5 Unmade Movie Sequels That Would Have Been Disasters

Modern Hollywood loves sequels. These provide an easy route to making lots of money without grappling with how to sell "new" stories to audiences. Given the immense box office hauls of recent projects like "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Zootopia 2," it's clear audiences absolutely adore certain sequels. However, that doesn't mean every franchise entry is a box office hit. Likewise, not every sequel Hollywood conjures up is something that sounds like a remotely good idea.

Various proposed sequels have gone nowhere for good reason, coming off as total miscalculations of what made their predecessors work. Some even suggest complete oblivion to what audiences like seeing in movies. Thankfully, the wildly varying reasons these five productions stalled out suggests there is some justice in this world. Not even Hollywood's bottomless appetite for sequels could save these boondoggles.

There will doubtlessly be plenty of bad or even woefully realized sequels hitting the big screen in the near future. It's inevitable. Whenever you're sitting in a theater enduring a trailer for those projects, though, count your blessings that at least you didn't have to see these five unmade sequels instead.

Technically, an "Easy Rider" sequel does exist in the form of 2012's "Easy Rider: The Rider is Back," a bizarre indie feature made without the involvement of the original film's cast and crew. However, there was a moment when the 1969 counterculture phenomenon "Easy Rider" almost did get a proper sequel. Back in 1983, Dennis Hopper revealed his plans to The New York Times make an "Easy Rider 2" entitled "Biker Heaven" that would take the original's grounded universe in slightly more stylized directions. 

"Biker Heaven" would take place 100 years later in "a world of mutant motorcycle gangs." While Hopper and Henry Fonda's characters were killed in the original's haunting last scene, here, the duo would be "brought back to life to restore the flag to the U.S." Later reports indicated that Jack Nicholson's character, despite also perishing in "Easy Rider," would similarly be resurrected for "Biker Heaven." However, the biggest obstacle to getting this insanity made were the endless lawsuits surrounding "Easy Rider." 

Between Hopper and Fonda engaging in lawsuits with each other and separate legal battles involving the producers, there was never enough stable ground for an "Easy Rider" sequel. That's for the best, since, on countless levels, "Easy Rider" works ideally as a one-off. No sequel, no matter how unhinged, could recapture its distinct magic.

The original "Godzilla" movies from Toho spawned countless sequels and different creative visions. Sony/TriStar Pictures likely assumed its American "Godzilla" remake from director Roland Emmerich could similarly sustain tons of follow-ups. If all went right, this heavily marketed blockbuster would become a license to print money with its deluge of sequels and merchandise. The studio's public plans for "Godzilla" were to create at least two sequels, ambitions it clung to even a few weeks into the movie's theatrical run.

Tab Murphy was tasked with shaping what "Godzilla 2" would look like, with the film apparently shifting all the kaiju action to Australia. Here, the new version of Zilla (as this American iteration of Godzilla is now called) would've finally fought another monster. Emmerich, Murphy, and company, though, didn't get much further than spitballing ideas. TriStar Pictures never released "Godzilla 2" or "3", primarily because the first film bombed at the box office.

If audiences greeted the initial Emmerich "Godzilla" with a shrug, a sequel was bound to inspire even more indifference. Thus, this project was abandoned. Ultimately, it doesn't sound like the central gist of "Godzilla 2" would've solved the most egregious problems of its predecessor. Leave Godzilla to the masters at Toho.

The entire "Godfather" timeline, at least in live-action film form, consists of three chapters. That timeline seemingly closed with 1990's "The Godfather: Part III," which ended with an elderly Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) sitting alone and collapsing to the ground. It was a fittingly quiet, shattering end for the character reflecting the cost of a life dedicated to violence and monetary gain. Even though Francis Ford Coppola and company seemingly brought the transformation of Michael Corleone to a close, there were indeed discussions about a fourth "Godfather" movie.

Apparently, this installment would've taken cues from "The Godfather: Part II" and been largely set in the past. Another iteration focused on Andy Garcia's Vincent Corleone, a character introduced in "The Godfather: Part III." Given that the original "Godfather" is among the 25 biggest movies in history in terms of tickets sold, Paramount doubtlessly would've been thrilled to release "The Godfather: Part IV." However, this follow-up never got off the ground, which is an immense blessing.

"The Godfather: Part III" was already a mixed bag that threatened the franchise's artistic reputation. Returning for another, especially after "Part III" wrapped up the Corleone family saga, would've been playing with fire. Plus, who needs "The Godfather: Part IV" when those first two remain such captivating masterpieces?

With "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Sony/Columbia Pictures didn't just want to deliver another "Spider-Man" movie. Rather, they aimed to craft a launchpad for further sequels and spin-offs set in this universe. That included "The Amazing Spider-Man 3," which was once set for a June 2016 release date. While the ending of "Amazing Spider-Man 2" teased the Sinister Six's formation, that group would, presumably, have paid off in 2016's "Sinister Six" movie rather than "Amazing Spider-Man 3." So what did director Marc Webb and company have on the docket for Andrew Garfield?

Chris Cooper, who briefly played Norman Osborn in "Amazing Spider-Man 2," alleges he would've come back as the primary villain, though his character would've just been a head in a box like a "Futurama" celebrity cameo. George Stacy actor Denis Leary, meanwhile, has claimed that he was possibly returning for "Amazing Spider-Man 3" as part of a plotline where Peter Parker resurrects his dead loved ones. Whatever the three screenwriters behind "Amazing Spider-Man 3" were cooking up, it sounds like a mess too enamored with characters people had already seen.

Once "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" flopped, though, any concerns over this third movie's plot sounding too disjointed were moot as Tom Holland's Spider-Man took over. "The Amazing Spider-Man 3" was subsequently tucked away wherever they're hiding Norman Osborn's head.

To date, "E.T." remains one of the biggest movies ever at the domestic box office to never get a sequel. That's no surprise given how enduringly beloved it remains. When ranking every Steven Spielberg directorial effort, "E.T." is usually close to the top of the list. It's such an exquisitely moving enterprise, rich with excellent filmmaking, great practical effects work, and believable performances. Doing a sequel would feel so wrong, especially since so much of the movie's plot hinges on E.T. and Elliot's (Henry Thomas) friendship being a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

However, there were initially plans to expand "E.T." into another movie, which would've been titled "E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears." After the tender, emotionally-moving original, "Nocturnal Skies" went into bleak horror movie territory (ironically, just the kind of tone "E.T." was originally exploring when it originated as the movie "Night Skies"). This story would've taken Elliot, his friends, and E.T. to other corners of the cosmos, a plot detail that inspired Spielberg to can the project.

Spielberg's instincts were dead on. All the charms of E.T.'s clashes with Earth life would've been erased with a sequel set in the stars. "Nocturnal Fears" was a woefully miscalculated movie idea on so many levels and it's a good thing it never got made.