History FranchiseKiller / Film

* ''[[Film/TheExpendables The Expendables 3]]'', in contrast to the last two films met with an underwhelming reaction from fans largely put off by the [[Main/{{Bowdlerize}} PG-13]] rating and mostly failed to make its money back.

* '[[Film/TheExpendables The Expendables 3]]'', in contrast to the last two films met with an underwhelming reaction from fans largely put off by the [[Main/{{Bowdlerize}} PG-13]] rating and mostly failed to make its money back.

* '[[Film/TheExpendables The Expendables 3]]'', in contrast to the last two films met with an underwhelming reaction from fans largely put off by the [[Main/Bowdlerize PG-13]] rating and mostly failed to make its money back.

* ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' had mediocre critical reception, and despite technically being a box office success (more than $360 million on a $93 million budget), it made considerably less than ''Film/JurassicPark'' and ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark''. A fourth ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' film languished in DevelopmentHell, but when Creator/MichaelCrichton [[AuthorExistenceFailure died]], producer Kathleen Kennedy initially decided against making more, and then, in a subversion, Creator/StevenSpielberg revealed at 2011's Comic-Con that a fourth film should be released within the next two to three years. The result was ''Film/JurassicWorld'', which received far superior reception to ''III''' and smashed countless box office records, [[BackFromTheDead successfully rebooting the franchise]].

* ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' had mediocre critical reception, and despite technically being a box office success (more than $360 million on a $93 million budget), it made considerably less than ''Film/JurassicPark'' and ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark''. A fourth ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' film languished in DevelopmentHell, but when Creator/MichaelCrichton [[AuthorExistenceFailure died]], producer Kathleen Kennedy initially decided against making more, and then, in a subversion, Creator/StevenSpielberg revealed at 2011's Comic-Con that a fourth film should be released within the next two to three years. There are hopes to build a new trilogy around ''Film/JurassicWorld'', as it's being called, so we'll have to wait and see how that goes.

** ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'' in 1982 killed Creator/JohnCarpenter's plan to turn ''Halloween'' into an anthology series, with each film as its own stand-alone story related to [[AllHallowsEve the Halloween holiday]]. After its failure, the rights to the series went to producer Moustapha Akkad, who returned to the story of the first two films with ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'' in 1988, the six-year gap between that film and the last tied for the longest in the series.

** The failure of Zombie's follow-up ''Film/{{Halloween II|2009}}'' in 2009 likewise killed his reboot series. There are currently talks about another reboot, but nothing solid yet.

* ''[[Film/TheKarateKid The Next Karate Kid]]'' was poorly received by fans and critics, and made less money at the box office than ''The Karate Kid III'', putting the series on ice until the release of a ContinuityReboot in 2010 starring Creator/JackieChan and Jaden Smith.

* ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer'' was critically panned and didn't perform well at the box office, dropping many things of what made the original what it was, plus its LighterAndSofter tone turning away fans of the first movie while failing to attract younger audiences. Its flop put a possible third ''Conan'' movie into DevelopmentHell, and the ''Film/RedSonja'' movie, where Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger plays an obvious CaptainErsatz of Conan, discredited the whole idea of adapting Howard's works for more than 20 years (the only attempt, ''Kull the Conqueror'', was a flop).

* Following the critical savaging and box office failure of ''Film/PunisherWarZone'', Creator/LionsGate [[YouHaveFailedMe gave up on the]] ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisher Punisher]]'' film series and let the rights go back to Disney/Marvel as a direct result. Not much is known about the future of the character in film, but Marvel has hinted that he may be a major figure in their Daredevil reboot.

** Creator/PeterSellers had written a script for a GrandFinale movie titled ''Romance of the Pink Panther'' and submitted it to Creator/UnitedArtists just before [[AuthorExistenceFailure suddenly suffering a fatal heart attack]]. The project was ultimately canceled and producer Creator/BlakeEdwards (who was supposed to have no involvement with ''Romance'') decided to continue the series, writing out Inspector Clouseau and [[ReplacementScrappy replacing him with American detective]] Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass' [[StarDerailingRole only starring film role]]) and [[ClipShow taking deleted scenes from the fifth film]] to make two additional films that were shot simultaneously: ''Trail of...'' and ''Curse of...''. The poor taste and box office failure of these films resulted in Sellers' widow successfully suing Edwards and the studio for defamation, and Wass' request for additional films were rejected and the series was put in a coma.
** An attempted reboot of the franchise, ''Son of the Pink Panther'', replaced Sleigh with Clouseau's illegitimate son (played by then up-and-coming actor Roberto Benigni). It was an enormous failure, receiving heavy criticism for Benigni's performance from both critics and fans alike. A sequel was inadmissible by then. It also had the misfortune of being Edwards' last film he produced (he ended up retiring from film after ''Son[='=]s'' massive failure became too much for him) as it was for, in another sense, composer Music/HenryMancini ([[AuthorExistenceFailure who couldn't live to do another movie]]).

* ''[[Film/NationalLampoonsVacation Vegas Vacation]]'' was so out of touch with the previous films that it wasn't just this to the ''[[NationalLampoon National Lampoon]]'s Vacation'' series, but presumably [[CreatorKiller to the remnants of the original]] ''National Lampoon'' magazine as well. The decline was largely due to the sharp drop in financial profits for the magazine in the late 1980s, causing the magazine to be published less frequently by 1986. ''Vegas Vacation'' appears to have been the breaking point for the once-beloved humor magazine.

* ''Main/TheMuppets'':
** ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace'' received mixed reviews and flopped at the box office, and consequently caused ''The Muppets'' film series to be put on ice for twelve years. To make matters worse, its failure is also believed to be the reason why The Jim Henson Company was sold to the German media company EM.TV, only for it to be brought back by the Henson family three years later. [[ChannelHop Disney secured the rights to the Muppets]] shortly afterwards (which is also why Jim Henson Productions's film division has not produced a Muppet film since, [[CreatorKiller or any other film for that matter]]). Before and after the transfer, the Muppets were only able to muster [[KermitsSwampYears three]] [[ItsAVeryMerryMuppetChristmasMovie direct to TV/video]] [[TheMuppetsWizardOfOz films]].

* ''Film/MaryPoppins'' was adapted by the Disney company into film in 1964. As soon as the book author P. L. Travers saw the screening of Mary Poppins, she was upset with the Disney adaptation despite the critical acclaim and awards the film received. She decided that Walt Disney and his team would no longer make anymore sequels based on Mary Poppins, opting to take ''Poppins'' to Broadway without the involvement of any American film producers or the Sherman Brothers.
* Despite its [[VindicatedByCable later acclaim]], the box office failure of ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'', along with CreatorBacklash, prevented the making of a film based off ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator''.

* ''Film/{{Saw}} VI'' was by no means a flop, earning $68.2 million against a $11.5 million budget, and was widely considered by critics and fans of the series to be [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel a much better film]] than the previous two ''Saw'' movies released before it. However, it was by far the lowest-grossing film in the series, and when combined with the failure of other TorturePorn films at the box office and the blockbuster success of ''Film/ParanormalActivity'', the film that ''Saw VI'' competed with that October (and which couldn't have been more different in terms of tone), Creator/{{Lionsgate}} saw the writing on the wall and pulled the plug after the next installment. While ''Saw [=3D=]: The Final Chapter'' was a hit, it wasn't enough to save the series.

* The ''Film/BladeTrilogy'' series died off when ''Film/BladeTrinity'' underperformed and gained a poor reaction from critics and fans, leading to the film's star Wesley Snipes suing New Line Cinema (which distributed the films) and director David S. Goyer for cutting him out of the filmmaking process. Snipes also going to federal jail for tax evasion didn't help matters much, either, and pretty much ensured that the series will never continue. The film rights have since reverted back to Marvel.

** After the moderate success of the ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' film, Sony announced their plans to make a new Spider-Man film every two or so years as well as spin-off movies focusing on other characters that they had the rights to, as they clearly intended to hang on to the film rights for a very long time. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'', however, received mixed reviews and failed to meet Sony's financial expectations in spite of making more than $700 million (some sources said that Sony was hoping for a ''billion'' dollar gross), and caused the third ''ASM'' film to be delayed by two years. Plans for a potential "soft reboot" were discussed with a new Spider-Man actor in a potential 2016 ''Sinister Six'' film [[note]]the Sony bosses were reportedly not happy with Andrew Garfield after he skipped an event in Rio de Janero that was supposed to announce the third film in July 2014, which culminated in an interview Garfield gave that September in which he blamed the studio executives for messing up the second film[[/note]], which would be supplemented by an all-female ''Spider-Man'' film as well as solo Venom and Aunt May origin films, and possibly an animated ''Spider-Man'' film. Rumors then claimed that Marvel offered to share the film rights with Sony so that Spidey could appear in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', in which he plays a major role. The negotiations broke down, but were started back up again after the massive Sony hack revealed that Sony was secretly unsure of how to proceed with the franchise. In February 2015, it was announced that Sony and Marvel had reached a deal to reboot Spider-Man in the context of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with an appearance in 2016's ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and a solo film in 2017.

* ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace'' received mixed reviews and flopped at the box office, and consequently caused ''The Muppets'' film series to be put on ice for twelve years, though [[ChannelHop Disney spending the 2000s decade securing the Muppets license among other Jim Henson franchises]] is also to blame (which is also why Jim Henson Productions's film division has not produced a Muppet film since). However, Disney's success with the Muppets that was kicked off by ''Film/TheMuppets'' was ultimately short-lived as ''Film/MuppetsMostWanted'''s dismal box office results and mixed reception (plus [[TooSoon bad timing]]–-it was a film about Kermit getting imprisoned in a Russian gulag that was released during the Ukraine crisis) made it a more high-profile failure than the aforementioned ''Muppets from Space''.

** After the moderate success of the ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' film, Sony announced their plans to make a new Spider-Man film every two or so years as well as spin-off movies focusing on other characters that they had the rights to, as they clearly intended to hang on to the film rights for a very long time. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'', however, received mixed reviews and failed to meet Sony's financial expectations in spite of making more than $700 million (some sources said that Sony was hoping for a ''billion'' dollar gross), and caused the third ''ASM'' film to be delayed by two years. Plans for a potential "soft reboot" were discussed with a new Spider-Man actor in a potential 2016 ''Sinister Six'' film (the Japanese Sony bosses were reportedly not happy with an interview Andrew Garfield gave in which he blamed the studio executives for messing up the second film), which would be supplemented by an all-female ''Spider-Man'' film as well as solo Venom and Aunt May origin films, and possibly an animated ''Spider-Man'' film. Rumors then claimed that Marvel offered to share the film rights with Sony so that Spidey could appear in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', in which he plays a major role. The negotiations broke down, but were started back up again after the massive Sony hack revealed that Sony was secretly unsure of how to proceed with the franchise. In February 2015, it was announced that Sony and Marvel had reached a deal to reboot Spider-Man in the context of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with an appearance in 2016's ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and a solo film in 2017.

* Joel Schumacher's ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' was so awful (lead actor Creator/GeorgeClooney even ''said'' "I think we killed the franchise") that it convinced Warner to let the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' fields lie fallow for a while, then let [[Creator/ChristopherNolan someone else]] [[Film/TheDarkKnightSaga take a crack at the series]]. Some Marvel Studios high-up is on record for saying that ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' was the most influential comic book movie, on account of it definitively showing to movie studios that they can't shovel out crap comic movies and expect the fans to like it. Schumacher continues to catch heat for his direction of the films and, barring accident or fortune, it will likely follow him to his grave--the punchline everyone thinks of when they remember his (otherwise excellent) career. It seems that, in the case of ''Batman Forever'' and ''B&R'', Schumacher was likely just a [[ScapegoatCreator hired hand]] -- a technician who labored under the studio's close guidance. Basically, they wanted a more marketable Batman, and he became so cynical about the project that he announced each take with, "Okay everyone, remember: we're making [[MerchandiseDriven a toy commercial]]" though a megaphone.

** Fox did at one point have plans to completely reboot the Daredevil/Elektra franchise in the early 2010s, but ended up letting the film rights lapse back to Disney/Marvel in order to focus more on their ''Fantastic Four'' reboot. Marvel has since announced [[Series/{{Daredevil 2015}} a made-for-Netflix show]] starring the character, but obviously independent of the earlier films and being part of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' had its film series from 20th Century Fox start off with the first film having mixed reviews but did well at the box office. The second film, based off ''Rodrick Rules'', received less favorable reviews and underperformed its predecessor. After that film failed to meet Fox's expectations, it was decided that the third film combine plot elements of the next two books, ''The Last Straw'' and ''Dog Days'', receiving the latter title in post-production. Despite minor improvements from the previous film and better box office gross than the previous installments, fans and critics were still unimpressed, and didn't do well enough to keep Fox from scrapping a fourth film, which Zachary Gordon (who played Greg Heffley in the movies) later confirmed. Series author Jeff Kinney has stated his interest in making the sixth book, ''Cabin Fever'', an animated television adaptation instead of a movie, but that appears to be canceled as nothing else was revealed since that statement.

* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' had its film series from 20th Century Fox start off with the first film having mixed reviews but did well at the box office. The second film, based off ''Rodrick Rules'', received less favorable reviews and underperformed its predecessor. After that film failed to meet Fox's expectations, it was decided that the third film combine plot elements of the next two books, ''The Last Straw'' and ''Dog Days'', receiving the latter title in post-production. Despite minor improvements from the previous film and better box office gross than the previous installments, fans and critics were still unimpressed, and didn't do well enough to keep Fox from scrapping a fourth film, which Zachary Gordon (who played Greg Heffley in the movies) later confirmed. Series author Jeff Kinney has stated his interest in making the sixth book, ''Cabin Fever'', an animated television adaptation instead of a movie, but nothing has come out of it.

** After the moderate success of the ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' film, Sony announced their plans to make a new Spider-Man film every two or so years as well as spin-off movies focusing on other characters that they had the rights to, as they clearly intended to hang on to the film rights for a very long time. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'', however, received mixed reviews and failed to meet Sony's financial expectations in spite of making millions of dollars (some sources said that Sony was hoping for a ''billion'' dollar gross), and caused the third ''ASM'' film to be delayed by two years. Plans for a potential "soft reboot" were discussed with a new Spider-Man actor in a potential 2016 ''Sinister Six'' film (the Japanese Sony bosses were reportedly not happy with an interview Andrew Garfield gave in which he blamed the studio executives for messing up the second film), which would be supplemented by an all-female ''Spider-Man'' film as well as solo Venom and Aunt May origin films, and possibly an animated ''Spider-Man'' film. Rumors then claimed that Marvel offered to share the film rights with Sony so that Spidey could appear in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', in which he plays a major role. The negotiations broke down, but were started back up again after the massive Sony hack revealed that Sony was secretly unsure of how to proceed with the franchise. In February 2015, it was announced that Sony and Marvel had reached a deal to reboot Spider-Man in the context of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with an appearance in 2016's ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and a solo film in 2017.

* ''Film/GreenLantern'' was supposed to launch the DCComics equivalent of the MarvelCinematicUniverse and eventually lead to a [[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]] film. The movie was panned by critics and had lukewarm box office results, which led to these plans being shuffled onto ''Film/ManOfSteel'' in the hopes that it would kick start their [[DCCinematicUniverse movie universe]] ''the right way'' with another Green Lantern movie set to be released on 2020. RyanReynolds had such a bad experience making the ''Green Lantern'' film that he's stated he has no interest in doing a ''Justice League'' movie unless he knows that it'll have a quality script and director.

* ''Film/JurassicParkIII''. A fourth film languished in DevelopmentHell, but when Creator/MichaelCrichton [[AuthorExistenceFailure died]], producer Kathleen Kennedy initially decided against making more, and then, in a subversion, Creator/StevenSpielberg revealed at 2011's Comic-Con that a fourth film should be released within the next two to three years. There are hopes to build a new trilogy around ''Jurassic World'', as it's being called, so we'll have to wait and see how that goes.

* While it is a CultClassic among some fans and gamers, the critical and financial meltdown of the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' convinced Creator/{{Nintendo}} that the film business wasn't fruitful for them, and refused to grant the film rights to any of their franchises for the next few decades[[note]]outside of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movies, but only because those are directly based off the anime, which itself is based off the [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} video game franchise]][[/note]].

* The ''Film/{{Blade}}'' series died off when ''Blade: Trinity'' underperformed and gained a poor reaction from critics and fans, leading to the film's star Wesley Snipes suing New Line Cinema (which distributed the films) and director David S. Goyer for cutting him out of the filmmaking process. Snipes also going to federal jail for tax evasion didn't help matters much, either, and pretty much ensured that the series will never continue. The film rights have since reverted back to Marvel.

* Though there was another film after it, ''The Final Destination'' was the film that set the ''Film/FinalDestination'' series on the road to the point of no return.[[note]]Or, if you prefer, [[{{Pun}} its final destination]].[[/note]] It was the biggest hit in the franchise since the first, largely thanks to the addition of [[ThreeDMovie 3-D]], but it was so poorly received by critics and fans alike that people stayed away in droves from ''Final Destination 5'', leading to that film's failure driving the final nails into the series' coffin (despite [[AcclaimedFlop generally being considered]] [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel a much better movie]]).

** Fox did at one point have plans to completely reboot the Daredevil/Elektra franchise in the early 2010s, but ended up letting the film rights lapse back to Disney/Marvel in order to focus more on their ''Fantastic Four'' reboot. Marvel has since announced [[Series/{{Daredevil}} a made-for-Netflix show]] starring the character, but obviously independent of the earlier films and being part of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

[[folder:Animation -- Non-Disney]]