History FranchiseKiller / Film

* 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/DCAnimatedUniverse 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]], an appearance in ''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}'', and an upcoming film in the DC Universe.

* 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/DCAnimatedUniverse 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|2023}}''.

* The disappointing sales for ''{{WesternAnimation/Wonder Woman|2009}}'' seemed to take down promoting female DC heroes in films, as it led to the cancellation of a planned adaptation of ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}: Year One'', and resulted in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanApocalypse'', an adaptation of the storyline ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'', not including Supergirl in the film's title. The subsequent failure of ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternFirstFlight'' led to the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies line steering clear of any film not starring Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}}, or the [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]. To make matters worse, the ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' live-action movie wasn't successful either. However, ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' was adapted from a storyline that had the Flash as its central protagonist and was just as well-received as any Batman or Superman animated film. The film ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueThroneOfAtlantis'' also focused heavily on Aquaman, so the studios are most likely slowly regaining confidence in their supporting titles. Eventually this lead to DC using the League to help launch films for other teams, such as ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark'' for ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueDark'', and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTeenTitans'' for the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', whose success now meant that DC successfully could make films with Batman, Superman, or the Justice League absent, as shown with ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuicideSquadHellToPay''.

* The ''Film/FantasticFourDuology'' films from 20th Century Fox never enjoyed critical or fan reception, but the underperformance of ''Film/FantasticFourRiseOfTheSilverSurfer'' 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. And when ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' [[spoiler:had a cameo from Reed Richards, it was telling that, unlike the various characters from ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' (see below), Creator/PatrickStewart as [[Film/XMenFilmSeries Professor X]], or even Creator/AnsonMount as [[Series/{{Inhumans}} Black Bolt]], none of the prior actors for Reed Richards were invited back to reprise the role, instead casting Creator/JohnKrasinski as a variant who had never been seen before in any other media.]]

* 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/TheMrPeabodyAndShermanShow'', 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 (after the transfer of the Ward properties from NBCU to Creator/WildBrain in 2022), animated or live-action, aside from Advertising/{{Geico}} featuring Rocky and Bullwinkle in a commercial where they meet the Geico Gecko.

* 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, its small target demographic consisting of mostly young children, and [[InvisibleAdvertising a virtually nonexistent advertising campaign]].[[/note]] Years later, Disney would ultimately bring back 2D animation in the 2D segments of ''Film/Disenchanted2022''.

* 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/TheMrPeabodyAndShermanShow'', 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.
* After the massive failure of ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' in the country because it was released on the weekend of the Tohoku earthquake, all further Creator/DreamWorksAnimation films in Japan have been released DirectToVideo. It would take seven years for another [=DreamWorks=] film to be played in Japanese theaters with the release of ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby'' nearly one year after its release elsewhere. This also had an impact on further releases of non-Disney CGI animated films in Japan, most of which are released straight to video, with the exception of the output of Creator/IlluminationEntertainment and Creator/WarnerBrosAnimation, as well as ''WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie''.

* The LEGO film series itself would later experience this with the one-two punch of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoNinjagoMovie'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart''. While the first two LEGO movies (''The LEGO Movie'' and the aforementioned ''The LEGO Batman Movie'') were successful, these two were not (''The LEGO Movie 2'' managed to at least break even, albeit just barely, but it was still regarded as a severe disappointment), and Warner Bros. abandoned plans to turn the LEGO film series into a long-running franchise. One could already see the writing was on the wall, with Warner Animation Group's film slate; which not only had a substantial lack of new LEGO films but also demonstrated WAG focusing more on developing new adaptations of [[Creator/HannaBarbera their existing]] [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes library of]] [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry animated characters]], along with getting the {{Creator/Dr Seuss}} license (from Universal, ironically) as well as development of a film adaptation of Funko Pop toys. However, the final nail in the coffin came later that fall when WB's license to make LEGO movies expired, with the LEGO Group [[https://deadline.com/2020/04/universal-lego-group-construct-five-year-exclusive-film-partnership-to-create-new-movie-franchises-1202916170/ ultimately signing a deal with]] Creator/{{Universal}} Studios instead of renewing the pact. Not helping matters was Warner Bros. additionally signing a deal to distribute films from Locksmith Animation after their deal with Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox went south due to Creator/{{Disney}} buying the latter company out.

* The disappointing sales for ''{{WesternAnimation/Wonder Woman|2009}}'' led to the cancellation of a planned adaptation of ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}: Year One''. The subsequent failure of ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternFirstFlight'' led to the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies line steering clear of any film not starring Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}}, or the [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]. To make matters worse, the ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' live-action movie wasn't successful either. However, ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' was adapted from a storyline that had the Flash as its central protagonist and was just as well-received as any Batman or Superman animated film. The film ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueThroneOfAtlantis'' also focused heavily on Aquaman, so the studios are most likely slowly regaining confidence in their supporting titles. Eventually this lead to DC using the League to help launch films for other teams, such as ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark'' for ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueDark'', and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTeenTitans'' for the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', whose success now meant that DC successfully could make films with Batman, Superman, or the Justice League absent, as shown with ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuicideSquadHellToPay''.

* The ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films made during the TurnOfTheMillennium had tepid box office performances, so Toho decided to make ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' as a GrandFinale to the Millennium series while they put the franchise on temporary hiatus. Of course, even if they ''hadn't'' planned to shelf the King of the Monsters for the time being, they probably would've done so anyway after ''Final Wars'' ended up being the lowest-grossing of all the Millennium films. Toho eventually gave American company Creator/LegendaryPictures the rights for a [[Film/{{Godzilla 2014}} 2014 reboot]]. Surprisingly, the reboot was a critical and financial success, which convinced Toho that the time had come for Godzilla's hibernation to end and released ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' in July 2016. Before this, ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'' back in 1975 had box office returns so low it killed the series until nearly a decade later.

** ''Film/BrideOfChucky'' in 1998 successfully brought the franchise into the age of PostModernism, fully embracing Chucky's cheekier image and becoming a successful horror-comedy, but the 2004 follow-up ''Film/SeedOfChucky'' was criticized for leaning too hard on the comedy (most notably with the infamous doll sex scene), its middling box-office returns and negative reaction putting the killer doll in storage for several years. Old Chuck finally got back into the swing of things with a pair of well-received DirectToVideo releases, 2015's ''Film/CurseOfChucky'' and 2017's ''Film/CultOfChucky'', while MGM (who owns the rights and concept to the original ''Child's Play'' film) greenlit a theatrical ContinuityReboot, which was [[Film/ChildsPlay2019 released in 2019]].

* The film adaptations of romance novelist Creator/NicholasSparks' books were [[CriticalDissonance never popular with critics]], but they nonetheless earned a substantial fandom in the 2000s and 2010s, especially with the decline of the RomanticComedy genre during that time making Sparks the standard bearer for big-screen romance. 2004's ''Film/TheNotebook'', Sparks' BreakthroughHit as both an author and in film, is now remembered as one of the greatest romantic films of the 2000s. However, Sparks adaptations quickly hit diminishing returns around the mid-2010s, with TheLastStraw coming with 2016's ''The Choice''. Made on only a fraction of the budget of a typical Sparks adaptation ($10 million, whereas in the past they got budgets of $20-30 million), this still wasn't enough to make it a success, and no further adaptations of Sparks' books have been made.

[[folder:Comedy franchises]]

* The ''Film/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' film series from 20th Century Fox started off with the first film getting mixed reviews but performing well at the box office. The second film, based on the second book in the series, ''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 ''Dog Days'' didn't do well enough to keep Fox from scrapping a fourth film, a fact Creator/ZacharyGordon (who played series protagonist Greg Heffley in the original trilogy) later announced. Of course, the fact the child cast was growing up so fast meant ''Dog Days'' would need to be the last with those actors, as the characters are NotAllowedToGrowUp (to the point Fox rushed the film into production). Series author Jeff Kinney tried to pitch the sixth book, ''Cabin Fever'', as an animated television special instead of a movie, but it was scrapped and Fox instead went ahead and started production on an adaptation of the ninth book, ''The Long Haul'', which despite not being a reboot had the entire cast replaced. ''The Long Haul'' received worse reviews and made less money than the previous films, resulting in future movies getting shelved. The books, on the other hand, are still going strong to this day.
** Following the mass purge of unproduced Fox films due to poor box office numbers of ''Film/DarkPhoenix'', Disney (who currently owns Fox) announced that the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' franchise would get yet another reboot, in the form of an animated movie for Creator/DisneyPlus.
* ''Film/DormDaze'' was released in a limited amount of theaters and did O.K. enough to get a Direct-to-DVD sequel in 2006. Then, for some reason, ''Dorm Daze 3'' or ''Film/{{Transylmania}}'' was actually released nationwide in 2009 and only grossed $397,000 dollars on a $10 million dollar budget and a $15 million dollar marketing budget. Another movie in the franchise hasn't been produced since.

* The 1995 ''Film/{{Casper}}'' movie, while not a critical darling, was enough of a box office success to get a sequel greenlit, but the character's owners at [[Creator/HarveyComics Harvey]], [[CreatorBacklash who weren't exactly thrilled with the final project]], were allowed to do a largely unrelated prequel film that they would produce DirectToVideo with Creator/SabanEntertainment. The disappointing sales and lackluster reception of the resulting film, ''Film/CasperASpiritedBeginning'' and its sequel ''Film/CasperMeetsWendy'' convinced Creator/AmblinEntertainment to call off the sequel, along with the fact that it had been in DevelopmentHell for so long they felt that interest had worn off.
* ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' killed off the live-action Creator/DrSeuss movie franchise that had started with ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', not so much because of its box-office receipts (which were not as bad as the scathing critical reviews, though still remarkably low) but because Theodore Geisel's widow Audrey was disgusted enough by its overly raunchy humor to deny any further live-action adaptations for the rest of her life. Plans were laid out for a sequel based on ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat Comes Back'' but never materialized as a direct result of the sanction from Mrs. Geisel. Later Dr. Seuss movies starting with ''WesternAnimation/{{Horton Hears a Who|2008}}!'' have been made purely with CGI.[[note]]In addition to killing off the live-action Dr. Seuss movie franchise, it also prevented ''any'' Dr. Seuss film from being made until ''Horton Hears A Who!'' (''The Cat in the Hat'' was made in 2003, whereas ''Horton'' was made in 2008, a good five-year gap between the films)[[/note]] Amazingly, Dr. Seuss would continue to be made by Universal for years afterwards, with the sole exception of ''Horton'', which went through Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, before the Geisel estate finally cut ties with Universal before ''WesternAnimation/{{The Grinch|2018}}'' came out and moved to Creator/WarnerBros for all future films.
* ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard'' killed off the ''Franchise/DieHard'' franchise after five films. Critics were lukewarm to negative toward its clichéd UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia technothriller plot and choppy action scenes. Fox seemed to sense a turkey on its hands, as the film was [[DumpMonths dumped into theaters on Valentine's Day]]. ''A Good Day to Die Hard'' was the first in the series to [[BoxOfficeBomb fail to recoup its budget]] domestically, though (outside of UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for obvious reasons) the film did considerably better business overseas. All attempts to make another ''Die Hard'' film have stalled out, and it was first of a series of bombs that sent Creator/BruceWillis into a [[StarDerailingRole steep career decline]] before his retirement in 2022 due to aphasia.
* ''Film/TheExpendables3'', in contrast to the last two films, met with an underwhelming reaction from fans largely put off by the [[{{Bowdlerize}} PG-13]] rating and mostly failed to make its money back. It's telling that afterwards, Creator/SylvesterStallone decided to return to the ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' series, which he had abandoned specifically to make ''The Expendables''.
* The film adaptation of ''Film/FatSlags'' (a strip in British comic ''Comicbook/{{Viz}}'') was so bad that their creator allegedly claimed he was going to kill off the strip as a result, though [[GodNeverSaidThat this later turned out to be misquoted/misreported]].
* The failure of ''Film/{{Grease 2}}'' prevented further {{Sequelitis}}. There were studio plans of having at least three more sequels and a TV series, but they were instantly scrapped after ''Grease 2'' bombed.
* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** This series is the exception to the rule of a real franchise killer, as they have been continuously produced by the same family-owned production company, Creator/EonProductions, since '''1962'''. That said, a few films in the series have had brushes with this trope.
** ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' was at the time of release viewed as a major disappointment as it continued a downward spiral in grosses that had begun with ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', despite the very different approaches taken with those two films. For the next film, ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', the studio was desperate and lured Creator/SeanConnery back for one last time in exchange for a hefty paycheck. However the film following ''Diamonds are Forever'', ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' with Creator/RogerMoore as James Bond, proved that the series was still a very profitable commodity, despite a change in the lead role. The film has been VindicatedByHistory since, being generally considered a superior effort to all of those that followed it at least until ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''.
** ''Film/LicenceToKill'', the 16th official movie (and the second and last one to star Creator/TimothyDalton) seemed to do this for a while. With inflation in account, it's the lowest-grossing film in the franchise. The film was one of the most [[BrokenBase polarizing]] Bond movies due to its decidedly DarkerAndEdgier, ''Series/MiamiVice''-influenced plot, and coming out during a busy summer season with subpar marketing didn't help its chances. ''LTK'' felt like an EndOfAnAge (dating back to the Creator/SeanConnery era) as it was the last Bond movie to have any involvement from director John Glen, screenwriter Richard Maibaum, title designer Maurice Binder, cinematographer Alec Mills, and producer [[Creator/AlbertRBroccoli Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli]] (plus the last Bond movie to take place during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar). There wouldn't be a new Bond movie [[DevelopmentHell released for six years]] (the longest such delay in franchise history) mostly due to litigation from 1990-1993 between the co-owners on the sale of television licensing rights, not to mention a fraudulent acquisition of MGM. In the meantime, Dalton's contract expired, Creator/PierceBrosnan was hired, and [[Film/GoldenEye the 17th movie]] started being SavedFromDevelopmentHell.
** While ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' by no means flopped (it was the highest-grossing Bond film at the time), it was deemed ridiculous by many and received at best mixed reviews. More importantly, however, was that with this film and the preceding ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'', the box-office grosses simply did not match the increasing production budgets and marketing costs, and made very little profit for franchise co-owners Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer and Broccoli/Wilson's Danjaq. For MGM, their co-ownership in the James Bond franchise is their single-most important IP asset, and for a studio with an otherwise weak output, Bond must provide large profits for the studio to survive. Soon after, Brosnan was dismissed and the franchise went into hibernation before rebooting with a [[Film/CasinoRoyale2006 back-to-basics movie]] starring Creator/DanielCraig as Bond. WordOfGod mentions that the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks also played a part because the writers felt they couldn't justify the franchise's campiness after such a traumatic event. [[http://io9.com/the-james-bond-movies-had-to-go-darker-because-mike-my-1667143453 According to]] Creator/DanielCraig, the ''Film/AustinPowers'' films were responsible for the ''Film/JamesBond'' series' DarkerAndEdgier reboot in the '00s. That series ruthlessly lampooned the more outrageous tropes of the Bond movies and made them impossible to take seriously anymore, while also becoming pop-culture sensations that arguably overshadowed the Creator/PierceBrosnan-era Bond films from that same time period. This also led to the success of ''Film/TheBourneSeries'' in the '00s, whose edgier, more realistic concepts and action were the benchmark for the Daniel Craig movies. (at least until ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' made the producers decide to [[{{Reconstruction}} bring back many of the series' traditional elements]]).
* ''Film/TheNextKarateKid'' was poorly received by fans and critics, and made less money at the box office than ''Film/TheKarateKidPartIII'', putting the series on ice until the release of ''Film/TheKarateKid2010'', a ContinuityReboot starring Creator/JackieChan and Jaden Smith, and the original continuity didn't return until the 2018 Website/{{YouTube}} SequelSeries ''Series/CobraKai'', which has gained rave reviews and fan love aplenty.
* The box office failure of ''Film/KitKittredgeAnAmericanGirl'' killed any future theatrical adaptations of the Literature/{{American Girl|sCollection}} books and associated dolls. The series has had some mild success as [[DirectToVideo Straight-To-DVD]] features, however; for a long time, they stuck to adapting their modern Girl of the Year stories, but they've since returned to historical movies.
* ''Film/TheLegendOfTheLoneRanger'' ended any chance of further ''Lone Ranger'' adaptations for the next two and a half decades with ITC's behavior, especially toward the classic Lone Ranger, Clayton Moore (such behavior would become [[CreatorKiller ITC's undoing]], as following the [[LaserGuidedKarma well-deserved and spectacular failure]] of the film it only survived while Sir Lew Grade was still alive). In 2013, [[Film/TheLoneRanger2013 a feature film]] rebooting the franchise failed with both critics and the box office.
** Disney chose not to renew their first-look contract with [[Creator/JerryBruckheimer Jerry Bruckheimer Studios]], who had up to that point produced films for Disney (including the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' and ''Film/NationalTreasure'' series) for 20 years, not long after the massive box-office failure of the aforementioned ''The Lone Ranger'' reboot (following a series of other flops from the production company). [[WordOfGod Disney head Alan Horn]] however claims the partnership break-up had to do more with CreativeDifferences over the films the executives wanted and the films Bruckheimer wanted to produce.
* Disney produced a film adaptation of P.L. Travers' ''Film/MaryPoppins'' in 1964. After she saw the film's premiere, Travers was upset with the Disney adaptation despite the critical acclaim and awards the film received. Thus, she asserted creative control over any future developments of the property, resulting in creative differences between her and Disney which stalled any new ''Mary Poppins'' projects until after her death in 1996 - the original film was adapted for Broadway the following decade, and sequel ''Film/MaryPoppinsReturns'' hit theaters in 2018.

* The colossal failure of [[Film/RaiseTheTitanic the big-budget adaptation]] of Creator/CliveCussler's ''Literature/RaiseTheTitanic'' in 1980, combined with Cussler's distaste for it, led him not to sell the rights to ''any'' of his other [[Literature/DirkPittAdventures Dirk Pitt novels]] (which producer Lew Grade had hoped to use as the basis for a franchise of his own) for over 20 years.

* Creator/AnthonyHorowitz had high hopes for a potential film franchise based on his ''Literature/AlexRider'' series. Unfortunately, the first film, ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'' (based on the first book of the series, of the same name), divided fans and critics and bombed at the box office. Horowitz revoked the film license from Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany after its failure, thus his dream of a film franchise was never realized, later opting instead to adapt the series for television.
* The critical and financial meltdown of the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' 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/PokemonTheSeries Pokemon]]'' movies, but only because those are directly based off the anime, which itself is based off the [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} video game franchise]][[/note]]. They made exceptions for some of their games and characters appearing in movies as cameos: Bowser and a Super Mushroom appear in ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', and Mario, Donkey Kong, and the dog from ''VideoGame/DuckHunt'' respectively appear in ''Film/{{Pixels}}''. It would not be until 25 years later before both [[Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu an American movie based on a Nintendo game was made]] and the announcement that Creator/{{Universal}}'s Creator/IlluminationEntertainment acquired the ''Super Mario'' movie rights and are doing [[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie an animated movie]] that completely disregards the 1993 film, set to be released in 2023.
* Despite its [[VindicatedByCable later acclaim]], the box office failure of ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'', along with CreatorBacklash, led to Creator/RoaldDahl actually stating ''in his will'' that a film based off ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator'' could never be made.
* The ''Film/BillyJack'' series of independent action films was never popular with critics but [[CriticalDissonance found an enormous audience among the '70s counterculture]]... at least, until ''Billy Jack Goes to Washington'' in 1977, a two-and-a-half-hour, hippie-era remake of ''Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington'' which was deemed so bad that it couldn't get a wide theatrical release, even though series creator Tom Laughlin had pioneered this release strategy with the prior films. It was also a CreatorKiller for Laughlin, who spent the rest of his life trying to get a fifth ''Billy Jack'' film out of DevelopmentHell. (He came closest in 1985 with the TroubledProduction of ''The Return of Billy Jack'', which was never finished.)
* The ''Film/{{Airport}}'' franchise was finished off by the one-two punch of ''The Concorde: Airport '79'' (titled as ''Airport '80: The Concorde'' in some territories), which was seen as little more than self-parody and is widely considered to be the weakest entry in the franchise, and the highly successful disaster parody ''Film/{{Airplane}}'', the latter which also [[GenreKiller took down the disaster genre for some time]].
* ''Film/TheNutcrackerIn3D'' fared poorly enough at the box office that the very property became box office poison to the point where even several years later, Disney's [[Film/TheNutcrackerAndTheFourRealms vastly superior adaptation]] also bombed.

* 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. This turned out to be the first in a series of questionable casting decisions, particularly an expansion of Creator/LucasGrabeel'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.
* ''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. Afterwards, ''Shaft'' was shoved over to Creator/{{CBS}}' [[MadeForTVMovie Tuesday Night Movies block]], where low ratings meant that it only lasted a single season. 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.

* ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' was a brief Franchise Killer for the ''X-Men'' movies, since it was intended to take the franchise in a different direction following the original trilogy (as the title indicates, the plan was for a series of OriginStory movies for key characters of the franchise; ''X-Men Origins: ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'' would have been the next installment), but the terrible reaction to it killed these plans and a different (and much more successful) direction was chosen in the semi-reboot ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' (which itself was partially an adaptation of the proposed Magneto-led movie). It also killed off a potential ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' film, until a 5-minute test reel with a CGI Deadpool (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) was leaked online in September 2014 to a ''very'' positive response, leading Fox to put [[Film/{{Deadpool2016}} the movie back in development]], which was released to great reviews and the film (somehow) becoming Fox's highest-ever grossing Marvel adaptation. The film was so reviled that it, along with ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', were both rendered CanonDiscontinuity via CosmicRetcon in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. The Deadpool movie is a reboot that completely ignores ''Wolverine'', except for a brief TakeThat.

* 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/Ultraviolet2006'' 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/Daredevil2015 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]].
* 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. And when ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' [[spoiler:had a cameo from Reed Richards, it was telling that, unlike the various characters from ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' (see below), Creator/PatrickStewart as [[Film/XMenFilmSeries Professor X]], or even Creator/AnsonMount as [[Series/{{Inhumans}} Black Bolt]], none of the prior actors for Reed Richards were invited back to reprise the role, instead casting Creator/JohnKrasinski as a variant who had never been seen before in any other media.]]

* The ''Film/BladeTrilogy'' series died off when ''Film/BladeTrinity'' underperformed and received poor reactions 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 ensured that the series will never continue. New Line did attempt to continue on television with the short-lived ''[[Series/{{Blade}} Blade: The Series]]'', but the film rights have since reverted back to Marvel, who later announced a ContinuityReboot with Mahershala Ali as the title character.

* Though there was one more entry after it, 2009's ''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 2011's ''Film/FinalDestination5''. While that film managed to [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel earn the franchise's best reviews]] and and the approval of fans, it only really made money internationally, with the domestic gross barely making back its budget and driving the final nails into the series' coffin. Creator/TonyTodd, who played the CreepyMortician Bludworth in three of the films, [[https://bloody-disgusting.com/interviews/3540245/tony-todd-thinks-therell-never-final-destination-6-heres-exclusive/ stated]] that he didn't expect to ever see a reboot or a sixth film enter production, as the [[MoneyMakingShot massive set-piece disasters]] that open each film require considerably bigger budgets than most horror films and therefore bring in smaller profits. That said, ''Final Destination 6'' was [[https://screenrant.com/final-destination-6-updates-trailer-cast-release-date/ finally announced]] in 2023, twelve years after the fifth film's release.

* 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 three of 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)

* 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 (though he would ultimately reprise the role again in video game projects) and a planned sequel to the 2013 film languishing in DevelopmentHell, the franchise seemingly returned to dormancy until 2020, when a fifth movie titled ''Evil Dead Rise'', serving as another SoftReboot, officially entered production with a release date set for 2022.

* The ''Franchise/ChildsPlay'' series went dormant for seven years after [[Film/ChildsPlay3 the third film]] in 1991 met diminishing returns, the killer Chucky having lost his edge and the film losing the mix of BlackComedy and frights that characterized the first two films; even series creator Don Mancini [[OldShame sees this as the worst film in the franchise]]. ''Film/BrideOfChucky'' in 1998 successfully brought the franchise into the age of PostModernism, fully embracing Chucky's cheekier image and becoming a successful horror-comedy, but the 2004 followup ''Film/SeedOfChucky'' was criticized for leaning too hard on the comedy (most notably with the infamous doll sex scene), its middling box-office returns and negative reaction putting the killer doll in storage for several years. Old Chuck finally got back into the swing of things with a pair of well-received DirectToVideo releases, 2015's ''Film/CurseOfChucky'' and 2017's ''Film/CultOfChucky'', while MGM (who owns the rights and concept to the original ''Child's Play'' film) greenlit a theatrical ContinuityReboot, [[Film/ChildsPlay2019 released in 2019]].

* The critical (but not financial, as it was the second-biggest moneymaker in the series next to ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'') failure of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' resulted in Creator/{{Dreamworks}} abandoning their planned fifth film ''Shrek Pleads the Fifth'', and instead making the fourth installment, ''Shrek Goes Fourth'', the final entry of the film franchise. ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'', as the film was renamed, was followed by a [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel Surprisingly Improved Spinoff]], ''WesternAnimation/PussInBoots'', which was successful enough to spawn a SequelSeries, but not enough to revive the Shrek franchise proper. After Creator/DreamWorksAnimation was acquired by [=NBCUniversal=], NBCU head Steve Burke expressed interest in [[http://deadline.com/2016/06/steve-burke-nbcuniversal-revive-shrek-sales-dreamworks-animation-deal-1201772640/ reviving the franchise following the completion of the deal]]. Two years later, it was announced that the fifth film had been scrapped and that the franchise would be rebooted via a [[ContinuityReboot re-imagining]] by Creator/IlluminationEntertainment head Chris Meledandri.

* The ''Film/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' film series from 20th Century Fox started off with the first film getting mixed reviews but performing well at the box office. The second film, based on the second book in the series, ''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 ''Dog Days'' didn't do well enough to keep Fox from scrapping a fourth film, a fact Zachary Gordon (who played series protagonist Greg Heffley in the original trilogy) later announced. Of course, the fact the child cast was growing up so fast meant ''Dog Days'' would need to be the last with those actors, as the characters are NotAllowedToGrowUp (to the point Fox rushed the film into production). Series author Jeff Kinney tried to pitch the sixth book, ''Cabin Fever'', as an animated television special instead of a movie, but it was scrapped and Fox instead went ahead and started production on an adaptation of the ninth book, ''The Long Haul'', which despite not being a reboot had the entire cast replaced. ''The Long Haul'' received worse reviews and made less money than the previous films, resulting in future movies getting shelved. The books, on the other hand, are still going strong to this day.

* 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 seventh film, albeit as a direct-to-streaming film on Creator/ParamountPlus.

* ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' killed off the live-action Creator/DrSeuss movie franchise that had started with ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', not so much because of its box-office receipts (which were not as bad as the scathing critical reviews, though still remarkably low) but because Theodore Geisel's widow Audrey was disgusted enough by its overly raunchy humor to deny any further live-action adaptations for the rest of her life. Plans were laid out for a sequel based on ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat Comes Back'' but never materialized as a direct result of the sanction from Mrs. Geisel. Later Dr. Seuss movies starting with ''WesternAnimation/HortonHearsAWho'' have been made purely with CGI.[[note]]In addition to killing off the live-action Dr. Seuss movie franchise, it also prevented ''any'' Dr. Seuss film from being made until ''Horton Hears A Who!'' (''The Cat in the Hat'' was made in 2003, whereas ''Horton'' was made in 2008, a good five-year gap between the films)[[/note]] Amazingly, Dr. Seuss would continue to be made by Universal for years afterwards, with the sole exception of ''Horton'', which went through Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, before the Geisel estate finally cut ties with Universal before ''[[WesternAnimation/TheGrinch2018 The Grinch]]'' came out and moved to Creator/WarnerBros for all future films.

* ''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 failure of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'' killed off any chance of a sequel, and also prevented the making of movies based on other Disney Afternoon series such as ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' and ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers''. However, the latter franchise would receive [[Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022 its own live-action film]] 32 years later.

* 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|2023}}''.

* 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/Ultraviolet2006'' 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]].

* While the first ''Film/GhostRider'' film did well on its initial release, it was viewed by the filmmakers (as well as by star Creator/NicolasCage) as being too corny to pass as a real ''Ghost Rider'' film. In the wake of films like ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the studio felt that people were finally willing to accept a more gritty take on the character, and green-lit ''Film/GhostRiderSpiritOfVengeance''. The film did poorly at the box office and received terrible reviews, with Cage later admitting that they'd dropped the ball a second time in regards to the film series. A year later, Sony gave the film rights back to Marvel Studios, who stated that they had no immediate plans to feature the character [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse in their films]], though a version of the character appeared in the fourth season of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' and was very well-received.

* The ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' franchise managed to defy [[CriticalDissonance scathing critical reviews with commercial success]] until ''Police Academy 6: City Under Siege''--the first film in the series to not claim the top spot in its opening weekend and underperform at the box office. Considering that up to that point, Warner Bros. had churned out a ''Police Academy'' film [[FranchiseZombie for six consecutive years]], it's not too surprising franchise fatigue had finally kicked in. It took Warner Bros. five years until they tried again with ''Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow'', a revival attempt with barely any of the original cast from the previous films. Released [[DumpMonths just before Labor Day weekend in 1994]] [[ScrewedByTheNetwork in a very limited theatrical run]], it managed a staggering gross of ''barely over $100,000''. While the series had been slowly withering since Steve Guttenberg left after the fourth film, this was not even a tenth of what ''City Under Seige'' had managed to pull in. By then, film critics who used to curse the films' success had completely forgotten it even existed. A relaunch has since then languished in DevelopmentHell.

** The last film in the Heisei Era of the ''Gamera'' series, ''Film/GameraTheBrave'', was intended to reboot the franchise with a LighterAndSofter tone. It got decent reviews, but was a box office bomb, killing off the prospect of any potential sequels and, as of writing, has so far put to rest the long-running film franchise, with only a proof-of-concept short film having been released since then.

** The last film in the Heisei Era of the ''Gamera'' series, ''Film/GameraTheBrave'', was intended to reboot the franchise with a LighterAndSofter tone. It got decent reviews, but was a box office bomb, killing off the prospect of any potential sequels and, as of writing, has so far put to rest the long-running film franchise, with only a proof-of-concept short film having been released since then, though rumors about a reboot in the style of Legendary Studios’ Franchise/MonsterVerse are swirling.

** The last film in the Heisei Era of the ''Gamera'' series, ''Film/GameraTheBrave'', was intended to reboot the franchise with a LighterAndSofter tone. It got decent reviews, but was a box office bomb, killing off the prospect of any potential sequels and, as of writing, has so far put to rest the long-running film franchise, with only a proof-of-concept short film having been released since then.