10 movie sequels that were given release dates but never made
The influx of sequels that are flooding the marketplace isn’t a new phenomenon, but there does seem to be a shocking lack of original films released each year.
Although any recent hit with even the slightest potential for continuation is bound to get a follow-up, there’s been an uptick in legacy sequels to established classics. Sometimes, these sequels can end up surpassing the legacy of what came before, as was the case with Mad Max: Fury Road or Top Gun: Maverick. However, these tend to be few and far between, as most franchises seem to keep chugging along until they are creatively bankrupt.
Franchise building has become such a common practice that studios often plan out their slate years in advance, which can cause issues when there are release dates before there are scripts. Even if a film has a sequel script ready to go, it could end up getting pulled if its predecessor underperforms. There are certainly a lot of sequels that were only vaguely announced and never developed thoroughly, such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2 or Mrs Doubtfire 2, but that isn’t quite as embarrassing as when studios have to quietly take an impending release off of their calendars.
The strangest exception to this rule might be Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga – Part 2, which has been finished and screened at festivals, yet might not ever be released. Similarly, Walt Disney Animation had a few nearly completed direct-to-DVD sequels that were cancelled when John Lassetteer took over the company.
10 movie sequels that were never made:
‘Fantastic Four 2’ – June 9th, 2017
When Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer underperformed, 20th Century Fox prematurely cut off their first stab at a Fantastic Four franchise, instead announcing a reboot, with Josh Trank at the helm for a film that would bring back Jamie Bell, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, and Michael B Jordan, but that was before reports started coming out about his erratic behavior on the set of the first film.
Fantastic Four was a notorious flop that was plagued by reshoots, a cancelled 3D release, and an unusual press cycle in which the stars refused to talk about their negative experiences with Trank. The sequel was cancelled, and the rights to both X-Men and Fantastic Four were eventually reverted to Marvel Studios when Walt Disney Pictures acquired the rights to 20th Century Fox.
‘Spider-Man 4’ – May 6th, 2011
Spider-Man proved that the superhero genre was here to stay and announced Sam Raimi as a blockbuster director, which was solidified further when Spider-Man 2 was even better than the first instalment. Despite the fact that Raimi had delivered on all fronts with the first two films, Sony Pictures began cutting back his control on Spider-Man 3, resulting in a disjointed film that he wasn’t happy with.
Raimi had plans for two more films in the series, and Spider-Man 4 was set for a 2011 release date, with John Malkovich rumoured to appear as the Vulture and Anne Hathaway as Black Cat, but the director walked away, refusing to accommodate Sony’s increasingly ridiculous demands marking a sombre end to the series. However, Tobey Maguire was able to return as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, 14 years later.
Untitled ‘Terminator: Genisys’ sequel – May 19th, 2017
The Terminator franchise fell off a cliff creatively after James Cameron started directing the sequels, with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines landing as a major disappointment, and Terminator: Salvation didn’t even have Arnold Schwarzenegger in it. Thus, to break the curse, Alan Taylor came in with Terminator: Genisys, which was an unusual attempt at a reboot where Schwarzenegger returned to play a different T-1000 who becomes a mentor to Sarah Connor, played by Emilia Clarke, and joins forces with Jai Courtney’s Kyle Reese.
Genisys was announced as the first instalment in a trilogy, and release dates were given to the next two films. While it actually performed better than some had expected (perhaps because of its PG-13 rating), it marked the end of its iteration of the franchise when the rights reverted to Cameron, who produced another failed sequel in Terminator: Dark Fate; perhaps, the franchise is finally dead for good.
‘Justice League 2’ – June 14th, 2019
In a rush to compete with Marvel Studios, Warner Bros and DC announced a slate of films in 2013, following the mixed response to Man of Steel, for ten upcoming instalments in the DC Extended Universe. They unfortunately made the mistake of giving Zack Snyder creative control, and signed him on to direct both the Man of Steel sequel (which turned into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) and the two instalments of the Justice League film.
The first Justice League was entering production when Dawn of Justice debuted to terrible reviews, causing DC to rethink their original plans. Many films in the intital slate experienced several delays (such as The Flash), but the Justice League sequel was removed entirely, and never spoken of after the 2017 film became another legendary flop.
‘Star Trek 4’ – June 9th, 2023
Star Trek may seem like a franchise that will never die, but the films haven’t always connected with an audience outside of hardcore fans. While Star Trek Beyond was greeted with great reviews, it underperformed financially due to an inflated budget and because it was released in a busy summer where it faced competition with other blockbusters.
A release date for a fourth film featuring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the other members of the Kelvin Timeline cast was announced and pushed back several times, as a revolving door of directors and writers working on it. Star Trek 4 sat in development hell as the franchise became more focused on developing television shows for Paramount Plus, a disastrous decision that has made the once iconic characters unapproachable for those not already steeped in the lore.
‘The Golden Compass: The Subtle Knife’ – May 2010
The Golden Compass was based on a popular young adult fantasy series that seemed like it had the potential to be the next Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings, but the film adaptation ended up being far more controversial than anyone had expected. Director Chris Weitz tried to make a film that was faithful to the original novel’s criticism of organised religion, which led to boycotts and studio meddling, leading him to initially leaving the project but returning after becoming more confident in the use of visual effects.
Despite a great cast that included Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, The Golden Compass was neither accurate enough for book readers nor free of being deemed heretical by religious zealots. Thus, the planned sequel, based on the second book in the series, was cancelled, later rebooted as an HBO show instead.
‘The Divergent Series – Ascendant’ – June 9th, 2017
The Divergent Saga was another adaptation of a popular young adult dystopian series that aimed at capturing the same audience as The Hunger Games, and since the latter had succeeded in splitting the last novel, Mockingjay, into two films, so too Lionsgate decided to split the last Divergent book, Allegiant, with the first chapter titled The Divergent Saga: Allegiant and the second Ascendant.
The issue arose when Allegiant bombed, forcing Lionsgate to consider turning it into a television film, with cast members Shailene Woodley, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, and Theo James uninterested in reprising their roles for what was clearly a step down, and The Divergent Saga was hilariously over without an actual ending. Although Woodley’s decision to exit was initially used as an excuse by Lionsgate to explain why the film was cancelled, she has thankfully moved on to bigger and better things.
‘Madagascar 4’ – May 18th, 2018
It is a tad confusing why DreamWorks Animation hasn’t jumped on the opportunity to make a fourth Madagascar film, especially since animated movie sequels have been overperforming at the box office. Each of the three existing Madagascar films consistently grossed more than its predecessor, and the most recent Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, received the best reviews of the series.
While the downsizing of DreamWorks Animation was initially slated as the reason for the cancellation of Madagascar 4, announced in 2014, the original 2005 film performed fairly well when it was re-released in theaters for its 20th anniversary. Although DreamWorks is still working on new franchise instalments for Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, The Boss Baby, The Bad Guys, and The Wild Robot, it wouldn’t be shocking if the Madagascar 4 project is renewed.
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 3’ – June 10th, 2016
Spider-Man 4‘s cancellation led Sony to reboot the franchise with Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man, which turned out better than anyone expected, leading Sony to developing plans for its own cinematic universe featuring spinoffs like The Sinister Six and Venom. This meant The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was creatively compromised as a means to set up the new franchise, and while it didn’t underperform that badly, it also didn’t meet Sony’s expectations, leading to renewed talks with Marvel Studios.
A deal was struck to introduce Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it required a new continuity and a new actor, which meant that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was cancelled and Garfield’s time as the webslinger came to an abrupt end, even if he got to join Maguire for a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
‘The Lego Batman Movie 2’ – 2022
Batman is popular enough to inspire multiple versions and reboots, but one animated incarnation was brought to an unfortunate ending due to studio politics. Warner Bros Animation made one of the most surprisingly great films of the 2010s with The Lego Movie, which featured a major supporting role for Batman, voiced by Will Arnett, and while the offshoot Lego Batman Movie could have easily felt like too much of a good thing, it was a thoughtful, touching new spin on the idea of the ‘Bat-family’ that featured the first successful cinematic version of Batman’s sidekick, Robin (voiced by Michael Cera).
Director Chris McKay was set to return to make a sequel that would introduce the Lego versions of the Justice League, but rights to future films were passed from Warner Bros to Universal, and since all those characters belonged to DC, The Lego Batman 2 became an impossibility.
