Great Films We're Glad Never Got Sequels

Not every movie needs a sequel. It's a truism that's made all the more apparent by how many pointless sequels and franchise extensions Hollywood regularly churns out. How many beloved features have ended up having their reputation tainted because of a cash-grab follow-up? Even the 1975 masterwork "Jaws" has to deal with the fact that it spawned a trio of terrible sequels. Many motion pictures have fallen prey to this phenomenon thanks to how Hollywood, for almost its entire existence, has been prone to creating a sequel as an easy way to make money. But that doesn't mean every successful and beloved feature has garnered a sequel.

In fact, over the decades, several acclaimed movies have managed to avoid succumbing to the fate of spawning a needless sequel thanks to a variety of very specific factors. Sometimes, it can be as simple as just the creators getting too busy to make a sequel. In other cases, complex legal matters have ensured that certain masterpieces won't have to endure producers wrangling up an extraneous sequel. Whatever has prevented these follow-ups from existing, moviegoers the world over are grateful that the following top-notch movies have never scored a sequel.

When it hit theaters in July 2010, "Inception" became one of the highest-grossing movies ever domestically that wasn't attached to a piece of previously existing IP. With $292 million in North America alone, "Inception" was an unquestionable hit. Typically in Hollywood, that kind of success would mean one thing: a sequel. It's easy to imagine not just a follow-up but an entire cinematic universe emerging from the dense lore established by "Inception." Of course, such sequels would inevitably undercut the iconic ambiguous ending of "Inception," which leaves viewers wondering whether or not the film's lead character is trapped in a dream. Plus, it's hard to imagine sequels containing the level of captivating surprise that the original did. No matter how one approached it, the prospect of an "Inception 2" just always felt like an inevitable roadmap to creating a hollow rehash of that 2010 classic. 

Thankfully, despite all the potential moolah to be captured through making an "Inception 2," that first movie's famous final shot has been left unblemished. More than a decade since "Inception" premiered, no sequel has emerged. This is mostly due to writer/director Christopher Nolan's busy schedule, which has been packed with other projects like "Interstellar" and "Tenet." Plus, Nolan has been open about the fact that he never planned "Inception" to spawn further films. Even with all the original's box office achievements and audience approval, "Inception 2" has remained as detached from reality as a dream.

Right after "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" became one of the most profitable movies in the history of Columbia Pictures, talks began for a sequel. Steven Spielberg drafted up a script for a project called "Watch the Skies," which would have followed up "Close Encounters" with a thriller also involving aliens. This concept never got off the ground, with "Skies" eventually morphing into "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" rather than an extension of Spielberg's 1978 sci-fi film.

In retrospect, it's for the best that "Watch the Skies" never took off as "Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind," and not just because it eventually gave us the classic "E.T." Part of what makes "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" such a magical movie is its sense of mystery. The suspense over the intentions and presence of alien visitors keeps viewers glued to the screen and rooting for protagonist Roy Neary as he searches for answers. Even by the end of the feature, the audience knows little about the otherworldly visitors, which makes the display of lights and noises from their spacecraft all the more dazzling. A sequel would inevitably have to expand on the universe of this story and begin to chip away at the ambiguity and mystery. The enigmatic aura of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" would only be diminished by any further sequels. No wonder Spielberg abandoned this endeavor.

At the start of the 2000s, news broke that director Martin Scorsese, screenwriter Paul Schrader, and lead actor Robert De Niro were all reuniting to make a sequel to "Taxi Driver." The film would follow an older Travis Bickle and carry over the tone of its predecessor. Only a handful of further developments emerged in the decade that followed, with the project eventually sputtering out due to dissatisfaction with the story as well as the busy schedules of all creative parties.

That's for the best. It's hard to imagine any upside in a "Taxi Driver" sequel. The chilling ending of the original, in which the disturbed and pathetic Bickle is actually viewed as a hero by the general public, was a searing indictment of who America views as "heroic"; revisiting it in a sequel might muddy that message. Plus, turning Bickle into someone who goes on multiple adventures feels like it would play into the toxic perception of the character rather than Scorsese's original intent of this figure. Better to leave "Taxi Driver" be. 

Once "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" became a box office juggernaut, it's easy to imagine everyone at Universal deciding that a sequel needed to become a reality. After all, the otherworldly character who once got rejected by M&M was now the biggest pop culture figure on the planet. Everyone wanted more "E.T." adventures, but what would be the point beyond just creating new merchandising opportunities? Who would benefit besides toy companies making a quick buck?

The beauty of "E.T." lay in the once-in-a-lifetime bond between E.T. and Elliot. Its distinctiveness enhanced its moments of wonder, like those bicycles flying across the sky. The special joy of this universe would get diluted right quick if E.T. kept returning to Earth and its inhabitants every other year for new sequels. Plus, a treatment for a proposed E.T. sequel, full of dark torture scenes and evil aliens, was so poorly conceived that director Steven Spielberg himself put the brakes on it, realizing what it would do to the reputation of the original movie. The story of that follow-up will make one extra grateful that all the marketing opportunities in the world couldn't will a follow-up to "E.T." into existence.

When Steven Soderbergh was securing distribution for his independent comedy "Logan Lucky," one condition of Bleecker Street making the movie was that they got the right to distribute any sequels to the film. Soderbergh was happy to make two further sequels to his hit 2001 film "Ocean's Eleven," so it's not like the idea of him making a series of heist movies was unthinkable. Plus, the ending of "Logan Lucky" suggested a new foe in the form of Hillary Swank's suspicious FBI agent for the Logan brothers to square off against.

While Soderbergh made a pair of enjoyable "Ocean's Eleven" sequels, it's unclear if "Logan Lucky" would have enjoyed the same success. After all, history has not been kind to comedy sequels. For every "22 Jump Street," there's a dozen or so "City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold." The odds just aren't that good that the world of "Logan Lucky" could sustain multiple satisfying adventures. Who would want to see the hysterical antics of characters like Joe Bang wasted on a bland, lackluster sequel? Of course, Bleecker Street never got a chance to pounce on its right to distribute "Logan Lucky" sequels. The underwhelming box office receipts of "Logan Lucky" ensured that those options for handling follow-ups would never come to pass. That's probably for the best.