Most of the time sequels happen as a result of the box-office success of its predecessor or to create a franchise. There are also instances where announced sequels get canceled due to several reasons. We are going to look at movie sequels which were supposed to happen, but never saw the light. Let’s have a look at top canceled movie sequels.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes
Many young adult novels have been adapted to feature films and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones directed by Harald Zwart is one of them. The studio announced a sequel (The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes) even before the release of the film. But City of Bones failed to impress the audience and became a box-office bomb. Due to the poor box-office performance, the studio postponed the sequel plans and it never happened.
Green Lantern 2
Upon its release, the Green Lantern was a long awaited film and DC had plans to extend its universe with the film. But the movie was panned by the critics and became a box-office disaster. The studio soon cancelled the sequel plans and started working for The Man of Steel and the movies helped DC to extent its universe in a good manner. A Green Lantern Corps movie was announced later and we would have to wait long for it. And moreover, Ryan Reynolds is now Deadpool!
Dredd 2
Dredd 2 directed by Pete Travis is one of the darkest comic book adaptations ever. The movie received positive reviews and had all the potential for a follow-up. But unfortunately, the movie didn’t perform well at the box-office. The reason behind the poor box-office performance still remains as an unanswered question and many blame the studio for its poor marketing. The fans are hoping for a TV continuation as the sequel won’t happen any time soon.
Who Discovered Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) directed by Robert Zemeckis received positive reviews and was one of the biggest box-office hits of the year. Disney had plans for a follow up and a prequel titled as Roger Rabbit: The Toon Platoon was announced. However, the title was changed to Who Discovered Roger Rabbit and a test footage was shot. But the studio cancelled the project as it seemed way too expensive. Gary K. Wolf (Roger Rabbit creator) said that he is still interested in pursuing a possible sequel.
Fantastic Four 2
Fantastic Four (2015) directed by Josh Trank was a reboot of the 2005 film of the same name. Even though the 2005 film received mixed reviews, it was safe at the box-office. The studio was way too confident with the 2015 reboot and announced a sequel (before the release) to be released in 2017. But the movie was heavily panned by both the critics and audience and became one of the biggest flops of 2015. The studio cancelled the sequel plans and even the lead actors were not interested with it.
Gump and Co.
Forrest Gump (1994) directed by Robert Zemeckis was one the most memorable films of the 90s and was adapted from the novel of the same name. Powered by a stellar performance by Tom Hanks, the movie went on to become one of the most successful movies of the year. The novel had a sequel (Gump and Co.) in the year 1995 and Eric Roth (screenwriter) wrote a script based on it in 2001. But the sequel lost its congruity after the September 11 attacks and was discarded.
The Amazing Spider-Man 3
Since the Spider-Man 4 failed to happen, the studio took an initiative to reboot the franchise and that’s how The Amazing Spider-Man happened. The movie was much better than expected and was a box-office winner. However, its sequel (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) failed to impress the audiences. Two more sequels were under consideration, but the audiences seemed less interested and the studio canceled their sequel plans. Spider-Man finally got a new life in the MCU and made its debut in Captain America: Civil War.
22 Jump Street and MIB crossover
After the release of 22 Jump-street, it was announced that the franchise is going to crossover with the Men in Black franchise in the next movie, but the plans were scrapped as everyone then thought that a crossover would never work for these two franchises.
Iron Man 4
With Iron Man 3 being successful win at the box office, but failing to deliver the iconic Iron Man villain – The Mandarin properly, it was teased that the real Mandarin would appear in a 4th Iron man movie as the main villain because in a Marvel One Shot movie, it was revealed that the real Mandarin does exist in the MCU and was not happy with the imposter – Trevor Slattery. But we all know that IronMan 4 is never going to happen.
Ghostbusters 3
Ghostbusters (1984) directed by Ivan Reitman is undoubtedly one of the funniest movies ever made. Following its huge box-office success, a sequel (Ghostbuster II) was released in the year 1989. It also became a box-office success like its predecessor. Several plans were made for a third part, but nothing happened. Bill Murray was not at all interested and Harold Rami’s death in 2014 closed the doors for a possible sequel. A female-driven reboot was released in 2016 but failed to impress the audience.
Incredible Hulk Sequel
Fans for so long have demanded a Planet Hulk movie but instead, the iconic storyline got reduced to a subplot in Thor Ragnarok as the studio does not have the full rights to the character and they would have to sit down with Universal for another Solo Hulk Movie.
Inception
Nolan’s Inception was probably one of the best movies ever made and left the fan on a big cliff-hanger at the end of the movie. Viewers surely want their suspense to be answered and would want to see a brilliant story like this again. But sadly it is not going to happen ever.
The Girl Who Played with Fire
David Fincher is well known for quality thrillers and his 2011 flick, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was no different. Upon its release, Fincher expressed his wish to direct the next two chapters. The Girl Who Played with Fire was scheduled for a 2013 release. But it didn’t happen due to script issues and the studio later planned to reboot the series. It seems that the next two chapters won’t get the Hollywood treatment.
Hancock 2
As we all know Will Smith’s Hancock movie did not do well when it came out, but still people became fans of the character because of Will Smith and did want the character to be properly done in a second movie, but sadly no one along with Will Smith was interested in making a sequel.
The Golden Compass: The Subtle Knife
The Golden Compass (2007) directed by Chris Weitz is based on the novel (trilogy) by Philip Pullman. New Line Cinema planned to make The Golden Compass a successful franchise by adapting the next two novels to the big screen. But the novel fans were not all satisfied with the movie adaptation and criticized the makers for removing many important aspects which made the novel so fascinating. The studio soon cancelled the sequel plans as it seemed irrelevant.
