History Sandbox / FranchiseKillerFilmCleanup

* 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 [[Series/AlexRider adapt the series for television]]. '''One movie, StillbornFranchise'''

[[folder:Not an Example]]

*** This last bit has now been {{Subverted}} with the announcement that Patrick Stewart will be returning to the role of Jean-Luc Picard in a new series set roughly two decades after ''Nemesis''. Said series, ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', managed to revive that era of the franchise successfully, not only for ''The Next Generation'', but also ''Voyager'' (due to a prominent role from ''Voyager'' character Seven of Nine). '''Trivia can't be played with'''
[[/folder]]

** This was barely averted when the poor reception of the second film, ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2FreddysRevenge Freddy's Revenge]]'' in 1985, almost [[http://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3439820/new-line-nearly-pulled-plug-nightmare-elm-street-sequel-exclusive/ killed the series before it could ever take off]]. It was only a pitch by Chuck Russell, in which he envisioned embracing the supernatural dream-demon nature of Freddy Krueger's powers to go wild with the dream sequences, that convinced Creator/NewLineCinema to make a third film. That film, ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors Dream Warriors]]'' in 1987, turned the series into a blockbuster franchise. '''"Averted" Trivia can't be played with'''

!! Not an Exmaple

*** This last bit has now been {{Subverted}} with the announcement that Patrick Stewart will be returning to the role of Jean-Luc Picard in a new series set roughly two decades after ''Nemesis''. Said series, ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', managed to revive that era of the franchise successfully, not only for ''The Next Generation'', but also ''Voyager'' (due to a prominent role from ''Voyager'' character Seven of Nine). '''Trivia can't be played with'''

[[folder:Superhero franchises -- Other]]

* Unlike their ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' counterparts, the ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' movie franchise died out with ''Film/TurboAPowerRangersMovie''. While there had been talks of trying to make movies during the Disney era, it would take 15 years for any sort of movie to appear with ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai''[='=]s "Clash of the Red Rangers" (and even that was just a TV special with a "movie event" label slapped onto it) and five more years after that for a [[Film/PowerRangers2017 a proper theatrical film]], which ended up being a ContinuityReboot. Said film underperformed critically and financially, with Creator/{{Hasbro}} intending to reboot the series again since purchasing the rights.
* To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of ''Series/MetalHeroes'', Toei made the crossover movie ''Film/KaizokuSentaiGokaigerVsSpaceSheriffGavanTheMovie'', bringing back the first installment ''Series/SpaceSheriffGavan'' (it was mostly due to the fact that ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' had already done its usual ''Super Sentai'' crossover movie [[Film/GokaigerGoseigerSuperSentai199HeroGreatBattle much earlier]].) Interest piqued and Toei made a sequel movie ''Film/SpaceSheriffGavanTheMovie''... and it bombed. The Space Sheriffs' appearance in ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiXSpaceSheriffSuperHeroTaisenZ'' and a pair of Space Sheriff DirectToVideo movies were mostly done just to fill out the lead actors' contract.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Television series-based films]]
* 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 misfortune 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 recast 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.
* The Creator/JayWard LiveActionAdaptation series of films was prematurely killed by the failures of both ''Film/DudleyDoRight'' and ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle''. After both films bombed, Universal gave up the Jay Ward film license and canned a proposed live-action adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/MrPeabodyAndSherman''.
* Although the popularity of WesternAnimation/MrMagoo had been in decline since the 1970s, 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 1990s, 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.
* A [[LiveActionAdaptation live-action]] ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' film was released in 2002 (notably the last project that [[Creator/HannaBarbera William Hanna]] ever worked on before his death the previous year). Despite negative reviews, it was a success at the box office and seemed destined to spawn a franchise. Then came 2004's ''Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed'', which received even worse reviews, won a UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Remake or Sequel, and under-performed the first film. As a result, Creator/WarnerBrothers cancelled plans for ''Scooby-Doo 3'' and ended the theatrical live-action films; although they did produce two tangentially-related [[Film/ScoobyDooTheMysteryBegins prequel]] [[Film/ScoobyDooCurseOfTheLakeMonster films]] at the end of the decade, plus one [[Film/DaphneAndVelma spinoff]]. Eventually, Warner Animation Group opted to do an animated ContinuityReboot in ''WesternAnimation/{{Scoob}}'', which was released in 2020, but even that was destined to fail as it was released during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and was criticized for replacing nearly all of the series' regular voice cast except for Creator/FrankWelker as Scooby himself (despite Frank being replaced as Fred in favor of Creator/ZacEfron).[[note]]The film's theatrical release mainly happened overseas, with video on demand and Creator/HBOMax mainly handling the film in America, and the majority of its profits were earned through this to make it a financial success anyway. While technically being a crossover with other ''Hanna-Barbera'' properties, mainly featuring Blue Falcon and Dynomutt from ''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder'', Captain Caveman and Dee Dee Skyes from ''WesternAnimation/CaptainCavemanAndTheTeenAngels'', and Dick Dastardly and Muttley from ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' in starring roles, the film had a better score on Rotten Tomatoes (48% versus the 30% and 22% of the previous two films) compared to the prior theatrically released ''Scooby-Doo'' films, plus being beloved by fans as a love letter to ''Hanna-Barbera''.[[/note]]
* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the feature-film continuation of the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' television series, drastically underperformed in the theaters, much like ''Firefly'' itself. Interestingly, ''Serenity'' was only green-lit due to the impressive sales of ''Firefly'' [=DVDs=], and ''Serenity'''s failure killed the idea that DVD sales can be used to extrapolate a fanbase's ability to support a motion picture.
* The negative reception and domestic box-office underperformance of ''Film/SexAndTheCity 2'' killed off that franchise, as Creator/SarahJessicaParker and Kim Cattrall seem decidedly less interested in making a third film than their costars. Parker and Cattrall's [[HostilityOnTheSet long-simmering (and long-rumored) hatred for one another]] spilling out into the public in 2018 finished off any hope of a new film being made, though a revival of the series on Creator/HBOMax, ''Series/AndJustLikeThat'', was later made - without Cattrall to solve the lingering issue.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has had several run-ins with this, with many of them affecting not just the films, but the entire franchise as a whole. To wit:
** For Creator/{{Paramount}}, ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' was very nearly this. Cast and crew all believed that the sequel, ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' would be the final film in the franchise, and the last ''Franchise/StarTrek'' production ever. It was this, and not (contrary to popular belief) any [[IAmNotSpock antipathy Leonard Nimoy may have had in playing Spock]] that spurred Spock's death at the end of the film. But then ''Star Trek II'' turned out to be an unexpected smash hit, and ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' was promptly green-lit to capitalize.
** The major critical and box office disappointment for ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' almost killed the franchise as a whole, as Paramount, in response to the poor financial 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 the new head of Paramount was a friend of Creator/NicholasMeyer who owed him a personal favor, which Meyer immediately called in, with 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}}:
--->"A Generation's Final Journey Begins".
*** In a broader sense, ''Nemesis'' is also seen as being part of the decline of the ''Star Trek'' franchise. The TV show, ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'' hadn't been too popular when its first season aired, and the box office failure is reportedly why executives decided to limit it to only four seasons. Even some cast members including Patrick Stewart felt that ''Nemesis'' suffered from a fair bit of franchise fatigue. While ''Star Trek'' returned to the silver screen with the 2009 reboot, it did so by returning to the twenty-third-century era depicted in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. On television, ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' (unrelated to the film series) continued that trend, being set a decade before Kirk's Enterprise. So ''Nemesis'' had, it seems, permanently killed off the possibility of any more films and TV shows set during the twenty-fourth-century era depicted in ''The Next Generation'', ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', and ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]''.
*** This last bit has now been {{Subverted}} with the announcement that Patrick Stewart will be returning to the role of Jean-Luc Picard in a new series set roughly two decades after ''Nemesis''. Said series, ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', managed to revive that era of the franchise successfully, not only for ''The Next Generation'', but also ''Voyager'' (due to a prominent role from ''Voyager'' character Seven of Nine).
** ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'' in 2016 would become this for the rebooted Kelvin timeline that started in 2009. Although the film was well-received by fans and critics, it bombed compared to the huge budget, and Paramount's attempt to reduce costs made stars Creator/ChrisPine and Creator/ChrisHemsworth drop out of a possible fourth film since they were unwilling to settle for reduced salaries. It seemed only an unrelated movie with Creator/QuentinTarantino of all people directing was in the works... until in November 2019, the fourth film [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-trek-fargo-creator-noah-hawley-direct-next-film-1256352 resumed development]] with Creator/NoahHawley taking over as director and writer, meaning that the Kelvin timeline is far from over - only [[DevelopmentHell struggling to get into production]] (a fate which Tarantino's film also got).
* After the ''Series/TwinPeaks'' TV series ended, the movie, ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'', was made, with the intention of leading into a trilogy of films and then maybe starting up the show again once Creator/DavidLynch had consolidated his control, freeing the show from the ExecutiveMeddling that had caused the cancellation in the first place. The movie was both a critical and financial flop, as audiences were caught off-guard by its MindScrew nature and unexpectedly dark tone, and there has been no ''Twin Peaks'' since. A sequel series finally got released in 2017 on Showtime, after ''25 years'' of floundering.
* ''Film/TheXFilesIWantToBelieve'' came 6 years after the show ended and 10 years after [[Film/TheXFilesFightTheFuture the previous movie]], and instead of resolving or even referencing the series' MythArc, it presented a MonsterOfTheWeek story involving a PedophilePriest that fans and critics found to be in very poor taste. Its box-office failure ended plans for a third movie to answer any questions, although a six-episode revival of the series aired in 2016 and another miniseries followed later.
[[/folder]]

* 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 Kara Zor-El version of the character getting killed off in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. She would not make any appearances outside the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse until ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. Fortunately, said 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 the upcoming ''Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow'' film in the DC Universe. '''One movie = StillbornFranchise, duplicated entry (Superman already covers this)'''

[[folder:Superhero franchises -- DC Comics]]

* Superman on film has seen both the boom and bust cycle of film, in multiple ways.
** The original series, overseen by producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind, began successfully with 1978's ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'', which became a commercial powerhouse and cultural touchstone thanks to its tagline "You'll believe a man can fly", a rather bold claim to make in the era before CGI. 1980's ''Film/SupermanII'' had a great deal of production troubles due to a fight between the Salkinds and original director Richard Donner, but still produced a solid follow-up that was at least as well-received as the original. Unfortunately, the blow-up behind the scenes of ''Superman II'' had repercussions for the next entry, 1983's ''Film/SupermanIII''. The Salkinds had brought in comedy director Richard Lester to finish ''Superman II'', and he notably added a number of slapstick scenes to the script. Handing him an entire ''movie'' led to a Superman film that was mostly seen as a dull joke. On top of that, the Salkinds had burned bridges with Margot Kidder ''and'' Gene Hackman in the process of making the last film. The resulting threequel ended up being more of a vehicle for comedian Creator/RichardPryor, and saw poor returns at the box office. A year later, the Salkinds' spin-off ''Film/{{Supergirl}}'' failed to light up the box office. While neither project completely killed this iteration of the Superman film series, the lower grosses and bad receptions to them led to the Salkinds' selling off the franchise to Creator/TheCannonGroup...
** ...which brings us to 1987's ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace''. Warner Bros. dramatically lower the budget on offer to make the fourth Superman film, and farming out this once top-tier blockbuster to a budget action film house like Cannon seemed the best way to solve the problem with decreasing box office returns. Until Cannon embezzled a significant portion of the money used to ''make'' the movie on their other projects, pushing their company into financial disaster and leading to the budget being ''half'' of that of the previous films. The resulting project was at best SoBadItsGood to film buffs, but a disaster at the box office that made the series look like it had run out of ideas. The non-existent budget resulted in the visual effects being somehow even ''more'' bare-bones than the first film, which came out in 1978. Everyone involved in ''Superman IV'', including Christopher Reeve, knew it would be a disaster before it was even released. After Warner Bros. killed the series, it spent the entirety of the next decade trying to figure out how to make another film...
** For almost twenty years, no new Superman films appeared in theaters, seeming dead to film audiences. The franchise wasn't exactly dormant behind the scenes, but production issues in the background at Warner Bros. led to a legendary failed attempt to bring the then-recent storyline "The Death and Return of Superman" to the big screen, known as "Superman Lives". Failing to get this film made basically wasted an entire ''decade''. By the time Superman did return to cinemas, instead of a full reboot, Warner Bros. hedged their bets with ''Film/SupermanReturns'' as a sequel to ''Superman II'', [[CanonDiscontinuity ignoring the continuity]] of ''Superman III'' and ''IV'' while also serving as a soft reboot. ''Superman Returns'' was decent (even taking into account the BrokenBase and it being a SamePlotSequel with a story evocative of ''Film/SupermanTheMovie''), but heavily underperformed at the box office (only scraping together $391 million after costing at least $223 million to make)... which meant the franchise managed to launch ''two'' Franchise Killers in a row. Superman went quiet again and this iteration died just one movie in. The version of Superman in the film was able to get another second chance when he appeared in the Franchise/{{Arrowverse}} crossover ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'' (which was likely thanks to ''Superman Returns'' star Creator/BrandonRouth being in [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow one]] of that universe's series).
** The series only ''finally'' started producing success (at least financially) with 2013's ''Film/ManOfSteel''. While it never spawned a direct sequel in the traditional sense (in that ''Man of Steel 2'' never happened), ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' is considered its direct sequel, and it ''did'' kickstart the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse that heavily ''features'' Superman and is sort of still going today.
* 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 Kara Zor-El version of the character getting killed off in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. She would not make any appearances outside the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse until ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. Fortunately, said 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 the upcoming ''Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow'' film in the DC Universe.

[[folder:Superhero franchises -- Marvel Comics]]
* 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/BladeTheSeries'', but the film rights have since reverted back to Marvel, who later announced a ContinuityReboot with Mahershala Ali as the title character.
* ''Film/Daredevil2003'' wasn't ''quite'' bad enough to kill ''Daredevil 2''. ''Film/{{Elektra}}'', on the other hand, was. That film and ''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/FantasticFourDuology'' films from Twentieth 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.]]
* While ''Film/GhostRider2007'' 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.
* Following the critical savaging and box office failure of ''Film/PunisherWarZone'', Creator/{{Lionsgate}} gave up on the ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisher Punisher]]'' film series and let the rights go back to Marvel Studios. It was later announced that the character would be incorporated into the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse via the second season of the ''Daredevil'' TV series, but not as a movie. However, this version of Frank Castle was so well received by fans that Netflix ordered [[Series/ThePunisher2017 a Punisher TV series]] that was aired in 2017.
* 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]]. ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', set in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, would give the universe a second chance when a magic spell gone wrong brings in Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and [[spoiler:[[Creator/TobeyMaguire Spider-Man]]]].
* 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 this Spider-Man film franchise too when the magic spell brings Lizard, Electro, and [[spoiler:[[Creator/AndrewGarfield Spider-Man]]]] into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
* ''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 [[OriginsEpisode origin story 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 franchise would ultimately meet its end with ''Film/DarkPhoenix'', which suffered a [[TroubledProduction headache of a production]] and got mockery from audiences long before its release in the aftermath of Fox ultimately getting acquired by Marvel parent Disney, as everyone knew the franchise would be done at some point to prepare for the characters' integration into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Indeed, the film was opened to largely negative reception (even ''worse'' than ''Origins Wolverine'') and opened to an abysmal $33 million domestically and ended up only making $252 million worldwide against a combined production and advertising budget of $350 million, the lowest-grossing ''X-Men'' film in history. With Disney ending up with a $133 million loss on the film, the biggest such loss of 2019, it's safe to say any thought of the franchise continuing in some way as is is now out of the question, and the property will spend at least 5 years on hiatus due to the tightly-knit nature of the MCU. An intended spin-off film, ''Film/TheNewMutants'', instead ended up being the last in the series, though that only ended up being the case because of the film [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment being delayed at least four times over two years]] (due to the Disney-Fox merger, planned reshoots that never materialized due to conflicting schedules and ultimately the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic - and given it only fulfilled its theatrical obligations as most screens were shut down by the pandemic, the box office returns were ''even worse'' than ''Dark Phoenix'').
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Superhero franchises -- Other]]
* ''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 to Nickelodeon in 2009, 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, ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMutantMayhem'', was released on August 2nd, 2023.
* Unlike their ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' counterparts, the ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' movie franchise died out with ''Film/TurboAPowerRangersMovie''. While there had been talks of trying to make movies during the Disney era, it would take 15 years for any sort of movie to appear with ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai''[='=]s "Clash of the Red Rangers" (and even that was just a TV special with a "movie event" label slapped onto it) and five more years after that for a [[Film/PowerRangers2017 a proper theatrical film]], which ended up being a ContinuityReboot. Said film underperformed critically and financially, with Creator/{{Hasbro}} intending to reboot the series again since purchasing the rights.
* To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of ''Series/MetalHeroes'', Toei made the crossover movie ''Film/KaizokuSentaiGokaigerVsSpaceSheriffGavanTheMovie'', bringing back the first installment ''Series/SpaceSheriffGavan'' (it was mostly due to the fact that ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' had already done its usual ''Super Sentai'' crossover movie [[Film/GokaigerGoseigerSuperSentai199HeroGreatBattle much earlier]].) Interest piqued and Toei made a sequel movie ''Film/SpaceSheriffGavanTheMovie''... and it bombed. The Space Sheriffs' appearance in ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiXSpaceSheriffSuperHeroTaisenZ'' and a pair of Space Sheriff DirectToVideo movies were mostly done just to fill out the lead actors' contract.
[[/folder]]

* ''Film/BarbWire'' was savaged by critics and fans of the [[ComicBook/BarbWire original comic]] and flopped at the box office, resulting in Dark Horse yanking the film license and refusing to allow any more ''Barb Wire'' movies. '''One movie, StillbornFranchise'''

* Joel Schumacher's ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' was so awful (lead actor Creator/GeorgeClooney even ''said'' "I think we killed the franchise") that it convinced Creator/WarnerBros to let the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' fields lie fallow for a while, then let [[Creator/ChristopherNolan someone else]] [[Film/BatmanBegins take a crack at the series]]. Some Marvel Studios higher-up is on record for saying that ''Batman & Robin'' was the most influential comic book movie, on account of it definitively showing studios that they can't shovel out crap comic adaptations and expect people to see them. Schumacher continued to catch heat for his direction of the film for the rest of his life, with the film following him to his grave in 2020--the punchline everyone thinks of when they remember his (otherwise excellent) career. It seems that, in the case of ''Batman Forever'' and ''B&R'', [[MisBlamed Schumacher was likely just a hired hand]] -- a technician who labored under the studio's close guidance. Basically, they wanted a more marketable Batman, and he became so cynical about the project that he announced each take with, "Okay everyone, remember: we're making [[MerchandiseDriven a toy commercial]]" through a megaphone.
* ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' was supposed to launch the Creator/DCComics equivalent of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and eventually lead to a Justice League film. But it 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''. ''Green Lantern'''s failure also bled across onto both of the premier WesternAnimation/DCNation shows, getting ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' cancelled and leading Creator/{{Mattel}} to pull their funding for ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' (which only managed to get UnCancelled years later). Another Green Lantern was eventually put on the film slate for the ''DCEU'', but it has yet to leave 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 it'll have a quality script and director.

* 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 [[Series/AlexRider adapt the series for television]]. '''StillbornFranchise'''

[[folder:Superhero franchises -- Dark Horse Comics]]
* The first ''ComicBook/SinCity'' film is a lauded action flick faithful to its source material, especially considering creator Creator/FrankMiller co-directed the film with Creator/RobertRodriguez. The second movie, ''A Dame to Kill For'', however, was criticized for the nine-year-long release gap between films and its outdated special effects and garnered controversy for its teaser poster [[SexSells featuring a half-nude Eva Green portraying Ava Lord]]. Consequently, bad word-of-mouth resulted in audiences staying away and the film flopping instantly on its opening weekend. This turn of events may put the ''Sin City'' franchise on hold yet again, or perhaps result in a ContinuityReboot.
* ''Film/BarbWire'' was savaged by critics and fans of the [[ComicBook/BarbWire original comic]] and flopped at the box office, resulting in Dark Horse yanking the film license and refusing to allow any more ''Barb Wire'' movies.
[[/folder]]

* 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 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. '''They are the highest and second highest grossing in the series. This is false'''

** Much like its rival ''Friday the 13th'' series, several revival attempts were made later on to revive the series, only for them to frequently peter out. 1994 brought ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'', a stand-alone {{spinoff}} that New Line produced because they liked the script and it could be produced cheaply. It was very well-received by critics and fans, and is [[VindicatedByHistory now regarded]] as one of the best films in the series from a pure horror standpoint, [[AcclaimedFlop but it did even worse than at the box office]]. 2003 brought ''Film/FreddyVsJason'', described above in the section on ''Franchise/FridayThe13th''. Finally, the [[Film/AnightmareOnElmStreet2010 2010 remake]] of the original film, despite being a box-office hit, was utterly ravaged by series fans and viewers, and almost strangled lead actress Creator/RooneyMara's career in its cradle (before Creator/DavidFincher [[Film/TheSocialNetwork swooped in]] [[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy and saved it]]). '''1994 is stand-alone AlternateContinuity, 2003 is one-off crossover and written as directing the reader to other entry, 2010 is StillbornFranchise'''

* After the flop of ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', Dark Horse Entertainment (the publisher of the original ''The Mask'' comics) didn't make or release ''[[CreatorBacklash anything]]'' related to ''The Mask'' series until ''Itty Bitty Mask''--a comic book that was released ''nine years'' after ''Son of The Mask''.

* 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]]. '''If it's a false report, why is it here?'''

* 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 [[Series/AlexRider adapt the series for television]]. '''Not a franchise or StillbornFranchise'''

* ''Film/TheNutcrackerIn3D'' fared poorly enough at the box office that [[Theatre/TheNutcracker the very property]] became box office poison, to the point where even several years later, Disney's [[Film/TheNutcrackerAndTheFourRealms vastly superior adaptation]] also bombed. '''Unrelated movies, cancelled after one movie = StillbornFranchise'''

* ''Film/TheNutcrackerIn3D'' fared poorly enough at the box office that [[Theatre/TheNutcracker the very property]] became box office poison, to the point where even several years later, Disney's [[Film/TheNutcrackerAndTheFourRealms vastly superior adaptation]] also bombed. '''Cancelled after one movie = StillbornFranchise'''

[[folder:Horror franchises]]


* ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'':
** This was barely averted when the poor reception of the second film, ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2FreddysRevenge Freddy's Revenge]]'' in 1985, almost [[http://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3439820/new-line-nearly-pulled-plug-nightmare-elm-street-sequel-exclusive/ killed the series before it could ever take off]]. It was only a pitch by Chuck Russell, in which he envisioned embracing the supernatural dream-demon nature of Freddy Krueger's powers to go wild with the dream sequences, that convinced Creator/NewLineCinema to make a third film. That film, ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors Dream Warriors]]'' in 1987, turned the series into a blockbuster franchise.
** Said franchise eventually self-terminated with the combination of the fifth film, ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild The Dream Child]]'', in 1989 and ''Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare'' in 1991. The former film was poorly received by fans and was the lowest-grossing film in the franchise up to that point, causing New Line to pull the trigger with ''Freddy's Dead'', a film that, despite making a bit more money, is today regarded as the series' rock bottom.
** Much like its rival ''Friday the 13th'' series, several revival attempts were made later on to revive the series, only for them to frequently peter out. 1994 brought ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'', a stand-alone {{spinoff}} that New Line produced because they liked the script and it could be produced cheaply. It was very well-received by critics and fans, and is [[VindicatedByHistory now regarded]] as one of the best films in the series from a pure horror standpoint, [[AcclaimedFlop but it did even worse than at the box office]]. 2003 brought ''Film/FreddyVsJason'', described above in the section on ''Franchise/FridayThe13th''. Finally, the [[Film/AnightmareOnElmStreet2010 2010 remake]] of the original film, despite being a box-office hit, was utterly ravaged by series fans and viewers, and almost strangled lead actress Creator/RooneyMara's career in its cradle (before Creator/DavidFincher [[Film/TheSocialNetwork swooped in]] [[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy and saved it]]).
* Even if 2015's ''Film/ParanormalActivity: The Ghost Dimension'' 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. It wasn't until 2021 that the series was revived with a new film exclusive to Creator/ParamountPlus, ''Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin'', and that film turned out to be a stillborn revival that caused the series' longtime producer Jason Blum to [[https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/jason-blum-blumhouse-batgirl-paranormal-activity-1235335233/ call it "terrible"]] and state that the franchise was likely dead for the time being.
* Koji Suzuki's novel ''[[Literature/TheRing Ring]]'' was successfully adapted to film in Japan in 1998 (as ''Ringu'') and in the US in 2002 (as ''The Ring''), with both films receiving sequels. The Japanese franchise was killed by ''Ring 0: Birthday'', a prequel released in 2000 that many dismissed as a poor man's version of ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'', while the American franchise was killed by ''Film/TheRingTwo'' in 2005, which, despite boasting the involvement of ''Ringu'' director Hideo Nakata, was ravaged by critics as an incomprehensible mess. Both franchises would lay dormant for twelve years before receiving sequels/quasi-reboots, the Japanese franchise with ''Sadako [=3D=]'' in 2012 and the American franchise with ''Film/{{Rings}}'' in 2017.
* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'': ''Film/SawVI'' was by no means a flop overall, and was widely considered by critics and fans of the series to be [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel a much better film]] than the previous two movies released before it. However, it was by far the lowest-grossing film in the series, especially at the domestic box office, where its intake of just $27.7 million was barely half that of the first and fifth films (the previous lowest-grossing entries in the series). When combined with the box office failure of similar films in the late 2000s and the blockbuster success of ''Film/ParanormalActivity'', the film that ''Saw VI'' [[DuelingWorks competed with]] that October (and which couldn't have been [[NothingIsScarier more different]] in terms of tone), Creator/{{Lionsgate}} saw the writing on the wall and pulled the plug after the next installment. While ''Film/Saw3D'' was a hit [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff internationally]] (with its box office intake outside North America setting a series record), it wasn't enough to save the franchise, not with its domestic box office performance being the second-worst in the series behind only ''Saw VI''. Whereas new ''Saw'' movies had come out annually before ''Saw 3D'', to the point where ads for later films credibly marketed it as a Halloween tradition, it would be [[SequelGap seven years after that]] before the franchise got a [[Film/{{Jigsaw}} new installment]], and it took another four years to get [[Film/Spiral2021 yet another film]].
* ''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 wasn't until 2022 that a fifth installment (simply named ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'') was released. Fortunately, it was more successful.
* The 2006 [[Film/SilentHill film adaptation]] of the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' games was surprisingly well-received (at least [[CriticalDissonance by fans and moviegoers]]), especially by [[VideoGameMoviesSuck the standards of video game adaptations]], and made some money at the box office. As such, in 2012 they released a sequel, ''Film/SilentHillRevelation3D'', which was based on the [[VideoGame/SilentHill3 third game]] in the series (a direct sequel to [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 the first]]). Since AdaptationDecay had been a common complaint from series fans about the first film, this one attempted to be [[TruerToTheText more faithful to the source material]], but in doing so, it [[SeriesContinuityError mangled its predecessor's lore and storyline]] in a manner that infuriated fans of both the games and the movie. The rest wasn't much better, the budget having been cut by more than half compared to the original and most of the film being a parade of {{jump scare}}s. While it was a modest box-office hit (albeit mostly [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff overseas]]), its scathing reception from both critics and fans ensured that no new ''Silent Hill'' movies would be made for another decade. What's more, despite ''Revelation'' ending on multiple clear {{Sequel Hook}}s, the subsequent film, titled ''Return to Silent Hill'', is set to follow through on none of them and will instead adapt ''VideoGame/SilentHill2''.
* ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre'' franchise suffered from one in ''Film/TexasChainsawMassacreTheNextGeneration''. Not only did this film claim that the Sawyer family (here inexplicably renamed the "Slaughter" family) were government agents set up to horrify teens for reasons never elaborated upon, but also had a wholly annoying and unlikeable lead for the family who is ultimately killed after being hit by a low-flying plane, again for no reason. The series has undergone several reboots since then, most of which stick true to the original film.
* The ''Film/{{VHS}}'' franchise of [[FoundFootageFilms found-footage]] horror {{anthology film}}s was derailed for seven years when the third film, 2014's ''Film/VHSViral'', was roasted by critics and fans alike for a nonsensical [[LiteralMetaphor "viral video"]] wraparound that [[ArtifactTitle abandoned the theme of the past two films]] (people discover old VHS tapes containing horrifying scenes), and the actual anthology segments not being much better. After three years of annual installments, it took until 2021 for the next film, ''[[Film/VHS94 V/H/S/94]]'', to get made, and that film was a full ContinuityReboot of the franchise. That said, the "Amateur Night" segment from the first film was later adapted in 2016 by its creators into the standalone, feature-length ''Film/{{Siren|2016}}'', which was fairly well-received.
[[/folder]]

* 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.

* With the exception of a few direct-to-video films, ''Film/{{The Mummy|Trilogy}}'' franchise laid dormant through most of the 2000s. That changed in 2008 with the release of ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'', an attempt at reviving the franchise with a new director and a mostly new cast. Although there were plans in place to continue the film series well beyond that movie, ''Dragon Emperor'' killed off any remaining interest that the public had in the franchise. A DarkerAndEdgier reboot [[Film/TheMummy2017 in 2017]], starring Creator/TomCruise, tried to bring the franchise back into the public consciousness to start Universal's long-mooted horror cinematic universe, but it instead received worse reviews and flopped in the United States, [[StillbornFranchise smothering Universal's planned "Dark Universe" in its cradle]] and possibly killing the franchise for good. '''2017 is StillbornFranchise'''

* After the surprise success of ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'', plans were made for a trilogy, but the second movie, ''Film/BookOfShadowsBlairWitch2'', killed those dreams. While the original film's creators had [[http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/85523/exclusive-eduardo-sanchez-talks-blair-witch-3-coming-sooner-rather-later/ long wished to get the franchise going again]], a third film remained in DevelopmentHell until 2016. That third film, titled simply ''Film/BlairWitch'', was originally marketed as a separate film called ''The Woods'', making the reveal of its actual title just two months before release something of a StealthSequel.
* ''Franchise/ChildsPlay'':
** The 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 having lost the mix of BlackComedy and frights that characterized the first two films. Even series creator Don Mancini [[CreatorBacklash regards 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 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'', and then a [[Series/{{Chucky}} 2021 TV series]], 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 success of ''Film/{{Darkman}}'' gave Creator/SamRaimi enough clout to get a third ''Franchise/EvilDead'' film, titled ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'', off the ground in 1992. 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 twenty years. Outside of [[ComicBook/ArmyOfDarkness comic book]] and video game spin-offs, the franchise remained dormant until [[Film/EvilDead2013 the 2013 remake]], which won the acclaim of both critics and series fans for its DarkerAndEdgier take on the material. The success of the remake revived the franchise, leading to the acclaimed (if [[AcclaimedFlop low-rated]]) TV series ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'' in 2015 and another well-received film, ''Film/EvilDeadRise'', in 2023.
* 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 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.
* The ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' series was on unsteady ground in the late '80s. It had already taken a hit when the seventh installment, 1988's ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIITheNewBlood The New Blood]]'', got heavily {{Bowdlerise}}d by the MPAA to avoid an X rating, producing one of the most bloodless ''Friday'' films yet. While it marks the beginning of fan-favorite Creator/KaneHodder's turn as Jason Voorhees, it's also viewed as the beginning of the series' AudienceAlienatingEra. A double-header of bad films that followed it proved to be the breaking point.
** The first blow came with the eighth film, ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIIIJasonTakesManhattan Jason Takes Manhattan]]'', a year later. Despite its [[RecycledInSpace gimmicky title]], its low budget [[NeverTrustATrailer prevented it from actually delivering on its promise]] of Jason in [[TheBigRottenApple New York]] until the last thirty minutes. Fans at the time viewed it as the series' nadir, and its failure led Creator/{{Paramount}}, which had always been somewhat [[SciFiGhetto ashamed of the series' success]], to sell the rights to [[Film/FridayThe13th1980 the first film]]'s director Sean S. Cunningham. He in turn sold the rights to Creator/NewLineCinema, which had been hoping to get a {{crossover}} with ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' off the ground.
** New Line's subsequent attempt to revitalize the series, ''Film/JasonGoesToHellTheFinalFriday'', finished what ''Jason Takes Manhattan'' started and [[MeaningfulName sent the franchise to Hell]]. [[GenreShift Turning Jason]] into a [[BodySurf body-surfing]] demon who [[DemonicPossession possesses people to kill]], with the man himself only appearing for about fifteen minutes in the beginning and end, didn't go over well with the fans, nor did its [[CanonDiscontinuity complete jettisoning]] of the other films in the series past the second. As such, it is often ranked high on many horror fans' lists of the worst films in the series, and it took another nine years before another ''Friday'' film was released.
** Since ''Jason Goes to Hell'', there have been periodic attempts at reviving the ''Friday'' series, but none that managed to get the franchise going again in a serious way. The film that broke the drought, the guilty pleasure ''Film/JasonX'' in 2002, was made only to restore fans' interest in the series before the release of the long-awaited ''Film/FreddyVsJason'', which finally came out the following year after over a decade in DevelopmentHell. However, while it was the biggest hit in both the ''Friday'' and ''Nightmare'' franchises and, [[ContestedSequel by and large]], won the approval of fans of both series, plans for a sequel were restricted to the realm of [[ComicBook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh comic books]]. A [[Film/FridayThe13th2009 remake came out in 2009]], and while it was a hit, it wasn't a big enough one to convince New Line not to sell the rights to the series back to Paramount. The two tried once more to reboot the series in 2017, but financial turmoil at Paramount and low box office numbers for ''Film/{{Rings}}'' led to the reboot getting canceled and Paramount's rights expiring for good. What's more, from 2018 to 2021 a lawsuit between Cunningham and the first film's writer Victor Miller over the rights to the franchise (ultimately won by Miller) not only put the brakes on any new movies, it also forced the developers of ''VideoGame/FridayThe13thTheGame'' to cancel all new content they had planned (effectively killing the multiplayer-focused game) after [[ScrewedByTheLawyers receiving a cease-and-desist letter]].
* ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''. Hoo boy. This [[LongRunners long-running series]] has experienced this up to ''five times'' depending on how you count it. Given that there have been thirteen ''Halloween'' films, this means that more than a third of the films in the franchise can be said to have made the creators rethink whether or not to make another sequel. Only with ''Film/HalloweenEnds'' did any [[AlternateContinuity branch]] of the franchise ever receive what could be properly termed a definitive, deliberate ending.
** 1982's ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'' killed Creator/JohnCarpenter's original plans for the franchise, namely to turn ''Halloween'' into a GenreAnthology series with each film as its own standalone story related to [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve the Halloween holiday]]. After its failure, the rights to the series went to producer Moustapha Akkad, who returned to the story of the first two films with ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'' in 1988.
** A year later, that film's follow-up, ''Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers'', suffered from poor critical, commercial, and fan reception that caused Akkad to put the series on a hiatus in order to figure out how to right the franchise ship. Said hiatus [[DevelopmentHell lasted six years]].
** And the film that broke that hiatus, 1995's ''Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers'', killed off its branch of the storyline for good by way of its TroubledProduction, ExecutiveMeddling, and poor reception by critics and fans. The next film, 1998's ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater'', created an AlternateContinuity that [[CanonDiscontinuity accepted only the first two films as canon]] in order to undo the damage caused by the last two films and brought back Creator/JamieLeeCurtis to reprise her role as Laurie. The film made money and was sort-of well-received by fans and critics as it offered a satisfactory conclusion to Laurie's story. However, execs wanted to bring back Michael and the ending was {{retcon}}ned in the next film.
** Said next film was 2002's ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'', which was utterly savaged by critics and fans. The film killed the original series for good and left the franchise fallow until Music/RobZombie [[Film/{{Halloween 2007}} rebooted it]] five years later. Not helping was Akkad's death in 2005 in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Amman_bombings a terrorist attack]] in Amman, Jordan that also killed 59 others, including his daughter Rima; Zombie's remake was [[{{Dedication}} dedicated to Akkad]] as a result.
** The failure of Zombie's follow-up ''Film/{{Halloween II|2009}}'' in 2009 likewise killed his reboot series. It would be nine years, the longest drought in the franchise's history, before a new film was made, simply titled ''Film/{{Halloween|2018}}'' and serving as a direct sequel to the first film while [[CanonDiscontinuity ignoring all the rest]] (much like ''[=H20=]'', though that film also took the second one as canon).
* The ''Franchise/HannibalLecter'' film series initially came to a close in 2002 with the release of the film adaptation of ''Film/RedDragon'', rounding out what was, until then, a trilogy of film adaptations of Thomas Harris's trilogy of ''Hannibal'' books (''Literature/RedDragon'', ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', and ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}'' in chronological order) all helmed by Creator/AnthonyHopkins portraying [[VillainBasedFranchise the eponymous character]], Hannibal Lecter. Then Dino De Laurentiis (who owned the film rights to the books) [[FranchiseZombie announced he was producing]] [[TrilogyCreep a prequel/origin film]], and told Harris that if he didn't write a book for the film to be based on, [[ExecutiveMeddling he would produce it anyway without Harris's involvement]]. Harris complied, and the results were the 2006 book ''Literature/HannibalRising'' and a [[Film/HannibalRising 2007 film adaptation]] of it (in which Harris also wrote the screenplay). The book received a mixed reaction, while the movie received a negative critical reception and (unlike the previous three films) was a box office disappointment, dissuading Harris from further continuing the ''Hannibal'' book series. The series as a whole was dead in the water until ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'', a ContinuityReboot television series made without Harris's involvement. Despite being well-received by reviewers and fans of the series, the show was axed by Creator/{{NBC}} for [[AcclaimedFlop unsatisfactory ratings]]. The franchise made another attempt at success in 2021 with a new spin-off series starring Clarice Starling, so it's not completely gone yet.
* The ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' franchise is an odd case. ''Film/HellraiserBloodline'' was the last theatrical release in the series before it became a FranchiseZombie of straight-to-video [[DolledUpInstallment Dolled-Up Installments]], but it was better received critically than ''Film/HellraiserIIIHellOnEarth'', which most fans agree derailed the whole series. In addition, thanks to its [[NoBudget lack of a budget]] and its [[TheOtherDarrin poor replacement]] of Creator/DougBradley's performance as Pinhead, ''Film/HellraiserRevelations'' locked this franchise in the Lament Configuration for seven years. Another sequel, ''Hellraiser: Judgment'', popped up DirectToVideo in 2018 and got a [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel better response]] than ''Revelations'' though not by much.
* Many fans of ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' tend to [[FanonDiscontinuity disavow all of the sequels]], which were made under constant ExecutiveMeddling without the involvement of the original film's director Creator/StevenSpielberg, but while the [[Film/{{Jaws 2}} second]] and [[Film/{{Jaws 3D}} third]] films both made money despite mixed-to-negative reviews, ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'' killed the franchise stone-dead with a Website/RottenTomatoes rating of ''0%''. The film also [[GenreKiller ended]] the boom of [[AttackOfTheKillerWhatever "killer animal" movies]], and especially [[ThreateningShark shark movies]], that [[FollowTheLeader tried to cash in]] on the original ''Jaws'', which such films usually not taken seriously today (with ''Film/TheShallows'' being a rare exception).
* The ''Film/{{Leprechaun}}'' series went on hiatus following the sixth installment ''Film/LeprechaunBack2ThaHood'' though it wasn't due to it performing badly as it was a DirectToVideo series at this point. Treatments were written for where the Leprechaun would wind up next, like TheWildWest or on [[WildTeenParty spring break]], and Warwick Davis even showed interest in a seventh film, but Lionsgate took too long to greenlight another sequel, and momentum dried up. Years later, they decided to [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] the series with [[Wrestling/{{Hornswoggle}} Dylan Postl]] replacing Davis, resulting in the DarkerAndEdgier ''Film/LeprechaunOrigins''. Unfortunately, the film was panned by critics and fans alike for being both an InNameOnly installment and an overly generic horror film, effectively soiling chances of follow-ups. The series, however, did make a comeback with the 2018 Creator/{{SyFy}} original movie ''Film/LeprechaunReturns'', which, like ''Film/Halloween2018'', [[CanonDiscontinuity ignored all the previous sequels]] and served as a direct sequel to the 1993 original.
* With the exception of a few direct-to-video films, ''Film/{{The Mummy|Trilogy}}'' franchise laid dormant through most of the 2000s. That changed in 2008 with the release of ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'', an attempt at reviving the franchise with a new director and a mostly new cast. Although there were plans in place to continue the film series well beyond that movie, ''Dragon Emperor'' killed off any remaining interest that the public had in the franchise. A DarkerAndEdgier reboot [[Film/TheMummy2017 in 2017]], starring Creator/TomCruise, tried to bring the franchise back into the public consciousness to start Universal's long-mooted horror cinematic universe, but it instead received worse reviews and flopped in the United States, [[StillbornFranchise smothering Universal's planned "Dark Universe" in its cradle]] and possibly killing the franchise for good.

* 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 would lose the rights to the series by 2021 and freeze all activity with the franchise unless a deal could be worked out. Eventually, the now renamed Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios managed to put a fifth film, ''Film/{{Prey|2022}}'', into production, which, despite being released direct to Creator/{{Hulu}}, was a critical and ratings success, meaning the franchise still has some life left. '''This appears to violate Administrivia/NoRecentExamplesPlease (5 years for FranchiseKiller). It's not dead, Film/Prey2022 exists'''

[[folder:Fantasy/Sci-fi franchises]]

* ''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 (in Stewart's case, an alternate story goes that she left on her own accord because the proposed scripts weren't up to snuff). 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.
* ''{{Film/Solo}}'' was the second "Star Wars Story" film in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series, which was evidently meant to be a long run of anthology movies in the ''Star Wars'' universe, but ''Solo'''s poor performance prematurely put an end to the prospect of future anthology films. ''Films'' being the operative word, as ''Star Wars'' anthologies simply shifted into the medium of television with big-budget Disney+ shows, including the planned Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett films being realized as ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' and ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett.''
* ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' was intended to be part one of a second trilogy, but instead killed off [[CreatorKiller the company that made it]]. The rights went on sale, but no one was that interested and they ended up in the possession of... a hedge fund that had invested in the company. In 2011, it was reported that Creator/AnnapurnaPictures (led by Megan Ellison, daughter of the Oracle founder) had bought the rights (she eventually passed them to her brother David's Skydance Productions in partnership with Creator/{{Paramount}}). Four years later came the fifth movie, a ContinuityReboot called ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'', with Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger returning to the series. [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff While it made some bank overseas,]] it underperformed in the States and was savaged by critics, convincing Skydance and Paramount to scrap plans for another new trilogy. Four years later, they tried again with the sixth movie, ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'', which not only featured Schwarzenegger again, but also brought back original Sarah Connor actress Linda Hamilton and series creator Creator/JamesCameron as a storywriter and producer (directing duties, however, went to ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' helmer Creator/TimMiller), and [[CanonDiscontinuity ignored the previous three movies]], serving as a direct sequel to ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''. But despite being the best-received installment of the series since ''Film/{{Terminator 3|RiseOfTheMachines}}'',[[note]]which like the others, had its planned follow-ups cancelled, but just because its producers fell out with each other; in fact, it stands out among the ''[=T2=]'' follow-ups as the only profitable one[[/note]] if not ''[=T2=]'', audiences seemed to had gotten sick of the series by that point, not helping was the decision to kill John Connor off at the start of the movie, and ''Dark Fate'' proceeded to perform even worse than ''Genisys'', both domestically and internationally this time, making only $261 million worldwide against a combined production and advertising budget of $335 million, and losing about $123 million - one of the biggest bombs of 2019. [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/terminator-dark-fate-puts-franchise-ice-faces-120m-loss-1251926 Future films in the series were immediately shelved after its failure]], and with the rights to the ''Terminator'' property slated to fully revert to Cameron and franchise co-creator Gale Anne Hurd by November 2020, the franchise is officially done and over unless a deal between the two groups is reached.
* ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'' brought the end of the Creator/MichaelBay-helmed ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' in its previous form due to breaking the trend of getting poor critical reception but making buttloads of money at the box office by losing Paramount over $100 million due to poor box office performance. As a result, Paramount scrapped plans for a direct sequel and a SharedUniverse involving the previous films. The next film, ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'', initially intended as a prequel for the previous film universe, was retooled into a reboot (without much involvement from Bay) as the start of a new universe, with the announcement for a 2022 ''Transformers'' movie clarifying that it is not a follow-up to ''The Last Knight''.
[[/folder]]

* The critical and box-office failure of ''[[Literature/{{Divergent}} The Divergent Series: Allegiant]]'' caused Creator/{{Lionsgate}} to punt the fourth and final movie, ''Ascendant'' (which would have been [[MovieMultipack based on the second half]] of ''Allegiant'', the third ''Divergent'' novel) over to its TV division to turn into a MadeForTVMovie followed by a [[RecycledTheSeries spinoff TV series]], without the original cast. Said fourth film has since [[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kateaurthur/divergent-franchise-disaster fallen deep]] into DevelopmentHell, with Lionsgate confirming that it is no longer in active development, leaving the films CutShort on a {{cliffhanger}}. A long way to fall for a film franchise that was once seen as TheRival to ''Film/TheHungerGames''...
* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'':
** Originally, 1975's ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'' had box office returns so low (only the second in the series, after ''Film/GodzillaVsMegalon'', to sell less than a million tickets at the Japanese box office) that it killed the series until nearly a decade later. Repeated attempts were made at reviving the series, with at least four or five serious proposals, but none went before the cameras until [[Film/TheReturnOfGodzilla the series' 30th anniversary film]].
** The 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 shelve 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.
* ''Film/{{Gamera}}'':
** The final film in the Showa Era of the ''Film/{{Gamera}}'' series, ''Film/GameraSuperMonster'' is widely considered one of the worst of the franchise, having some truly terrible acting and special effects, nearly half of it being StockFootage from previous movies (including almost all the scenes of Gamera), and an unlikeable main character. It was made when Daiei was still recovering from bankruptcy, and they attempted to make a Gamera film as cheaply as possible to bring in a little more money, but it unsurprisingly disappointed at the box office and killed the franchise for nearly fifteen years (the writers were even so disappointed by the film's quality during production that they deliberately killed Gamera at the end). The revival trilogy that came after was much more successful and considered some of the best kaiju films ever made.
** 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. Outside of a proof-of-concept short film released in 2015, the long-running film franchise saw no signs of activity until 2022, when Creator/{{Netflix}} announced a new project titled ''GAMERA -Rebirth-''.
* The ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' franchise has had numerous sequels and spinoffs of dubious quality, but it was finally killed off for good by the dire MadeForTVMovie ''Film/HighlanderTheSource''. Despite this, Summit Entertainment has talked for years about making a ContinuityReboot of the series.
* ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' had mediocre critical reception, and despite technically being a box office success (more than $360 million on a $93 million budget), it made considerably less than ''Film/JurassicPark'' and ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark''. A fourth ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' film languished in DevelopmentHell, but when Creator/MichaelCrichton [[DiedDuringProduction died]], producer Kathleen Kennedy initially decided against making more, and then, in a subversion, Creator/StevenSpielberg revealed at 2011's Comic-Con that a fourth film should be released within the next two to three years. The result was 2015's ''Film/JurassicWorld'', a SoftReboot which received far superior reception to ''III'' and smashed countless box office records (even domestically out-grossing ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''), [[BackFromTheDead successfully reviving the franchise]].
* 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/TheNeverendingStory'': The third film in the series was so awful on every level (which subsequently resulted in the film bombing at the box office) that there have been no sequels or reboots in the 25+ years since it was made.
* Franchise/RoboCop:
** ''Film/RoboCop3'' was critically panned for its banal subject matter compared to the previous two installments and, when audiences took notice, flopped at the box office and single-handedly killed the ''Franchise/RoboCop'' franchise for over twenty-one years. Between that time, attempts to continue the popularity of the franchise through a second animated television series, a comic book series, a live-action miniseries and a video game from Titus Software didn't really help matters.
** A ContinuityReboot released [[Film/RoboCop2014 in 2014]] received lukewarm reviews and despite recouping its budget globally, it fell roughly ''$80 million'' behind a $130 million budget (with the $30 million of that budget spent on marketing costs, which added to the dismal results) domestically, possibly thanks to opening the week after ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'', which retained its number one spot at the box office while the ''[=RoboCop=]'' reboot grossed an abysmal ''$21.5 million'' on its first weekend. As a result, Sony canceled the planned sequel and the rights went back to MGM. who four years later announced that it would reboot the franchise, making it a direct sequel to the [[Film/RoboCop1987 first film]] and [[CanonDiscontinuity disregarding the sequels and the 2014 film completely]].
* ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' 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).
* ''Film/PacificRimUprising'' ended up with mixed to negative reviews from critics, general audiences, and fans of [[Film/PacificRim the first movie]], and was a BoxOfficeBomb, and is estimated to have lost roughly $60 million USD. The film ended on a huge SequelHook and was clearly meant to be a franchise jumping-off point, but, aside from a [[Anime/PacificRimTheBlack very short-lived animated spinoff]] that came and went with little splash, no further news about followups has been made since the movie's release.
* The [[Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians live-action adaptations]] of ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' only went up to the second installment. Both ''The Lightning Thief'' and ''Sea of Monsters'' were poorly received by critics, got middling reception from the audience, and were hated by fans for taking liberties with its source material. The first film was only saved by its [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff international box office gross]], only for the second film to bomb even harder (its first-week domestic gross was half that of the first) for Fox to just call it quits with the franchise. Rick Riordian being displeased with the changes made from the books didn't help either. After Disney acquired Fox, they announced the series would be rebooted for streaming on Creator/DisneyPlus.
* ''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!
* The ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' franchise had been struggling with [[{{Sequelitis}} declining critical favor]] for some time, but the death knell for the franchise eventually came with ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMenTellNoTales''. The film, which was released six years after ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides On Stranger Tides]]'' and suffered from a [[TroubledProduction tumultuous production cycle]] due to Creator/JohnnyDepp[='=]s continued domestic violence troubles, became the lowest-scoring film in the franchise on Rotten Tomatoes, and only barely surpassed the worldwide total for ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl The Curse of the Black Pearl]]'' while under-performing against all the other movies. Indeed, the film's box office performance is what caused Disney to scrap plans for another sequel and go for a full ContinuityReboot, although a spinoff starring Creator/MargotRobbie has managed to beat the reboot out of the production gate. Disney had publicly decided to part ways with Depp but any lingering hope for his return in some capacity was more than likely killed when he lost a high-profile domestic violence defamation case in the UK in November 2020 since he was fired from two other projects after the ruling.[[note]]While many saw Depp redeemed in his 2022 trial, and rumors began to swirl instantly of Disney courting him again to return as Jack Sparrow; as of this time the franchise still remains on hiatus.[[/note]]
* 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 would lose the rights to the series by 2021 and freeze all activity with the franchise unless a deal could be worked out. Eventually, the now renamed Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios managed to put a fifth film, ''Film/{{Prey|2022}}'', into production, which, despite being released direct to Creator/{{Hulu}}, was a critical and ratings success, meaning the franchise still has some life left.

* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' film franchise was both rebooted ''twice'', then killed '''''three''' times'':

* 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. '''Cancelled after one movie, StillbornFranchise'''

[[folder:Family franchises]]
* 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 features, but for a long time, they stuck to adapting their modern Girl of the Year stories before eventually returning to historical movies.
* 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 films, ''Film/CasperASpiritedBeginning'' and ''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.
* The ''Film/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' films, adapted from Creator/JeffKinney's [[Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid novels]], 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). 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 the 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/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.
* 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.
* ''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. The original continuity didn't return until the 2018 Website/{{YouTube}} SequelSeries ''Series/CobraKai'', which has gained rave reviews and fan love aplenty.
* 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.
* ''Film/TheNutcrackerIn3D'' fared poorly enough at the box office that [[Theatre/TheNutcracker 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 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'' appear in ''Film/{{Pixels}}''. It took another twenty-five years before both [[Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu another 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, which was 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.
[[/folder]]

* ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'':
** ''Film/AlienResurrection'' differed so much from the tone of its predecessors and eliminated so much of the series' mythology (including the [[SpaceMarine USCM]] and [[MegaCorp Weyland-Yutani]]) that it managed to kill a franchise that even ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'' couldn't put down. An officially licensed novel[=/=]FixFic, ''[[Literature/AlienOutOfTheShadows Alien: Sea of Sorrows]]'', came out nearly two decades later and attempted to {{retcon}} some of the material in the film (via resurrecting Weyland-Yutani as the BigBad and reversing the damage caused to Earth).
** The studio then refocused its efforts on spinning off the popular crossover series ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' into film territory; [[Film/AlienVsPredator the first film of the same name]] was successful, only for the sequel ''[[Film/AliensVsPredatorRequiem Requiem]]'' to quash that branch rather quickly.
** 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 follow-up ''Film/AlienCovenant'' underperformed at the box office and Fox was purchased by Disney, the third one is still planned.
* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' ended with the third installment, ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', which got mixed reception from critics and the audience and was a box office disappointment, though many people would say it's the second installment, ''Prince Caspian'', which killed the franchise. Though it was warmly received by critics, the film actually made even less money than ''Voyage'' and wasn't able to gross twice its budget, a surefire way for a film to be considered a bomb.
* ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer'' was critically panned and didn't perform well at the box office, dropping many things of what made the original what it was, plus its LighterAndSofter tone turning away fans of the first movie while failing to attract younger audiences. Its flop put a possible third ''Conan'' movie into DevelopmentHell, and the ''Film/RedSonja'' movie, where Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger plays an obvious CaptainErsatz of Conan, discredited the whole idea of adapting Howard's works for more than 20 years (the only attempt, ''Film/KullTheConqueror'', was a flop).
** [[Film/ConanTheBarbarian2011 A reboot film]] came out in 2011, and if the incredibly poor box office (barely half of its cost) and a lawsuit filed by SLM--a company in bankruptcy that's supposed to have been ''dormant for a decade'', mind you--over the rights to the franchise are any indication, it killed the franchise all over again. [[http://www.deadline.com/2012/10/arnold-and-conan-the-barbarian-reunited-universal-reboots-action-franchise-with-schwarzenegger/ Another Arnold-helmed Conan movie was announced the following year]], declared to be a direct sequel to the original film (thus throwing ''Destroyer'' and the 2011 reboot [[CanonDiscontinuity out of continuity]]), but [[DevelopmentHell no further developments about the movie have come out since]].

* 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]]. '''If it's false, why is it here?'''

[[folder:Comedy franchises (non-family)]]
* ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' and ''Film/BeverlyHillsCopII'' were the second and third highest-grossing films of 1984 and 1987 respectively. ''Film/BeverlyHillsCopIII'' wasn't released until 1994, when it was treated as a desperate attempt to revive Creator/EddieMurphy's floundering career (Murphy would later disown ''BHCIII'' while appearing on ''Series/InsideTheActorsStudio''). As it turns out, ''BHCIII'' ended up number 34 on the list of 1994's top-grossing films, barely beating Creator/StevenSeagal's ''Film/OnDeadlyGround'' and earning $2M less than Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme's ''Film/{{Timecop}}'', leaving the franchise dead in the water. (Eddie Murphy admitted that the scripts that he was offered for a potential ''Beverly Hills Cop IV'' never really felt right.) A pilot TV series for Creator/{{CBS}} centered on Axel Foley's son was created, but CBS dropped it. Likewise, the interest surrounding the pilot was able to get a fourth film ([[HereWeGoAgain once again]]) [[http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/paramount-eddie-murphy-revving-on-new-installment-of-beverly-hills-cop/ greenlit with Murphy reprising his iconic role]], though the film appears to have stalled out in DevelopmentHell since 2016.
* The ''Film/CarryOn'' franchise was killed by the triple whammy of ''Film/CarryOnEngland'', ''Film/ThatsCarryOn'' and ''Film/CarryOnEmmannuelle''. An [[Film/CarryOnColumbus attempted reboot]] was made in [[TheNineties 1992]] that also sunk the franchise even further.
* The first two ''Film/CrocodileDundee'' films were tremendous hits, each grossing over $100 million at the North American box office alone. However, series star Paul Hogan and company took ''thirteen long years'' before making a third ''Croc'' picture, which ultimately underperformed at the box office (opening at #4 and grossing roughly $25 million domestically). Besides the long gap in-between the previous film, ''Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles'' seemed less serious than the previous two films (coming off as more of a broad family comedy) with a plot that felt left over from ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop''.
* ''Dorm Daze'' was released in a limited amount of theaters and did O.K. enough to get a DirectToVideo sequel in 2006. Then, for some reason, ''Dorm Daze 3'', aka ''Transylmania'', was actually released nationwide in 2009 and only grossed $397,000 on a $10 million budget and a $15 million marketing budget. Another movie in the franchise hasn't been produced since.
* 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.
* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' film franchise was both rebooted ''twice'', then killed '''''three''' times'':
** Creator/PeterSellers had written a script for a GrandFinale movie titled ''Romance of the Pink Panther'' and submitted it to Creator/UnitedArtists just before [[DiedDuringProduction suddenly suffering a fatal heart attack]]. The project was ultimately canceled and producer Creator/BlakeEdwards (who was supposed to have no involvement with ''Romance'') decided to continue the series, writing out Inspector Clouseau and [[ReplacementScrappy replacing him with American detective]] Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass' [[StarDerailingRole only starring film role]]) and [[ClipShow taking deleted scenes from the fifth film]] to make two additional films that were shot simultaneously: ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' and ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''. The poor taste and box office failure of these films resulted in Sellers' widow successfully suing Edwards and the studio for defamation, and Wass' request for additional films was rejected and the series was put in a coma.
** An attempted reboot of the original franchise, ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther'', replaced Sleigh with Clouseau's illegitimate son (played by then up-and-coming actor Roberto Benigni), and underwent a [[TroubledProduction rather messy production]]. It ended up sealing the franchise's fate for good, having become an enormous critical and commercial flop and nearly derailing Benigni's then-fledgling career until ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful'' saved it. A sequel was immediately canceled soon after. It also had the misfortune of being Edwards' last film he produced (he ended up retiring from film after ''Son[='=]s'' massive failure became too much for him) as it was for, in another sense, composer Music/HenryMancini (who died before another film could be released).
** [[Film/ThePinkPanther2006 In 2006]], the original story was given a major, modernized retooling in the form of a ContinuityReboot, with Creator/SteveMartin filling in for Sellers for his Clouseau character and the film [[CanonDiscontinuity dismissing]] the events of ''Trail of...'', ''Curse of...'' and ''Son of...''. The film was ravaged by critics, but performed well at the box office to become a CultClassic, prompting the studio to order up [[Film/ThePinkPanther2 a sequel]] for release in 2009. That sequel underperformed the first film and was ravaged even further by critics, thus putting plans for a third, trilogy-making film to a screeching halt; compounded by Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer filing for bankruptcy the following year. Even though MGM has since emerged from bankruptcy primarily as a production company, plans for a third Martin ''Pink Panther'' all but dissipated, and eventually another reboot of the series was announced in 2020 in the form of a hybrid live-action/CGI film, to be helmed by [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Jeff Fowler]].
* 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 Siege'' 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.
* ''Film/VegasVacation'' was so out of touch with the previous films that it wasn't just this to the ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation'' series, but presumably [[CreatorKiller to the remnants of the original]] ''National Lampoon'' magazine as well. The decline was largely due to the sharp drop in financial profits for the magazine in the late 1980s, causing the magazine to be published less frequently by 1986; the failure of ''Vegas Vacation'' appears to have been the breaking point for the once-beloved humor magazine.
** As for the movie series, it only gained one ''miserable'' made-for-TV sequel in 2003, focusing on Cousin Eddie. It was then revived 12 years later as a [[Film/{{Vacation}} partial reboot]] - which while slightly profitable, was so badly received there's no hope for further movies (at most, an HBO Max series is under consideration).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Drama franchises]]
* The four-hour epic movie ''Film/{{Gettysburg}}'', based on a novel by Michael Shaara, had its franchise killed by the theatrical release of the sequel/prequel ''Film/GodsAndGenerals'', based on the novel written by Michael's son Jeff Shaara, which had promised a third entry, ''The Last Full Measure'', also based on the Jeff Shaara book. Some blamed the large-scale cutting of filmed scenes from the theatrical version as the result of post-production discussions between Ted Turner, Maxwell, and Warner Bros. Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, both ''Gods and Generals'' and ''Gettysburg'' were released on Blu-ray with new scenes added. ''Gods and Generals'' got just about everything that was originally taken out of it put back in.
* While the first two films in ''Film/TheGodfather'' franchises are regarded as classics, ''The Godfather: Part III'' is considered much less so. That, and director Creator/FrancisFordCoppola's declining health, effectively killed discussions about a fourth film. Mario Puzo dying prevented the rumours from coming back.
[[/folder]]

* ''Franchise/DuckTales'': 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'' (the only exception was ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'', which got a spin-off movie named ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie''). However, the latter franchise would receive [[Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022 its own live-action film]] 32 years later.

* The box office failure of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' resulted in all future DC animated films being released straight-to-video, which ironically was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the original plan for the film's release the whole time]]. It would be 24 years until a DC animated film in any capacity would be widely released to theaters again. The film in question? ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'', which is actually part of the ''Franchise/{{Lego}}'' film series. '''Not a franchise killer because the Batman TAS movies were still made. TrendKiller?'''

[[folder:Animation -- Other]]

* The critical and financial failure of the infamous ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'' (the one where the [[TheVoiceless famously silent]] cat-and-mouse duo [[SuddenlySpeaking talk and sing]]) prevented the making of another theatrical ''Tom and Jerry'' film for decades, with all films in the series since then being Direct-to-DVD. Eventually Warner Bros. considered developing a live-action/CG theatrical film for the characters during the 2000s, [[DevelopmentHell but no such film would enter production until the end of the 2010s]], with [[Film/TomAndJerry2021 the resulting film]] eventually coming out in 2021 to be a modest financial success despite negative critical reception (although fans look upon it much more positively as an improvement over ''Tom and Jerry: The Movie''). However, the mildly successful ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryKids'' and reruns of the original shorts gaining high ratings on Creator/CartoonNetwork [[AvertedTrope prevented]] this from happening to the franchise as a whole.
* 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/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', 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''.
* 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.
* 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/WarnerBros, as well as ''WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie''.
* The box office failure of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' resulted in all future DC animated films being released straight-to-video, which ironically was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the original plan for the film's release the whole time]]. It would be 24 years until a DC animated film in any capacity would be widely released to theaters again. The film in question? ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'', which is actually part of the ''Franchise/{{Lego}}'' film series.
* 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/TwentiethCenturyStudios Fox]] went south due to Creator/{{Disney}} buying the latter company out.
[[/folder]]

* 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, in the mid-2010s shortly after Sparks started his own production company, adaptations of his books quickly hit diminishing returns, with TheLastStraw coming with 2016's ''Film/TheChoice''. 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. Sparks shut down his production company, and no further adaptations of his books have been made. '''Not a franchise, Creator Killer'''
* 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 [[Series/AlexRider adapt the series for television]]. '''Not a franchise or Stillborn Franchise'''
* While the LiveActionAdaptation of Creator/{{CLAMP}}'s ''Rex: A Dinosaur Story'' was the biggest native blockbuster of 1993 in Japan and a surprise hit for Kadokawa Shoten and Shochiku, it was pulled from theatres after director Haruki Kadokawa was accused of cocaine smuggling. Ever since, [[StillbornFranchise no one else, even within Kadokawa Shoten, has tried to adapt any of CLAMP's stories into anything other than animation]]. '''Not a franchise or Stillborn Franchise'''
* Zig-zagged with the live-action ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' movie, ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''; although the film wasn't bad enough to kill off ''Thomas'' as a whole, with the television series lasting well into its twenty-fourth season in 2020, it did kill off ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', the spin-off that introduced North American audiences to ''Thomas''. While ''Shining Time Station'' had already ended a few years before the film, the film's poor critical and finanical reception would utimately and permanently shut down the station, with no new projects featuring the setting having been made since the film, and the orignal show itself becoming swept aside and ignored. '''Already ended'''

[[folder:Animation -- Disney]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' almost became the franchise killer of the ''entire'' Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon. The film wasn't well received and was a massive box office flop. The film 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.
* Diminishing home market sales and surprisingly disappointing merchandise sales (compared to the popularity of its sister ''Franchise/DisneyPrincess'' franchise and later ''Frozen'') were the reasons given by execs to discontinue [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits DisneyToon Studios]]' direct-to-video ''Franchise/DisneyFairies'' franchise, with the 2015 film ''Legend of the [=NeverBeast=]'' marking the end of that series. [=DisneyToon Studios=] themselves [[CreatorKiller was shut down not too long afterwards]].
* 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'' (the only exception was ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'', which got a spin-off movie named ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie''). However, the latter franchise would receive [[Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022 its own live-action film]] 32 years later.
* 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/{{Winnie the Pooh|2011}}'' 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''.
* Originally, there was actually going to be a third Disney animated film based on ''Literature/TheJungleBook'' where Baloo and Shere Khan are both captured and sold off of a circus, and as a result, Mowgli, Shanti, and Bagheera all had to save them both. And over the course of the film, Shere Khan (who went into KnightOfCerebus mode in the second) would have regretted his hatred against humanity because of his capture and would have eventually [[HeelFaceTurn reformed]] over the course of the film. However, due to the commercial and critical failure of ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook2'', this film was ultimately scrapped, and Khan's fate at the end of the sequel [[UncertainDoom remained ambiguous]]. By contrast, a [[Film/TheJungleBook2016 live-action/CGI version of the original film]] was released in 2016 to highly positive reviews and incredible box-office success.
* There was originally going to be a third film in ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'' movie series. However, due to ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'''s [[BoxOfficeBomb financial failure]] (it's the only animated Disney movie released during UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation for the studio to ''ever'' suffer this fate), combined with the death of actress Eva Gabor (Miss Bianca) in 1995, the idea for a third ''Rescuers'' movie was scrapped.
** 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 ''2011'' until the Disney Animated Canon received a new sequel in ''WesternAnimation/{{Winnie the Pooh|2011}}'', followed by ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'' in 2018 and ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'' in 2019.
** The poor reception of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' also discouraged Disney from making any Animated Classics without musical numbers until ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' in 2000, followed by ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' in 2001.
* The box office failure that was the ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'' movie made it clear that Disney would never make another theatrical film based on one of their animated TV shows and haven't made any more since then. A planned live-action/animated ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' languished in DevelopmentHell before being {{Retool}}ed for Creator/DisneyPlus and Creator/AlexHirsch shot down a proposed ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' TV movie unless it was going into theaters.
[[/folder]]

* 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. Not helping matters was the death of major cast member Creator/RobinWilliams in 2014.
* Despite receiving mixed reviews, the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'' was a surprise success, making over thirteen times its budget and becoming something of a CultClassic. The same cannot be said for the 2011 sequel, ''WesternAnimation/HoodwinkedTooHoodVersusEvil'', which [[BoxOfficeBomb bombed spectacularly at the box office, barely making back half of its budget (and less than 15% of the ticket sales of the original)]], was savaged by critics, and received heavy CreatorBacklash after release, all but ensuring that the series would never see the light of day again.
* 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 which took on new directions [[AudienceAlienatingEra 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. Warner Bros. would eventually greenlight production of a proper ''Space Jam'' sequel --''Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy''-- which released in 2021, albeit a much more mixed critical reception and [[BoxOfficeBomb unfortunate underperformance at the box office]] due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic.
* The critical failure of ''WesternAnimation/RugratsGoWild'' (a crossover film between ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys''), in addition to [[CreatorKiller ending the long-lasting relationship between Nick and]] Creator/KlaskyCsupo, actually prevented the making of a fourth ''Rugrats'' film and a third ''Wild Thornberries'' film, and, alongside the failure of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheMovie'', was enough to kill off Nicktoons movies for the rest of the 2000's despite the success of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie''. However, ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'', the sequel to ''The [=SpongeBob SquarePants=] Movie'', was released in 2015 to smashing success, with more film adaptations based on Nicktoons (such as ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'') currently stated to be in development.
* 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/DreamWorksAnimation 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/{{Puss in Boots|2011}}'', 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.
* Zig-zagged with the live-action ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' movie, ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''; although the film wasn't bad enough to kill off ''Thomas'' as a whole, with the television series lasting well into its twenty-fourth season in 2020, it did kill off ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', the spin-off that introduced North American audiences to ''Thomas''. While ''Shining Time Station'' had already ended a few years before the film, the film's poor critical and finanical reception would utimately and permanently shut down the station, with no new projects featuring the setting having been made since the film, and the orignal show itself becoming swept aside and ignored.

%%* 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, in the mid-2010s shortly after Sparks started his own production company, adaptations of his books quickly hit diminishing returns, with TheLastStraw coming with 2016's ''Film/TheChoice''. 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. Sparks shut down his production company, and no further adaptations of his books have been made.%%Not a franchise, Creator Killer
%%* 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 [[Series/AlexRider adapt the series for television]].%%Not a franchise, Stillborn Franchise
%%* While the LiveActionAdaptation of Creator/{{CLAMP}}'s ''Rex: A Dinosaur Story'' was the biggest native blockbuster of 1993 in Japan and a surprise hit for Kadokawa Shoten and Shochiku, it was pulled from theatres after director Haruki Kadokawa was accused of cocaine smuggling. Ever since, [[StillbornFranchise no one else, even within Kadokawa Shoten, has tried to adapt any of CLAMP's stories into anything other than animation]].%%Not a franchise, Stillborn Franchise