History FranchiseKiller / Film

* The ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' films from 20th Century Fox never enjoyed critical or fan reception, but the underperformance of ''Rise of the Silver Surfer'' caused Fox to cancel plans for the ''ComicBook/SilverSurfer'' spinoff movie in favor of a ContinuityReboot, which was green-lit in 2013. The reboot [[Film/FantasticFour2015 was released in 2015]] after a lengthy TroubledProduction, and was universally trashed across the board by fans and critics[[note]]To put this into perspective, even ''Marvel themselves'' trashed the movie, refusing to promote it in any way, and ''Fantastic Four'' co-creator Creator/StanLee infamously refused to make a cameo in the movie after hearing how troubled the movie production was[[/note]], receiving a Website/RottenTomatoes score of ''9%'', making it the lowest-rated superhero movie since ''Film/Catwoman2004''. The subsequent box office failure led to Fox quietly taking a proposed sequel off its release schedule. Disney's subsequent purchase of Fox all but ensured that the rights would revert to Marvel, and ''yet another'' reboot within the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse was announced by Creator/KevinFeige in December 2020.

* The first ''Film/MortalKombat'' movie was a box office success and regarded as a decent action flick, surpassing the [[VideoGameMoviesSuck low standards of video-game-to-movie-adaptations]]. The sequel, ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'', was a slopfest of one-shot character cameos, terrible dialogue, and (for the series) an inexplicable plot. After several rumors of a possible sequel/reboot by New Line were killed by Creator/WarnerBros buying the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' franchise and all rights therein from the ashes of Creator/MidwayGames, WB opted for the cheaper idea of a web series, ''WebVideo/MortalKombatLegacy''. The success of the web series, combined with the continued success of the video game franchise; allowed for the release of the animated ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsScorpionsRevenge'' as well as a DarkerAndEdgier live-action ContinuityReboot for release in 2021. ''Film/MortalKombat2021'' saw release both theatrically and on Creator/HBOMax that April, garnering significantly better reception than ''Annihilation'' (especially among fans).

* The failure of ''Film/Supergirl1984'' not only prevented [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} the heroine]] from becoming a film franchise like Superman but was also partly responsible for the character getting killed off in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. She would not make any appearances outside the Franchise/{{DCAU}} until ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. Fortunately, said TV show together with her then-current solo book [[WinBackTheCrowd renewed interest in Supergirl once again]] until she got her own [[Series/Supergirl2015 television series]] and an appearance in ''Film/{{The Flash|2022}}''.

* ''Film/SupermanIII'' was bad. ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'' was [[SoBadItsGood in some ways an improvement]]; but where it did go wrong, including glaring SpecialEffectFailure, it broke WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. The series went comatose for nearly twenty years and when it came back, ''Film/SupermanReturns'' was a sequel to ''Superman II'' and [[CanonDiscontinuity ignored the continuity]] of ''Superman III'' and ''Superman IV''. ''Returns'' was decent (even taking into account the BrokenBase), but didn't perform well enough[[note]]though its fans share the director's incredulity that grossing $400 million is considered "underperforming"[[/note]] to keep the franchise resurrected without [[Film/ManOfSteel another reboot]] (which, despite mixed reviews, was a major commercial success).

* After ''Film/SpiderMan3'', Sony cancelled the ''Spider-Man 4'' film right before filming started, after a release date had been announced, in favor of a ContinuityReboot in the form of ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan''. This is actually a subversion, though, as ''Spider-Man 3'' (which got mixed reviews but made a ''huge'' profit) was not the cause of the Raimi ''Spider-Man'' franchise's death. The true culprit for the death of the franchise was ExecutiveMeddling -- director Creator/SamRaimi walked out only because he felt he couldn't deliver the level of quality he wanted in the deadline he was given. Meanwhile, the rebooting was done because Sony [[AshcanCopy didn't want the Spider-Man film rights to fall into Marvel Studios' hands]] instead of, you know, acknowledging the murder of the [[CashCowFranchise golden egg-laying goose]].
* Meanwhile, ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' ended up killing ''that'' franchise, as it received a more divisive reception and failed to meet Sony's financial expectations despite being a box office success[[note]]the film grossed $709 million, whereas Sony wanted at least ''$1 billion''[[/note]], causing Sony to change their original plans from releasing a ''Spider-Man'' movie every year and delaying the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen proposed third movie]] to 2018. After looking through options such as a "soft reboot" with a new Spider-Man actor[[note]]The Sony executives were reportedly upset with Creator/AndrewGarfield snubbing Kazuo Hirai at a 2014 FIFA World Cup after-party that was to announce ''ASM 3'', which culminated in an interview he made that September in which he blamed Sony for ruining ''ASM 2''[[/note]] and merging production of the ''Sinister Six'' and ''Venom'' movies, Sony decided to share the rights with Marvel Studios after the Sony hack revealed that Sony wasn't sure on how to continue the movies. Spider-Man was soon rebooted in the context of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with an appearance in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' being ''very'' positively received, leading to a more well-received ''Spider-Man'' film with ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' in 2017. Still, the intent of making those villain movies still came off the ground, starting with ''Film/{{Venom|2018}}'' the following year. Ultimately, ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' ended up reviving both prior Spider-Man film franchises by bringing several of the antagonists [[spoiler:and [[Creator/TobeyMaguire both]] [[Creator/AndrewGarfield of]] the previous Spider-Men]] from the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy and the ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' duology into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

* To a lesser extent, ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'' killed Disney's traditional animation department and made them move into CGI starting with ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle''. An attempt to move back into traditional animation in the late 2000s/early 2010s with ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' and ''WesternAnimation/WinnieThePooh'' was unsuccessful as the two films were written off by the company as financial disappointments, and led to ten members of the staff in the traditional animation department being handed their walking papers.[[note]]''The Princess and the Frog'' actually did very well, earning $267 million at the box office. However, it was nowhere near the smash success of ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' the next year (which earned $591 million), leading Disney to change ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' from a traditionally animated film to a CGI film. That being said, ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' did bomb at the box office (earning under budget), but it might have been a result of [[ScrewedByTheNetwork its simultaneous release alongside]] [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows the final film in the]] ''Harry Potter'' series and [[InvisibleAdvertising a virtually nonexistent advertising campaign]].[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' almost became the franchise killer of the ''entire'' Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon. It cost the studio so much money they could only barely manage to get back up. Understandably, it took ''Cauldron'' until 1998 to get released on home video, despite there being talks about a home video release as early as 1989. No further movies based on ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' have been made since either. However, there was once a show at Tokyo Disneyland called "WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Castle Mystery Tour" that focused on the Disney villains and included the Horned King. The show lasted long after Disney had given up on the franchise, running for over twenty years after the film was released.

* While there may have been no particular plans to try to continue the franchise beyond that point, ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' received so much criticism for being anticlimactic and not as action-packed as its predecessors that it ended up killing any interest in the ''Matrix'' universe for years. Creator/WarnerBros would not officially announce another film in the series until 2019 when they announced a fourth movie titled ''Film/TheMatrixResurrections'' for release in 2021. Unfortunately, the film was a BoxOfficeBomb, which paibts another bleak picture for the franchise.

* ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' initially died with the terrible ''Film/BattleForThePlanetOfTheApes'', sequel to the not much better ''Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes''. Creator/TimBurton's [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001 movie in 2001]] made some money, but the proposed sequel was scrapped. In all fairness, each ''Apes'' sequel was written to be the last in the series, and [[FranchiseZombie further movies were only created because 20th Century Fox demanded them]]. ''Battle'' merely put an end to needlessly prolonging the series, which had already wrapped up its loose ends in the previous films anyway. The franchise was later successfully rebooted with the critically-acclaimed release of ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' in 2011 and its two equally successful sequels - the entire trilogy ironically being a reworking of the two original Franchise Killers!

* While there may have been no particular plans to try to continue the franchise beyond that point, ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' received so much criticism for being anticlimactic and not as action-packed as its predecessors that it ended up killing any interest in the ''Matrix'' universe for years. Creator/WarnerBros would not officially announce another film in the series until 2019 when they announced a fourth movie titled ''Film/TheMatrixResurrections'' for release in 2021.

* Even if ''Film/ParanormalActivityTheGhostDimension'' hadn't been intended as the series' final chapter, its ravaging by critics and fans and middling box office returns (not helped by a VOD distribution strategy that caused some theaters to boycott the film) likely would've killed the franchise regardless. At least until 2019, when Blumhouse [[https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3568177/paramount-blumhouse-developing-new-paranormal-activity-movie/ decided to continue the franchise]] with a sixth film, albeit as a direct-to-streaming film on Creator/ParamountPlus.

* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' franchise, following a growth of success on television (thanks to reruns on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} and Creator/{{Cartoon Network}}, and a series of successful television spinoffs), was able to hit it big with 1996's ''Film/SpaceJam'', which despite mixed reviews was a major commercial success. However, plans to capitalize on it with a sequel [[TroubledProduction went into turnaround]], and the resulting film in 2003's ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'' --[[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel despite being considered to be a modest improvement]] over ''Space Jam'' by reviewers-- flopped at the box office, thanks to strong competition and Warner Bros. [[ScrewedByTheNetwork not bothering much with advertising for the film]]. The resulting failure, aside from [[CreatorKiller tanking the Warner Bros. Feature Animation division for good]], crippled the franchise across the board. A new batch of ''Looney Tunes'' shorts being made for theaters were trashed in mid-production, as were ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts that were pre-conceived at the same time [[note]]though judging the quality from the few ''Looney Tunes'' shorts that ''were'' released, most would say scrapping them was a good thing[[/note]], and classic ''Looney Tunes'' shorts were pulled from television reruns on Cartoon Network in October 2004 and later Creator/{{Boomerang}} in May 2007. Coupled with some short-lived television shows [[WereStillRelevantDammit which took on new directions]] [[DorkAge with mixed results]]; the franchise as a whole nearly faded into obscurity for the rest of the 2000s decade. The 2010s eventually saw the ''Looney Tunes'' regain some ground with the original shorts finally placed back in regular rotation (temporarily on Cartoon Network, permanently for Boomerang), a handful of new theatrical CGI shorts, and some television series that gradually [[RevisitingTheRoots returned the franchise to form]]; although the mainstream heights the characters had it the TheNineties and the TurnOfTheMillennium is still yet to be rekindled. However, with Warner Bros. [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/space-jam-sequel-finds-director-834978 eventually greenlighting into production]] a proper ''Space Jam'' sequel --''WesternAnimation/SpaceJamANewLegacy''-- which released in 2021 to decent financial success (albeit a much more mixed critical reception); all may not be lost for the so-called ''Tune Squad''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' franchise, following a growth of success on television (thanks to reruns on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} and Creator/{{Cartoon Network}}, and a series of successful television spinoffs), was able to hit it big with 1996's ''Film/SpaceJam'', which despite mixed reviews was a major commercial success. However, plans to capitalize on it with a sequel [[TroubledProduction went into turnaround]], and the resulting film in 2003's ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'' --[[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel despite being considered to be a modest improvement]] over ''Space Jam'' by reviewers-- flopped at the box office, thanks to strong competition and Warner Bros. [[ScrewedByTheNetwork not bothering much with advertising for the film]]. The resulting failure, aside from [[CreatorKiller tanking the Warner Bros. Feature Animation division for good]], crippled the franchise across the board. A new batch of ''Looney Tunes'' shorts being made for theaters were trashed in mid-production, as were ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts that were pre-conceived at the same time [[note]]though judging the quality from the few ''Looney Tunes'' shorts that ''were'' released, most would say scrapping them was a good thing[[/note]], and classic ''Looney Tunes'' shorts were pulled from television reruns on Cartoon Network in October 2004 and later Creator/{{Boomerang}} in May 2007. Coupled with some short-lived television shows [[WereStillRelevantDammit which took on new directions]] [[DorkAge with mixed results]]; the franchise as a whole nearly faded into obscurity for the rest of the 2000s decade. The 2010s eventually saw the ''Looney Tunes'' regain some ground with the original shorts finally placed back in regular rotation (temporarily on Cartoon Network, permanently for Boomerang), a handful of new theatrical CGI shorts, and some television series that gradually [[RevisitingTheRoots returned the franchise to form]]; although the mainstream heights the characters had it the TheNineties and the TurnOfTheMillennium is still yet to be rekindled. However, with Warner Bros. [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/space-jam-sequel-finds-director-834978 eventually greenlighting into production]] a proper ''Space Jam'' sequel --''[[https://hypebeast.com/2020/5/space-jam-2-a-new-legacy-logo-title-reveal-lebron-james A New Legacy]]''-- for a 2021 release; all may not be lost for the so-called ''Tune Squad''.

* The box office failure of ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeetTwo'' and the lack of new ideas has put the ''Happy Feet'' film series on hiatus as of 2022. Even director George Miller isn't sure how he's going to pull off a third film.

* The ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' franchise originally went missing in action for two decades, following ''Film/Predator2'', which was considered a significant box office and critical disappointment compared to the original. The belated revival, ''Film/{{Predators}}'' was decently reviewed and a commercial success, which naturally got a sequel put in development...only for ''that'' film to kick around for nearly a decade in DevelopmentHell and end up being ''Film/ThePredator'', which underperformed at the domestic box office and sparked polarizing critical reactions across the board over its undecided tone and muddled focus. Two additional sequels were planned, only for them to be canned and the series being put on the shelf again after an eight-year hiatus. Not helping matters was that the film was released at the time Disney was preparing to take over Fox, with its film slate cut drastically as a result. Tellingly, [[Film/{{Predator}} the first film]]'s screenwriters Jim and John Thomas would soon exercise their copyright grant termination rights to the intellectual property, meaning that Disney is poised to lose the rights to the series by 2021 and freeze all activity with the franchise until a deal can be worked out. (although at the same time the Thomases sought legal action, the now renamed Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios had a fifth ''Predator'' movie called ''Skull'' already being filmed, so the alien hunter is still on its way to return)

* ''Shaft in Africa'' came out amidst a glut of {{Blaxploitation}} films, many of them ironically [[FollowTheLeader cashing in]] on the success of the first two ''Film/{{Shaft}}'' films, whereupon it met mixed reviews and became a BoxOfficeBomb. As a result, it was nearly thirty years before a new ''Shaft'' [[Film/Shaft2000 film]] was made, by which point the franchise was old enough to have become nostalgic.

* The ''Film/{{Halloweentown}}'' series of Creator/DisneyChannel [[MadeForTVMovie Original Movies]] was killed by its fourth installment, ''Return to Halloweentown'' in 2006. The film met [[TaintedByThePreview bad publicity right out of the gate]] when it [[TheOtherDarrin recast the series' protagonist Marnie]], replacing Kimberly J. Brown with Sara Paxton even though a) Brown was available and b) Paxton looked nothing like her -- which turned out to be the first in a series of questionable casting decisions, particularly an expansion of Lucas Grabeel's role from the previous film, a move that seemed designed purely to cash in on his newfound stardom from ''Film/HighSchoolMusical''. The writing was also seen as reflective of the Disney Channel's NetworkDecay, tilting away from the family comedy of the prior three films and straight into the GirlShowGhetto. While the film garnered the strongest ratings of any film in the series, its poor reception by fans ensured that no new ''Halloweentown'' films would be made, and the death of Creator/DebbieReynolds (who played the key supporting character Aggie) in 2016 merely poured more dirt over the grave.

* The failure of ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeetTwo'' at the box office and the lack of new ideas has put the ''Happy Feet'' film series on hiatus as of 2015. Even George Miller isn't sure how he's going to pull off a third film. Crucial co-star Creator/RobinWilliams, who voiced Ramon and Lovelace, dying of suicide in August 2014 made the outcome of a third film even more uncertain.

* ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' and ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' each made just over $100 million at the domestic box office, while ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' clocked in at just under $90 million. ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'' didn't even reach the $40 million mark (although it's far from universally loathed). The international box office gross saved the film from outright flopping, but it was considered a disappointment. Having [[SequelGap a gap between the third and fourth films]] longer than the period in which ''all three previous films'' were released may not have helped. (Of course, so did ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', but that was the second most successful film of its year -- unlike Sidney Prescott or Ghostface, Indy is a genuine icon.) While Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany initially didn't rule out another sequel, the chance of more films gradually faded away, as the franchise ended up [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] by Creator/{{MTV}} as [[Series/{{Scream}} a television series]], which was followed by series director Creator/WesCraven's passing in 2015. The TV show later ended up being killed due to the series' connection to the disgraced Harvey Weinstein, and was later retooled into the miniseries ''Series/ScreamResurrection''. It's not until 2022 that a fifth installment (simply named ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}''). Fortunately, it was more successful.

* Even if ''Film/ParanormalActivityTheGhostDimension'' hadn't been intended as the series' final chapter, its ravaging by critics and fans and middling box office returns (not helped by a VOD distribution strategy that caused some theaters to boycott the film) likely would've killed the franchise regardless. At least until 2019, when Blumhouse [[https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3568177/paramount-blumhouse-developing-new-paranormal-activity-movie/ decided to continue the franchise]] with ''Paranormal Activity: Next on Kin'', albeit as a direct-to-streaming film on Creator/ParamountPlus.

* Even if ''Film/ParanormalActivityTheGhostDimension'' hadn't been intended as the series' final chapter, its ravaging by critics and fans and subsequent bombing at the box office (not helped by a VOD distribution strategy that caused some theaters to boycott the film) likely would've killed the franchise regardless. At least until 2019, when Blumhouse [[https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3568177/paramount-blumhouse-developing-new-paranormal-activity-movie/ decided to reboot the franchise]].

* ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' and ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' each made just over $100 million at the domestic box office, while ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' clocked in at just under $90 million. ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'' didn't even reach the $40 million mark (although it's far from universally loathed, and is the only film in the series to have done better outside North America). Having [[SequelGap a gap between the third and fourth films]] longer than the period in which ''all three previous films'' were released may not have helped. (Of course, so did ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', but that was the second most successful film of its year -- unlike Sidney Prescott or Ghostface, Indy is a genuine icon.) While the studio initially didn't rule out another sequel (though ''Scream'' creator Kevin Williamson says he's not interested), the chance of more films gradually faded away, as the franchise ended up [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] by Creator/{{MTV}} as [[Series/{{Scream}} a television series]], which was followed by series director Creator/WesCraven's passing in 2015. The TV show later ended up being killed due to the series' connection to the disgraced Harvey Weinstein, and was later retooled into the miniseries ''Series/ScreamResurrection''. [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/scream-reboot-be-directed-by-ready-not-filmmakers-1282995 A fifth film was later announced]] in 2020, to be helmed by ''Film/{{Ready Or Not|2019}}'' directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, with Creator/NeveCampbell, Creator/DavidArquette, and Creator/CourteneyCox all confirmed to reprise their roles as Sidney, Dewey, and Gale. Time will tell if that manages to revive the series.

* The failure of ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeetTwo'' at the box office and the lack of new ideas has put the ''Happy Feet'' film series on hiatus as of 2015. Even George Miller isn't sure how he's going to pull off a third film. Crucial co-star Creator/RobinWilliams, who voiced Ramon and Lovelace, committing suicide in August 2014 made the outcome of a third film even more uncertain.

** Then Creator/RidleyScott returned to the series to helm an ''Alien'' prequel in the form of ''Film/{{Prometheus}}''. ''Prometheus'' did well enough for Scott to announce it as the first of a prequel trilogy; even if followup ''Film/AlienCovenant'' underperformed at the box office and Fox was purchased by Disney, the third one is still planned.

* While there may have been no particular plans to try to continue the franchise beyond that point, ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' received so much criticism for being anticlimactic and not as action-packed as its predecessors that it ended up killing any interest in the ''Matrix'' universe for years. Creator/WarnerBros would not officially announce another film in the series until 2019, when they announced a fourth movie titled ''Film/TheMatrixResurrections'' for release in 2021.

* ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' was supposed to launch the Creator/DCComics equivalent of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and eventually lead to a 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 [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse movie universe]] ''the right way''. Another Green Lantern was eventually put on the film slate for the ''DCEU'', but it has yet to left the pre-production stage. Creator/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/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIII'' put the movie series on hold for 14 years. [[WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}} The 2007 animated film]] made a decent-but-not-spectacular showing at the box office, but poor reviews, combined with a change in ownership of the whole franchise, have led to the series being [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014 rebooted in live-action once again]]. The 2014 reboot [[CriticalDissonance received worse reviews but brought in the big bucks]], seemingly stabilizing the film side of the Turtles for the foreseeable future....until [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesOutOfTheShadows its sequel]] came out and vastly underperformed at the box office, putting the movie franchise back in the shelf once again. On June 20, 2018, It was announced that the series would be rebooted yet again. Then two years later on June 30, 2020 it was revealed that the reboot would be a CGI animated feature produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The film is currently slated to be released on August 11th, 2023.

* The ''Series/CharliesAngels'' series hasn't had much luck with revivals. While [[Film/CharliesAngels2000 the 2000 Charlie's Angels film]] did well financially and received fairly approving reviews, the same can't be said with its 2003 sequel ''Full Throttle'', which while still relatively successful had a more negative critical reception and underwhelming box office intake. (To give you some perspective, the sequel turned out to be 29% more expensive than the 2000 original at $120M, and also made less worldwide, $259.1M to $264.1M.) In addition, the deaths of both Charlie's voice (John Forsythe) and replacement Bosley character (Bernie Mac) left the prospects for a third movie in the foreseeable future unlikely. Then came the second theatrical continuation directed by Creator/ElizabethBanks, [[Film/CharliesAngels2019 which was released in November 2019]] to average reviews and disappointing returns with less than $9 million in a third-place finish. Compounding the misfourtune was the 2011 TV series reboot produced in the meantime, which was burned at the stake by critics and canceled after four episodes were aired. [[note]]Possibly an instance of ScrewedByTheNetwork, as Creator/{{ABC}} had to know it wasn't going to get much of anything by dumping the show against ''Series/TheXFactor'' and ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''.[[/note]]
* The LiveActionAdaptation series based on ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' started with the [[Film/TheFlintstones 1994 film]], which became the sixth highest-grossing movie of the year despite negative reviews from critics, resulting in a sequel being ordered. However, DevelopmentHell ensued, resulting in the sequel becoming a prequel instead and the main characters were re-cast after the original cast walked off production. The prequel, ''Film/TheFlintstonesInVivaRockVegas'', which chronicles how Fred met Wilma, was released six years after the original film was released, but despite slightly more positive reception it flopped, resulting in no further theatrical ''Flintstones'' movies being made since then. A handful of Direct-to-Video animated ''Flintstones'' films have been released since then, however.

* Although the popularity of WesternAnimation/MrMagoo had been in decline since the 1970's, many people consider [[Film/MrMagoo the 1997 live-action film]] the final nail, more or less, in the blind man's coffin. One of the [[LiveActionAdaptation numerous "revivals" of cartoons in live-action form]] in the 1990's, with several other examples from Disney killing their respective franchises, the film, mainly because of its perceived yet unintentional offense to the blind and near-sighted, also [[BoxOfficeBomb lost $1.1 million in its two weeks in theaters]]; obtained negative reviews from critics; was a major StarDerailingRole for Creator/LeslieNielsen, who would fall from the A-list with ''Film/WrongfullyAccused'' the following year; and proved to be a CreatorKiller in the West for director Stanley Tong, as it is his only English-language film to date. Not helping matters were the film's closing disclaimer or the animated title sequence with TheOtherDarrin Greg Burson as Magoo. It would not be until 2010 that he reappeared with the direct-to-video release of the animated film ''Kung Fu Magoo'', but it too proved mediocre, so Magoo's fate at this moment remains unknown.

** The major critical and box office disappointment for ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' almost killed the franchise as a whole, as Paramount, in response to the poor finacial returns, at first slashed the budget of the then-in-development sixth film to a degree where making a movie simply wasn't a viable option. The only reasons why [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry sixth movie]] even eventually managed to get made, was because Creator/NicholasMeyer called in a personal favor with the head of Paramount, and because the studio wanted a movie to coincide with the [[MilestoneCelebration 25th anniversary]] of the premiere of ''Star Trek''.
** ''Film/StarTrekNemesis''. The plot contained a SequelHook, and there were reportedly plans for a sequel film that would officially serve as the GrandFinale for the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'' cast; but the film's financial and critical failure ended any chance the TNG crew had of getting another film. Then again, this section of the franchise may have been killed shortly before the release of this film because Creator/BrentSpiner (who played the android Data) refused to participate further because he was visibly aging and straining [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief suspension of disbelief]] (though in an alternate future of the TV series' finale, Data had cosmetically altered himself to simulate aging anyway). You can't do ''TNG'' without Data, and Paramount's marketing department knew it, hence the {{tagline}}:

* The failure of ''Film/{{Supergirl}}'' not only prevented ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} from becoming a film franchise like Superman but was also partly responsible for the character getting killed off in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. She would not make any appearances outside the Franchise/{{DCAU}} until ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. Fortunately, said TV show together with her then-current solo book [[WinBackTheCrowd renewed interest in Supergirl once again]] until she got her own [[Series/Supergirl2015 television series]] and an appearance in ''Film/{{The Flash|2022}}''.

* Though there was one more entry after it, ''Film/FinalDestination4'' was the film that set the ''Franchise/FinalDestination'' series on the road to the point of no return.[[note]]Or, if you prefer, [[{{Pun}} its final destination]].[[/note]] It was by far the biggest box-office hit in the franchise, largely thanks to the addition of 3-D, but it was so poorly received by critics and fans alike that people stayed away in droves from ''Film/FinalDestination5''. While that film managed to [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel earn the franchise's best reviews]] and be liked by fans too, it only really made money internationally (the domestic gross barely made back its budget), driving the final nails into the series' coffin. Creator/TonyTodd, who played the CreepyMortician Bludworth in the films, has [[https://bloody-disgusting.com/interviews/3540245/tony-todd-thinks-therell-never-final-destination-6-heres-exclusive/ stated]] that he doesn't expect to ever see a reboot or a sixth film enter production as, because of the [[MoneyMakingShot massive set-piece disasters]] that open each film, they require considerably bigger budgets than most horror films and therefore bring in smaller profits. (in fact, the necessary big set piece was [[https://culturedvultures.com/interview-final-destination-jeffrey-reddick-dont-look-back/ stated by the series creator]] as the reason why a sixth movie that was announced in 2020 got stalled once the COVID-19 pandemic hit)

* ''Film/SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman'' was planned to be the start of a fairy tale franchise Creator/{{Universal}} conceptualized to compete with Creator/{{Disney}}'s line of fairy tale films. Although the film wasn't a critical success, it did well enough to justify a sequel. However, when director Rupert Sanders was revealed to have had an affair with star Kristen Stewart, he and Stewart were booted off the sequel. The result, ''Film/TheHuntsmanWintersWar'', failed to outgross its predecessor on its opening weekend and became a box office bomb that cost Universal $70 million, ensuring that their dreams of a fairy tale franchise would be put in a coffin for good.

* The ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'' movie wasn't ''quite'' bad enough to kill ''Daredevil 2''. ''Film/{{Elektra}},'' on the other hand, was. That film and Creator/HalleBerry's ''Film/Catwoman2004'' squashed rumors of a [[GenreKiller new spate of super-heroine movies]], which was also not helped by a sudden glut of similarly themed ActionGirl movies coming out at the same time as well, such as ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' and ''Film/AeonFlux'', which were also lambasted by critics for being poor-to-mediocre in most aspects. 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 Creator/MarvelStudios in order to focus more on their ''Fantastic Four'' reboot. Marvel has since released [[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. Thankfully, [[WinBackTheCrowd said Netflix show completely redeemed the character in the public eye]].

-->-- [[http://lebeauleblog.com/category/movies/franchise-killers/ Lebeau's Le Blog, Franchise Killers]]

* Following the failure of the live-action Jay Ward adaptations, another Jay Ward-inspired film would not be in the works until Creator/DreamWorksAnimation acquired Classic Media (co-owner of Jay Ward's Bullwinkle Studios) and with it, the film licenses to all of Jay Ward's creations. The ''WesternAnimation/MrPeabodyAndSherman'' film project was rebooted as a CGI film and released in 2014, which flopped domestically despite positive reviews, a strong advertising campaign, and favorable foreign gross (this may have also been responsible for a CGI ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' short DWA had made to release with the movie getting shelved until the Blu-ray release). However, that didn't stop [=DreamWorks=] from making a SequelSeries for Creator/{{Netflix}}, ''WesternAnimation/TheNewMrPeabodyAndShermanShow'', or ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'', a revival series, for Creator/PrimeVideo. Universal has since regained the film licenses to the properties as a consequence of acquiring [=DreamWorks=], taking Classic Media with it. However, there are currently no plans for any future Jay Ward films, animated or live-action, aside from Advertising/{{Geico}} featuring Rocky and Bullwinkle in a commercial where they meet the Geico Gecko.

* The success of ''Film/{{Darkman}}'' gave Creator/SamRaimi enough clout to get a third ''Franchise/EvilDead'' film, titled ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'', off the ground. While it met a warm reception from critics and has since become a CultClassic like its predecessors, its box office failure killed the franchise for over 20 years. Outside of [[ComicBook/ArmyOfDarkness comic book]] and video game spin-offs, the franchise remained dormant until [[Film/EvilDead2013 the 2013 remake]], with a direct follow-up to the original trilogy coming two years later with the ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'' TV series. While that show was acclaimed by critics and fans alike, [[AcclaimedFlop it struggled in the ratings]] and was cancelled after three seasons. With Creator/BruceCampbell announcing his retirement from the Ash Williams role soon afterwards and a planned sequel to the 2013 film languishing in DevelopmentHell, the franchise returned to dormancy with an uncertain future.
** On film, at least. Campbell almost immediately announced he'll be reprising Ash in two separate video game projects, suggesting he's merely done portraying Ash ON FILM. Although this does nothing to help the remake sequel's chances.

** The box office failure of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' is also largely responsible for dissuading Walt Disney Animation Studios from making sequels to films within the Disney Animated Canon for nearly three decades; subsequent followups to existing works were instead handled by the former [=DisneyToon=] Studios department, the majority of which were relegated strictly as direct-to-video fare. Following ''Down Under''[-'-]s release in 1990, it would take until ''2018'' until the Disney Animated Canon received a new sequel in ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'', with ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'' released the following year.

* Meanwhile, ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' ended up killing ''that'' franchise, as it received a more divisive reception and failed to meet Sony's financial expectations despite being a box office success[[note]]the film grossed $709 million, whereas Sony wanted at least ''$1 billion''[[/note]], causing Sony to change their original plans from releasing a ''Spider-Man'' movie every year and delaying the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen proposed third movie]] to 2018. After looking through options such as a "soft reboot" with a new Spider-Man actor[[note]]The Sony executives were reportedly upset with Creator/AndrewGarfield snubbing Kazuo Hirai at a 2014 FIFA World Cup after-party that was to announce ''ASM 3'', which culminated in an interview he made that September in which he blamed Sony for ruining ''ASM 2''[[/note]] and merging production of the ''Sinister Six'' and ''Venom'' movies, Sony decided to share the rights with Marvel Studios after the Sony hack revealed that Sony wasn't sure on how to continue the movies. Spider-Man was soon rebooted in the context of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with an appearance in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' being ''very'' positively received, leading to a more well-received ''Spider-Man'' film with ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' in 2017. Still, the intent of making those villain movies still came off the ground, starting with ''Film/{{Venom|2018}}'' the following year. Ultimately, ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' ended up reviving both Spider-Man film franchises to a lesser extent by bringing several of the antagonists from the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy and the ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' duology into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.