Summary

• Movie franchises can be robbed of a good ending due to various reasons like poor box office performance, negative reception, or lack of budget and cast availability.
• Some successful franchises continue to release sequels that become formulaic and lack substance, ruining the perfect ending of the original film.
• Cancelation is not the only way for a film series to never receive a proper send-off; subsequent installments can also tarnish the legacy of the franchise and fail to capture the magic of the original.

In recent years, movie franchises have started popping out one by one, offering viewers the concept of a TV show as a cinematic experience, but some sagas have gotten themselves canceled before they have had a chance to tell their stories until the end. There are a variety of reasons why a movie franchise can be robbed of a good ending: abysmal box office performance, negative critical reception, loss of interest from audiences, lack of budget, unavailability of the cast and crew members, or unclear creative direction. The list doesn’t stop there, and cancelation isn’t even the only way for a film series to never receive a proper send-off.

Sometimes, a franchise can turn out to be so successful that it continues to spawn more and more sequels until they ultimately become formulaic money-makers with no substance behind the pretty picture. A saga like that might have had its perfect ending years ago, but it was ruined by subsequent installments beyond repair. A worthy ending is the only thing any film series can hope for, and it is really easy to venture past it without paying too much attention until it becomes too late. That is exactly what happened to The Terminator franchise when the studio executives decided to squeeze more money out of it.

RELATED: 10 Unfinished Movie Franchises That Are Still Worth Watching

10 Journey To The Center Of The Earth (2008–2012)

Final Installment — Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

Inspired by Jules Vernes’ Extraordinary Voyages series, Journey to the Center of the Earth started out as a promising franchise. Even though both movies did rather well in theaters, they never really entered the mainstream, so the two subsequent sequels, one of which was titled Journey 3: from the Earth to the Moon, never saw the light of day. Journey 3 was not happening because of concerns about adapting the novel in a way that would tie it with to the previous two films. With no clear creative direction and a lack of a substantial fan base, the sequels were shelved until further notice, and the Andersons’ story was left hanging.

9 The Hangover (2009–2013)

Final Installment — The Hangover Part III (2013)

The Hangover saga is an example of a franchise that should have been a standalone movie. The first installment was legendary — it was a witty R-rated comedy about a bachelor party that went so spectacularly wrong that it was hard to believe in Stu, Alan, and Phil’s luck, or rather, lack thereof. Doug and Tracy did manage to tie the knot, and the final scene where the guys went through the photos of their wild night served as a satisfying ending. The Hangover sequels could never top the original movie, no matter how hard they tried to recreate the magic. Gone were the shocking plot twists, the realistic premise, and the Wolfpack’s hilariously adorable interactions.

8 Divergent (2014–2016)

Final Installment — The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016)

Critics’ reaction to the movies worsened with each sequel, and splitting Veronica Roth’s final novel of the trilogy into two parts was the last straw.

The Divergent Series joined in on the 2010s young adult dystopia craze, but it failed to live up to the hype created by The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner franchises. Starting from Divergent, the critics’ reaction to the movies worsened with each sequel, and splitting Veronica Roth’s final novel of the trilogy into two parts was the last straw. Allegiant was so poorly received that it was decided to cancel Ascendant‘s theatrical release and reconsider the project as a TV film, followed by a spinoff series. However, none of the cast members wanted to reprise their roles by the time the project has gotten out of early development limbo.

7 Pirates Of The Caribbean (2003–)

Latest Installment — Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has long outlived itself, but Disney is not willing to let it go. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, the third installment, provided a bittersweet conclusion to Will and Elizabeth’s epic love story and saw Jack and Barbossa off into the sunset, looking for the Fountain of Youth and hoping to outsmart each other. The two sequels that followed soured the franchise’s legacy — they never captured the same grandeur, Will and Elizabeth were gone, and the plot was somewhat confusing. With Pirates of the Caribbean 6 in the works, hopefully, the franchise can fix its own mistakes in the upcoming installment.

6 The Chronicles Of Narnia (2005–2010)

Final Installment — The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (2010)

The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy may seem complete to those who have never read C.S. Lewis’ saga, which consists of seven books. The canceled fourth film, The Magician’s Nephew, would technically be a prequel to the trilogy, but it would move the story in a way that would allow for three more sequels to be released later. Unfortunately, in 2011, Walden Media lost its rights to adapt Lewis’ novels, and that was it for the film franchise. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader left some threads hanging, but with any luck, Netflix’s upcoming Chronicles of Narnia reboot will see the Pevensies’ story to the end.

5 Terminator (1984–)

Latest Installment — Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

James Cameron’s Terminator franchise has never worked after Judgment Day, as it was a perfect follow-up to the original movie that added value and provided a new angle at the T-800’s story. All the subsequent sequels kept rewriting history, painfully tearing down every bit of the lore that was carefully built in the first two installments until the franchise lost all its charm. Considering that James Cameron has recently announced Terminator 7, for which he is penning the script himself, there may still be hope for the long-standing saga, provided it ends with the seventh film.

4 Percy Jackson (2010–2013)

Final Installment — Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters (2013)

The Percy Jackson film saga didn’t go beyond the second film, and it was simultaneously a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, the Percy Jackson movie franchise strayed so far from the source material that it should have been renamed to avoid being associated with Rick Riordan’s wonderful works. It was essentially the Gods’ blessing that it didn’t get any more sequels. On the other hand, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover’s adventures never properly ended. Hopefully, Netflix’s upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians series will treat the novels with more respect and live to see its canonical ending on screen.

3 Fast & Furious (2001–)

Latest Installment — Fast X (2023)

The Fast & Furious movies have been getting out of hand for a while now, and it seems as though they are not planning to stop any time soon. Even though Universal Pictures continues to release generic action thrillers to no end, tarnishing the perfect ending of Furious 7, the golden days of the franchise were over with the late Paul Walker’s final appearance. In Furious 7′s ending, Brian and Dom said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, and that was a beautiful on-screen tribute to the heartbreaking real-life tragedy. Everything that has happened in the Fast & Furious universe since could never compare.

RELATED: How Furious 7 Finished Paul Walker’s Scenes After His Death

2 The Mortal Instruments (2013)

Only Installment — The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones (2013)

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was meant to launch the Shadowhunters franchise, but sadly, it didn’t even turn out to be an adequate adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s first novel. To say that the movie underperformed at the box office would be an understatement; The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones bombed both in theaters and with critics due to its lackluster plot and too many liberties taken with the source material. Even though the Shadowhunters saga got a second shot as a television series, Clary Fray’s story was never finished. Unfortunately, both adaptations failed to properly bid farewell to their characters in the end.

1 Transformers (2007–)

Latest Installment — Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (2023)

Even though the Transformers franchise is still ongoing with the latest prequel, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, released in June 2023, it is well past its prime. In fact, just like The Hangover, Transformers would work better as a standalone film. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox’s electric chemistry was one of the unexpected highlights of the action-packed movie, and it was rewarding to see Sam and Mikaela get their happily-ever-after. Optimus Prime’s story arc seemed just as complete by the end of the film, so there really was no need for sequels, especially considering that they lacked the emotional charge of the original.