was hired to direct The Hobbit.
08:03 Of course, this didn't work out, but upon leaving the project, it was Pacific Rim that
08:07 the director went to, again putting off Hellboy 3.
08:10 Incredibly, it wasn't until 2017 that the threequel was officially cancelled, and after
08:16 the David Harbour reboot became one of the biggest cinematic bombs in recent memory,
08:21 it's unlikely any movie studio will touch the Hellboy property any time soon.
08:25 3.
08:26 Multiple DCEU Franchises
08:28 The DC Extended Universe has never been without its issues since its inception in 2013.
08:34 Tonal shifts, no real direction, huge flops and plenty of troubles off screen meant the
08:39 DCEU was something of a problem child.
08:42 Recently, moves have been made to steady the ship and take what is now known as the DCU
08:46 into a brighter future.
08:48 Mega changes are coming, but some of the biggest have been the cancellation of franchises and
08:53 confirmation that certain characters will no longer be appearing under the new banner.
08:58 For example, Wonder Woman 3 has been scrapped.
09:00 Not too surprising after the reception of Wonder Woman 1984, as has what was arguably
09:05 the franchise's most exciting prospect.
09:08 Dwayne Johnson has a knack for boosting failing franchises, and he gave his everything to Black
09:13 Adam.
09:14 Fans loved it, in particular the long-awaited return of Henry Cavill in the movie's post-credits
09:19 scene, and the thought of seeing the two go toe-to-toe down the line was amazing.
09:23 However, it's since been confirmed that neither Henry Cavill's Man of Steel nor Black Adam
09:28 have a place in the DCU's immediate future.
09:31 2.
09:32 Fantastic Four
09:33 The Tim Story Fantastic Four movies from the mid-2000s were inoffensive yet uninspired,
09:38 but by 2015, they would retroactively be made to look a hell of a lot better.
09:43 The 2015 reboot, which boasted an impressive cast on paper, will always be in the conversation
09:48 for the worst comic book movie of all time.
09:51 Certainly, that is suggested by its abysmal 9% Rotten Tomatoes score.
09:56 Its audience score isn't much better at 18%, even though Fox had such high hopes before
10:00 its release.
10:01 The Fantastic Four movies certainly never lived up to the property's potential from
10:05 the source material, and so building a universe around them seemed like a good opportunity,
10:10 but not with a dull, joyless opener like Fantastic Four.
10:14 After Josh Trank's infamous bomb, the movie that should have kickstarted a new Fantastic
10:18 Four franchise instead ended up killing it.
10:21 It wasn't long after this that Marvel's first family returned home to Marvel Studios
10:25 and the MCU, hopefully opening the door for a much better version of the team in the future.
10:31 1.
10:32 The Dark Universe
10:33 Like King Arthur Legend of the Sword, there are too many franchises that tried to jump
10:37 on the bandwagon of the shared universe trend before laying any solid foundations.
10:42 Arguably, no potential franchise rushed into things so quickly than The Dark Universe.
10:47 This was to be the shared universe of Universal Monsters, kicking off with Tom Cruise-led
10:52 reboot of The Mummy in 2017.
10:55 Cruise was just one of the huge names attached to the new mega franchise, with Russell Crowe
10:59 as Dr. Jekyll, Johnny Depp as the Invisible Man, and Javier Bardem as Frankenstein's
11:04 monster.
11:05 Universal was seemingly throwing everything at this new franchise, and would have needed
11:09 nothing short of a complete and utter disaster to pull out after just one movie.
11:13 Unfortunately, this is exactly what The Mummy was.
11:17 With a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 15%, an audience score of 35%, and a mediocre box
11:23 office take, even the director labelled the movie as both brutal and the worst failure
11:28 of his life.
11:29 It would seem that the studio also agreed.
11:32 And that concludes our list.
11:33 If you think we missed any, then do let us know in the comments below, and while you're
11:36 there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
11:40 Also head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias
11:44 just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:46 I've been Ellie with What Culture, I hope you have a magical day and I'll see you real
11:50 soon.
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