Movie Trilogies That'll Never Be Completed

There's something truly special about great movie trilogies. These epic series — The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight, Star Wars, and The Evil Dead, to name a few — take the standard three-act narrative structure and expand it over the course of three films. And after we watch that final chapter, the audience is content with a story well-told, and Hollywood executives are rolling in the dough.

But not every trilogy goes as planned ... and some never even get to the finish line. After all, it's hard enough to make one successful movie, let alone three. So it's no surprise that many would-be trilogies never reach that final third film. Maybe they bombed at the box office, perhaps they were savaged by critics, or maybe there was behind-the-scenes drama. Whatever the reason, and whether or not they deserved another installment, these movie trilogies were stopped in their tracks and will never be completed.

Spider-Man is really popular. The world's favorite wall-crawler broke the opening weekend record twice on his own and then two more times with the Avengers. The first Spider-Man sent the comic book movie renaissance into overdrive in 2002 when it became the first film to earn more than $100 million in a single weekend. Spider-Man 2 continued the trend, and while Spider-Man 3 ended the first series with a creative whimper, the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films still earned more than $2.5 billion worldwide on a $597 million budget. 

Sony rebooted the series eight years later, this time with Andrew Garfield in the tights and Marc Webb in the director's chair for 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man. The box office results were solid ($757 million worldwide on a $220 million budget), and the reviews were strong, so before a sequel was ever released, Sony announced a third and fourth film, as well as spinoffs for Sinister Six and Venom, effectively launching a Spidey Cinematic Universe. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 arrived in 2014, but despite earning $708 million worldwide on a smaller $200 million budget, the lower gross and horrible reviews meant Spidey was headed in the wrong direction. Luckily, Disney swooped in and brought the web-spinner back to his record-breaking ways in the MCU, while Sony scored huge with Venom and won an Oscar with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. But while Spider-Man is as popular as ever, Amazing Spider-Man 3 has been squished.

The Fantastic Four have had a rough time at the box office, starting with the 1994 film that's so bad it wasn't even released. In 2005, the trend continued when Fantastic Four earned an atrocious 27 percent Tomatometer score. However, Fantastic Four's light tone stood out against the doom-and-gloom movies released that summer (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Batman Begins), and it earned $154 million domestically and $333 million worldwide on a modest $87 million budget. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer did just as badly with critics, and this time, it couldn't count on counter-programming during the stacked summer of 2007 (Transformers, plus sequels to Spider-Man, Shrek, and Pirates of the Caribbean), earning only $131 million domestically and $289 million worldwide on a $120 million budget. 

While all five main cast-members were signed to a three-picture deal, a 13 percent box office drop with a 25 percent higher budget gave Fox executives pause. Whatever fans the film had left all had their hopes dashed when a pre-Captain America Chris Evans said a third film probably wasn't happening. But even though that trilogy was doomed, Fox tried to relaunch the series in 2015, this time with a dark, bleak tone that was totally off the mark, resulting in the worst reviews and box office performance yet, with just $167 million worldwide on a $120 million budget. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently teased the Fantastic Four's MCU debut, so here's hoping the group finally get their cinematic due.

The late Swedish novelist and journalist Stieg Larsson was only able to complete three novels in his Millennium series before dying of a heart attack at age 50. His novels were published posthumously, becoming international best-selling hits. While David Lagercrantz published three more novels, Larsson's original adventures of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and hacker Lisbeth Salander are affectionately known as the Millennium trilogy. 

Sony Pictures saw dollar signs in the popular series and assembled an all-star cast and crew to make a movie. David Fincher, director of Fight Club and Seven, was perfectly suited for this dark, sordid material, while Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara seamlessly brought Mikael and Lisbeth to life. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo won raves from critics, but it wasn't a runaway hit, earning $102 million domestically and $232 million worldwide on a $90 million budget in 2011. Sony wanted to cut costs on the sequel, but Daniel Craig, fresh off Skyfall's global gross of $1 billion, wanted a raise.

As a result, the studio squashed any hopes of a Mara/Craig trilogy. Instead, Sony opted to go with an entirely new cast seven years later with the 2018 sequel/reboot, The Girl in the Spider's Web, casting Claire Foy as Lisbeth and Sverrir Gudnason as Mikael. But not even the film's modest $43 million budget could save it, as critics ravaged it and audiences killed it with $14 million domestic and $35 million worldwide gross. The Millennium trilogy was a product of its time, and that time appears to have passed.

Gremlins are based on magical nymphs from old English folklore, and eventually, they were blamed by RAF pilots for mysterious mechanical issues that brought down planes during World War II. Gremlins appeared again in the classic Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" before they became a household word in 1984's classic comedy-horror hybrid, Gremlins. Boosted by strong reviews, Gremlins became a huge surprise hit, earning $153 million worldwide to become 1984's fourth highest-grossing movie. Not bad for a film with a bizarre premise and no stars, though it helps when Steven Spielberg is your producer. 

Gremlins 2: The New Batch earned a respectable amount of critical praise in 1990, but the mogwai magic had worn off, and the film only made $41 million. The lesson? Don't feed mogwai after midnight, and don't wait six years between sequels. The Gremlin franchise was put on ice for decades, but screenwriter Chris Columbus said Gremlins 3 was on its way in 2018 and would be a full reboot. However, no official announcement was ever made, but in April 2020, The Hollywood Reporter reported that a new Gremlins was set to arrive on HBO Max, presumably as a series. So while we expect there to be more Gremlins in the future, a third film in the original franchise will never see the light of day (which is for the best, as sunlight kills them y'know).

While Leonardo DiCaprio followed up his role in a James Cameron record-breaker by making Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese movies, Sam Worthington followed up Avatar with ... Clash of the Titans. So yeah, not quite the same, but hey, maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time. A remake of Ray Harryhausen's 1981 all-star classic, the 2010 Clash of the Titans also had a stacked cast with Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and a kraken. However, the groan-inducing tagline summed up exactly what kind of movie this was: "Titans will clash!" Uh ... yeah, we hope so. That's like giving Mad Max the tagline "Max is mad!" 

Needless to say, reviews were brutal, but the movie made enough money to buy real estate on Mount Olympus, earning $163 domestic and $493 worldwide on a $125 million budget. Wrath of the Titans (tagline: "Feel the wrath!") did just as bad with critics but much worse with audiences, making $302 million worldwide on a $150 million budget. Warner Bros. was already planning a third Titans film, but the sequel's steep 40 percent decline gave the suits pause. By 2013, the film's producer, Basil Iwanyk, declared Titans 3 D.O.A. unless there were fresh ideas, though we'd think Greek mythology would provide enough plots for 10,000 Titans movies. Actually, never mind, we don't want to give them any ideas. But hey, while Worthington's post-Avatar career has disappointed, at least now he can look forward to more Avatar!

Despite the character's popularity, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have no box office staying power. The first film trilogy started strong when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles earned $202 million worldwide on a $13.5 million budget in 1990. However, 1991's The Secret of the Ooze dropped 62 percent to $78 million worldwide, while the third film took a shell-acking at the box office in 1993, earning $42 million on a $21 million budget. As a result, America's favorite talking, martial arts-fighting terrapins went on a 21-year hiatus from live-action, big-screen adventures (2007's TMNT was animated). 

Following the enormous success of the Transformers films, Paramount saw dollar signs in making movies based on other characters from super popular '80s toy lines and TV shows, so the studio decided to give the reptiles another a chance. Released in 2014, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was no slow-moving tortoise, earning $485 million worldwide on a $125 million budget. Paramount was feeling confident, so they upped the budget for 2016's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows to $135 million, but this time, the turtles only brought $245 million worldwide, a 50 percent drop that made this over-budgeted followup a box office bomb. 

Paramount wasn't going to make the same mistake as New Line Cinema did with the first series, and the studio pulled the plug before making a third film. By late 2016, one of the film's producers was already saying, "I don't think there's Turtles 3, but I wouldn't say there's never going to be another Turtles movie." If filmmakers need a plot for Turtles reboot, we suggest Saturday Night Live's "Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles."

The Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman franchise broke the opening-weekend record three times (tied with Jurassic Park and The Avengers), but neither set of films ever got a proper send-off. Sure, while all four films are technically part of the same series, they feel like two different franchises, as each director started strong but got cocky and went totally off the rails in their second film. 

Batman Returns is arguably the most Tim Burton-y movie ever, while Batman & Robin is definitely the most Schumacher-y. After moviegoers rejected each director's second film, neither director got to complete his trilogy. While Tim Burton never got to the scripting stage on Batman III, rumors circulated that Michelle Pfeiffer was returning as Catwoman and Robin Williams was set to play the Riddler. However, after Batman Returns terrified children and dropped 36 percent from Batman's worldwide gross, Burton was politely asked not to return, and Michael Keaton bailed. 

Joel Schumacher brought the series back to its record-breaking ways with Batman Forever in 1995, so Warner Bros. was already planning a third Schumacher Batman movie (the fifth in the series) before Batman & Robin was even released. Screenwriter Mark Protosevich even penned a dark outline titled Batman Unchained with Scarecrow as the villain (Schumacher wanted Nicolas Cage for the role). However, Batman & Robin's critical and commercial failure in 1997 put Batman back in the cave for eight years, until Christopher Nolan rebooted the series with Batman Begins. Thankfully, Nolan got to complete his Dark Knight trilogy.

Before Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead made bank and AMC's The Walking Dead made history, Danny Boyle's 2002 hit 28 Days Later was the little undead flick that could. Critics gave it an 87% Tomatometer score and audiences were generous too, delivering a $45 million domestic, $82 million worldwide take against an $8 million budget. Profits like that spell a sequel, but it would be four years before 28 Weeks Later arrived on the big screen. 

While Boyle passed directorial duties on to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo so he could work on Sunshine, the film still earned a 71% Tomatometer rating. Alas, audiences were less enthused, as the $15 million budgeted sequel earned $28 million domestic, $64 million worldwide — still highly profitable, but a 22% drop from the first film despite costing twice as much. 

Even though the numbers were trending downwards, Boyle told MTV there were ideas for a third film, though screenwriter Alex Garland said copyright issues with the rights holders to the original film were holding them back. However, while promoting Yesterday in 2019, Boyle told The Independent there was a "wonderful" idea for a third film. As much as we'd love for 28 Months Later to give the series a proper sendoff, a sequel to a nearly two-decade old franchise—whose last film dropped significantly — would be undead on arrival.

Chinatown brilliantly mixed the film noir genre of the 1940s with the New Hollywood aesthetic of the 1970s, becoming one of the defining films of the decade. While its $29 million box office didn't break records in 1974, its 11 Oscar nominations and one win (Best Screenplay for Robert Towne) at the 1975 Academy Awards cemented its sterling reputation, especially as it went toe-to-toe with The Godfather Part II. While Chinatown is remembered as an all-time great, its 1990 sequel has been practically forgotten. 

Jack Nicholson returned as gumshoe J.J. "Jake" Gittes in The Two Jakes, also stepping in for Roman Polanski as director (for obvious reasons) in the sequel written once again by Robert Towne. The Two Jakes' 68% Tomatometer score wasn't bad, but hardly a worthy followup to the original masterpiece. Its box office was atrocious, earning just $10 million. Turns out a "16 years later" sequel to an original that wasn't a huge box office hit wasn't a wise financial move (which would be repeated by Tron: Legacy in 2010 and Blade Runner 2049 in 2017... Hollywood never learns). Nicholson told MTV in 2007 that a third film would have been set in 1968, and been about Jake's divorce, with the title Gittes vs. Gittes. Given Nicholson effectively retired in 2010, this pulp detective take on Kramer vs. Kramer will probably never happen. 

In the wake of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films' success, fantasy novels become as hot a property as comic book adaptations. One of the surefire winners seemed to be Philip J. Pullman's His Dark Materials, a grim epic that had everything a fantasy fan could ever want. There was just one issue: His Dark Materials has a storyline about the evil Magisterium that is unapologetically anti-Catholic. 

New Line Cinema, the studio that had brilliantly guided LotR into the record books, also thought it was a good call to release this anti-religion fable during the Christmas holiday season, leaving one to wonder if any studio executives had even read what they were buying. While The Golden Compass was stripped of its religious themes, its reputation took root and the film was protested by Christian groups. However, its biggest sin among non-religious moviegoers was that it was just plain bad, with a 42% Tomatometer score. On an epic $180 million budget, it earned just $70 million domestic and $372 million worldwide, putting the nail in the film trilogy's coffin.

There have been many films in the official James Bond series. Sean Connery and Roger Moore played the character the most times (Connery once in the unofficial Never Say Never Again), with Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan not far behind. Timothy Dalton was set to play the legally lethal spy three times, an informal trilogy in the larger series, but only got two. Dalton's trilogy capper, what would have been the 18th film in the official series, never came to pass. 

Despite its reputation as a franchise killer, License to Kill made $34 million domestically and $156 worldwide on a $42 million budget — a profitable sum, but not even in the top 15 during a historic summer dominated by Batman and Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Still, Dalton was all set to return for his third and final Bond film, which was set to feature a British-Chinese megalomaniac using the threat of nuclear meltdowns to force the British to return Hong Kong to China. However, legal wrangles halted pre-production for years. By 1994, Dalton finally dropped out. It may have been the best thing for the series as Goldeneye made $356 million worldwide, launching Brosnan's highly successful run as the super spy.

Take action star Keanu Reeves, America's sweetheart Sandra Bullock, and Dennis Hopper being creepy Dennis Hopper, and you get the 1994 hit Speed. While Speed's "Die Hard on a bus!" vibe powered it to $121 million domestic and $283 million worldwide on a $30 million budget, it was actually based on a story by master Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Unfortunately, Kurosawa never conceived of a sequel and Reeves was out too, a decision he said landed him in "movie jail" with Fox for years. 

Bullock was back, with Jason Patric replacing Reeves as her supercop boyfriend, and Willem Dafoe giving Hopper a run for his money in the scenery-chewing psycho villain department. Alas, Patric was no Reeves, plus the movie was really, really bad (a 4% Tomatometer score... yikes), so Speed 2 — Cruise Control sank with $48 million domestic and $150 million worldwide on a $110 million budget, a 47% drop despite costing four times as much. Ouch. While Reeves indicated in 2014 he'd be interested in returning, the John Wick series took off, Reeves became the internet's boyfriend, and he decided returning to play Neo in The Matrix 4 was a safer bet.

Video game adaptations and horror movies are the two most maligned genres in movies, so combining both could have reached a sub-0% Tomatometer score. While 2006's Silent Hill wasn't that bad, it still only managed an atrocious 31% Tomatometer score. The box office was on par for horror films, earning $46 million domestically and $94 million worldwide, but its inexplicably high $50 million budget put its profitability in doubt. It would be another six years before 2012's Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, a film that is in the running for "clunkiest sequel title ever," arrived to a downright disastrous 20% Tomatometer score. 

While Open Road Films wisely spent just $20 million this time, making a sequel six years after a mediocre first film is rarely a wise decision. Silent Hill: Revelation 3D earned a mere $17 million domestically and $55 million worldwide, a 42% drop from the first film, though ironically it was probably more profitable given the much smaller budget. While a trilogy was never announced, fans held out hope until Silent Hill: Revelation 3D broke their hearts. The director even apologized, describing it as a "nightmare dance," which would be a cool title for a sequel that will never happen.

Stargate never had a trilogy despite "the franchise" being financially successful. Of course, it helps when there's only one film in the series, but still. Stargate caught the moviegoing world off guard in 1994, setting a new October opening weekend box office record at the time with $16 million, eventually earning $71 million domestic and $196 million worldwide. Filmmakers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin had planned a trilogy of films, with each movie focusing on a different mythology. 

However, they parlayed their Stargate success into one of the biggest hits of the '90s with Independence Day (and then one of its biggest disappointments, Godzilla). Meanwhile, MGM put the film series on hold thanks to the success of the TV series, which started in 1997 with Stargate SG-1. Twelve years after the original, Devlin revealed plans for a sequel at 2006's San Diego Comic-Con, but it would be another eight years before a new Stargate was announced — and this time it would be a remake. However, the failure of Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016 killed any interest in reviving Emmerich and Devlin's other 1990s sci-fi property, and the Stargate trilogy was officially canceled in 2018.

When it comes to box office bankability, Denzel Washington is the king of Hollywood. No special effects needed for this star — just a cool premise will do. Enter The Equalizer, a gritty crime series based on a largely forgotten 1980s TV show. Washington plays Robert McCall, a former Marine who comes out of self-imposed retirement to take on Russian mobsters. The Equalizer ($101 million domestic and $192 million worldwide) and The Equalizer 2 ($102 million domestic and $190 million worldwide) earned similar numbers, though the sequel cost 29% more. At a time when movie studios are counting every penny, Sony Pictures was probably trepidatious about spending more but potentially earning less on a hypothetical Equalizer 3. 

Denzel Washington doesn't seem interested in sequels in general, as The Equalizer 2 was his first and, thus far, only sequel. One person who is very interested is director Antoine Fuqua, who told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018, "Personally, I'd love for it to happen. ... It would be great to do it again with Denzel. I'm looking forward to The Equalizer 3, if that happens." It hasn't, and it doesn't look like it will, at least not on the big screen with Washington. CBS rebooted the series for TV, premiering the show right after Super Bowl LV on February 7, 2021. Robert McCall is now Robyn McCall, with Queen Latifah stepping in for Denzel Washington, proving if you don't have the king, then get the Queen.

There are actually two Adam Sandlers. One is the gifted actor of Punch-Drunk Love and Uncut Gems. The other is, well, Adam Sandler. Alas, most of Sandler's $5.5 billion in worldwide grosses have come from his comedies, which is why there are so many. For example, take the Grown Ups series, Sandler's "hanging out with his friends" franchise, co-starring Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, and Salma Hayek as Sandler's wife (smooth, Sandler, smooth). Grown Ups earned $272 million worldwide in 2010, and Grown Ups 2 made $247 million in 2013, making Grown Ups Sandler's highest-grossing franchise besides Hotel Transylvania. 

Even with that much talent ballooning the budgets up to $70-80 million, that profitability usually spells sequels, yet we've gotten none. Maria Bello (who played Kevin James' wife) told Flickering Myth in 2016 that she'd love to come back, saying, "Boy, it's fun to work with those guys." On January 6, 2020, Sandler fanatic/comedy writer-producer Tom Scharpling posted his unsanctioned script on Twitter, writing (via Vulture), "In April 2019, I wrote a script for GROWN UPS 3. I was not asked to write it. It is the best thing I will ever do in my life, professional or otherwise." While the script — a meta "making of" Grown Ups in which cast members are being killed — went viral, it also went nowhere. Given that Sandler is busy making Hotel Transylvania, Netflix films, and critically acclaimed movies, we think he may be too grown up for Grown Ups 3.

Jim Carrey had pretty much the best year ever in 1994, starring in back-to-back-to-back hits Ace Venture: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb & Dumber. The Mask was the biggest hit of the bunch by far, earning $351 million. Those are Batman-level numbers for an ultra-violent and frankly disturbing C-list character from Dark Horse Comics. Despite The Mask's insane profitability (it cost just $18 million), the only sequel was 2005's horribly stupid misfire, Son of the Mask, which tanked with $59 million on a $100 million budget. 

Carrey wisely sat that one out, given his long-standing distaste for sequels. However, it sounds like Carrey may be open to putting back on the mask, as he told ComicBookNews.com in 2020, "It would depend on a filmmaker. ... I don't want to just do it. But I would only do it if it was some crazy visionary filmmaker." So Michel Gondry or Lars Von Trier's The Mask? Granted, Carrey sounds lukewarm about it, but there were rumors in 2020 that Warner Bros. was considering both a female-led reboot more in line with the grimdark comic and two new Mask movies starring Carrey, presumably erasing Son of Mask entirely.

However, there haven't been any updates on the franchise since those very tenuous rumors made the rounds. And given Carrey's apparent apathy, we'd be surprised to see one sequel, let alone a Carrey trilogy. 

In Crank, Jason Statham has to keep his adrenaline going to stay alive, by any means necessary. In Crank 2: High Voltage, Statham's heart is replaced with a battery that needs constant jolts of electricity. What would've happened in Crank 3? Would Statham's organ system have been replaced with a nuclear reactor so he becomes a human Godzilla? Sadly, we'll never know. Crank cost $12 million and made $43 million worldwide. Cue sequel. Crank 2: High Voltage cost $20 million and made $35 million worldwide. Game over ... right?

Well, co-director Mark Neveldine was confident the franchise would keep going, telling Empire Online in 2011, "Crank 3 is going to happen, the studios are really excited about it — it's just all about timing." Four years later while promoting Spy in 2015, Statham told We Got This Covered, "I'd love to do it! [Neveldine and co-creator Brian Taylor] have to get their heads together, and if they want to do it, then there's a conversation." 

Gotta hand it to Statham, that's how to give a non-answer answer. In 2018, Taylor told The Movie Crypt podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that given Crank 2's disappointing box office, "It's got to be a great idea. ... Something insane. ... Crank 3 should be as exponentially more f***** up than Crank 2 as Crank 2 was [with] Crank 1." Given it's been 11 years since Crank 2 tanked, the most "insane" idea would be trying to relaunch this franchise.

When it comes to Japanese sci-fi and fantasy, "people who wear suits to fight monsters" ranks right up there with "kaiju flicks" and "adorable super-powered animals." These stories are known as super sentai, a sub-genre of "tokusatsu" that has always been popular in the west, but only reached critical pop cultural mass with "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." One of the most popular super sentai stories (at least to fans) is "The Guyver." Never heard of it? Much like your favorite techno indie band, "The Guyver" is much bigger in Japan. 

The series began with "Bio-Booster Armor Guyver," a manga series written and illustrated by Yoshiki Takaya about a symbiotic bio-mechanical suit that enhanced its hosts' abilities to (what else?) fight evil alien monsters. So basically Venom crossed with Ultraman. Besides the manga, the series has also inspired novels, a few anime series, and a movie franchise featuring Mark Hamill. Wait, what?

Yep. In 1991, New Line Cinema, in conjunction with Japanese studio Shochiku Films, released "The Guyver" with Mark Hamill's name misleadingly above the title, as Luke Skywalker wasn't the hero this time, but the mentor figure. "The Guyver" ... wasn't good. At all. But New Line  gave it another go with a new cast for the direct-to-video sequel "Guyver: Dark Hero" in 1994. While "Dark Hero" was better received by fans, the enormous popularity of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'" G-rated monster-bashing left the R-rated sequel in the dust, making "The Guyver" series a goner.