It’s understandable when a great movie is made that there’s a desire to return to the well and transform it into a major franchise. This has happened time and again with mixed results. Sometimes things work out brilliantly, and we end up with all-time action franchises like John Wick or kids classics such as the Toy Story series. But other times, a great movie does not equate to an incredible franchise, and with hindsight, it seems things would have been better if it had been left as one single film.

There’s a real issue in modern Hollywood with movies being unnecessarily given the franchise treatment and studio executives valuing brand recognition over original ideas. This leads to lackluster sequels, pointless prequels, and just plain boring movies. While not every sequel discussed here was downright terrible, the truth was that the legacy of these series would have been better if they had remained a standalone movie and not been milked for all that they’re worth.

10

Pirates Of The Caribbean (2003-2017)

A franchise of diminishing returns

As a swashbuckling adventure based on the Disneyland theme park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was one of the most enjoyable films of 2003. With Johnny Depp perfectly cast as Captain Jack Sparrow and a uniquely interesting supernatural storyline, had the series ended just there, it would have stood as a perfect family-friendly blockbuster and an all-time classic to rival the likes of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Iron Giant, and The Princess Bride.

But the box office success was too great to ignore, and it’s no surprise that there were four Pirates sequels in the subsequent years. These were unfortunately of diminishing returns as audiences started to have enough of Depp’s once extraordinary performance, and with each new entry, the legacy of the franchise sank further and further into mediocrity. The Pirates movies were always financially successful, but from a viewer’s perspective, Disney had plundered to the point we wished the series had walked the plank following the release of The Curse of the Black Pearl.

9

Fantastic Beasts (2016-2022)

It’s no Harry Potter

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is one that’s ripe for exploration, spin-off films, and endless extended media. That’s why it was so exciting when J.K. Rowling decided to explore the story of the Hogwarts textbook author, Newt Scamander, in a prequel film that would allow audiences to see witches and wizards in New York City for the first time. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was an exciting new installment that wasn’t burdened with having to fit neatly into the narrative of the Harry Potter series.

However, rather than allow Fantastic Beasts to stand as one exciting spin-off adventure that could lead to many more Harry Potter-inspired movies, Rowling opted to continue the series and shoehorn in the story of Dumbledore and Grindelwald into the franchise. While this was also an interesting story that deserved to be told, the fact that it was blended with Newt’s narrative overloaded the franchise, and worsening box office figures meant that even though Rowling had planned five films, only three were produced.

8

Transformers (2007–Present)

Director Michael Bay got lost in an endless array of unnecessary sequels

With the first Transformers movie, Michael Bay delivered exactly what audiences wanted as giant robots battled it out, and we witnessed an impressive bombardment of special effects. There was nowhere to really go from there, so the idea that Transformers would continue with sequel after sequel was always going to be disappointing. Although Bay has consistently received flak throughout his career for relying too heavily on explosions, this reached a true boiling point with the Transformers franchise.

As the Transformers movies went on, they became increasingly bloated, special effects-heavy, and lacking in coherence. Rather than deepening the series’ mythology as it went on, the movies just got louder and more garish. While Bay moved on from the series following Transformers: The Last Knight in 2017, the fact that the franchise has continued with new directors means there could be no end to how many more lackluster Transformers movies we’ll be subjected to.

7

Cars (2006-2017)

This franchise ran out of fuel fast

The original Cars was yet another great example of Pixar telling a heartfelt, self-contained story that could be enjoyed by viewers of all ages. As the rookie race car Lightning McQueen learned important lessons of humility, friendship, and what really matters in life, it was clear that Cars was a labor of love by those involved and deserved to stand alongside the likes of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Monsters Inc.

However, the Cars series went off the rails as it pivoted into spy-comedy territory with Cars 2, and Cars 3 followed a predictable pᴀssing-of-the-torch sports movie formula. With limited cross-generational appeal, it felt like the Cars franchise was more about selling merchandise to young viewers than it was about making genuinely compelling Pixar classics.

6

Blair Witch (1999-2016)

The sequels could never match the surprise success of the original

The Blair Witch Project was a sleeper hit that helped revive the found-footage genre of horror movies. As a truly scary story, The Blair Witch Project succeeded due in part to its clever marketing that made some viewers believe its mockumentary style was actually real and that this was the actual footage of a group of young filmmakers who had gone missing years earlier. This was a special set of circumstances that was impossible, and the harsh truth is that nobody should have even tried.

While the original film was a surprise independent success, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 and the third film, Blair Witch, were disappointing and formulaic. To turn The Blair Witch Project into a franchise totally misses the point of what made the original special to begin with and completely undercuts the power of the first movie. What started off as mysterious and eerie ended up as mundane and ordinary.

5

Clerks (1994–2022)

A cult classic that didn’t need to be a franchise

Kevin Smith proved it possible to find success on a shoestring budget with his indie cult classic Clerks in 1994. This opened the door to many more films in his View Askewniverse featuring the fan-favorite characters Jay and Silent Bob. While there was an enjoyable interconnectivity between Smith’s films as he carved out his own cinematic universe years before the MCU, Smith really didn’t need to turn Clerks into a franchise, and it would have been better to just check in with Dante and Randal as cameo appearances rather than fully fledged sequels.

Clerks holds a special place in the history of independent cinema, and Smith captured the angst, frustration, and disillusionment of Generation X slackers with his excellent first film. As an unapologetically personal look at working-class 20-somethings stuck in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ-end jobs, Clerks had a gritty realism that was missing in Clerks II and Clerks III. By the end, these movies started to feel more like fan service than anything else, and it was clear Smith had lost his edge.

4

Predator (1987–Present)

Too many poor sequels have ruined its reputation

The Predator franchise has been ongoing for decades now, yet it’s hard to shake the feeling that every subsequent movie fails to live up to the expectations set by the original. As fast-paced, action-packed sci-fi from Die Hard director John McTiernan, the original Predator saw Arnold Schwarzenegger face off against a terrifying Yautja during a covert operation in a Central American jungle. While most franchises like this would have continued to tell the story of Schwarzenegger’s Dutch Schafer, Predator made the decision to move away from his character and focused solely on the extraterrestrial foe.

The results were mixed, as although Predator 2 has plenty of cult appeal, the litany of sequels and spin-offs that followed felt wholly unnecessary. As a franchise that’s languished in mediocrity for decades, it’s only recently, with Dan Trachtenberg’s excellent prequel, Prey, that the series has finally found its footing. Even though there have been some high points over the years, the harsh truth is that Predator’s legacy would be more esteemed if it were just one lone action movie.

3

The Lion King (1994–Present)

Financial interests have overtaken artistic integrity

The Disney Renaissance boasts some of the most acclaimed children’s animated movies of all time, with The Lion King standing as perhaps this era’s greatest accomplishment. With an epic narrative swiped directly from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Lion King was characterized by thematic depth, great music from Elton John, and some of the most beautiful animation ever rendered. The story could have ended right there if Disney hadn’t decided to continually return to the well and see what else they could squeeze out of this beloved film turned franchise.

While The Lion King’s direct-to-video sequel and prequel have their admirers, no one can pretend that they were as good as the original. Add to this the disappointing pH๏τorealistic remake in 2019, which was the perfect example of Disney continually milking their back catalog to make far inferior products. The truth was that the legacy of The Lion King should be allowed to stand for itself, and the only adaptation that should have been made was the excellent Broadway theatrical production.

2

Ocean’s (2001-2018)

The cast was having more fun than the audience

Director Steven Soderbergh ᴀssembled an all-star Hollywood cast the likes of which we’d never seen when he made Ocean’s Eleven in 2001, and then he just kept doing it. As a remake of the Rat Pack classic from 1960 that featured Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., this rebooted version featured modern stars like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon. As a heist film that is packed with humor and energy, Ocean’s Eleven was a lot of fun, but Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen were just totally unnecessary.

While every film in the series was categorized by a stylish aesthetic and good chemistry between its ensemble cast, this was not a movie that needed to be turned into a franchise. The female-led spin-off Ocean’s 8 was yet another example of Hollywood being out of original ideas and just continually trying to rehash the joys of the past. While there’s room for plenty of exciting heist movies in today’s cinema landscape, we don’t need to keep making Ocean’s movies to achieve this.

1

The Matrix (1999-2021)

Became increasingly convoluted as it went on

The Wachowskis made an undeniably great film with The Matrix in 1999, a clever sci-fi story that kickstarted Keanu Reeves’ career as an action star. As a film that was packed with deeply grand ideas relating to determinism, free will, technology, and reality itself, The Matrix proved it was possible for a Hollywood blockbuster to be both entertaining and philosophically deep. With concepts like the blue pill and red pill entering the popular lexicon and bullet time changing the way action movies are sH๏τ, The Matrix was hugely influential.

However, it’s clear that The Matrix sequels were of diminishing returns and that the franchise became increasingly convoluted as it went on. The story of Neo fighting back against the machines who had enslaved humanity in a simulated environment was a compelling one, but later movies just did not have the same kind of enduring relevance as the original. The legacy sequel The Matrix Resurrections from 2021 also stands as the series’ worst entry, showcasing that it’s time to unplug this franchise once and for all…