Just like every other field, cinema also has its torchbearer franchises but as they say “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”, some of these movie franchises have been running for so long that at this point, all they do is ruin the nostalgia and beauty of their inception. So, let’s talk about the 10 movie franchises that need to end already!
10. The Mummy
The Mummy franchise debuted in 1932, was black and white, and made several movies. In 1999, this franchise was revived with Brendan Fraser in the lead role making a trilogy out of it that turned out to be a massive box-office success. However, after this, instead of letting the franchise have a noble and respectful closing, Universal chose to monetize people’s nostalgia and rebooted the franchise in 2017 with Tom Cruise in the lead role and now there are talks about another Mummy movie being made. All I have got to say to Universal is, it’s a Mummy guys, let it rest in its tomb.
9. Predator
Personally, The Predator has been one of my favorite franchises and one of those long-running ones that were able to retain their essence for quite some time. However, after the first three movies, it started going downhill for the Predator franchise. You all have to agree that with time, seeing the Predator chase down humans gets quite repetitive no matter how many twists and turns you add to the movie, it always remains the same basic story.
However, the most recent predator movie Prey released in 2022 was as good as it gets but as far as my opinion goes, it’s time for The Predator to lay down his Gauntlets.
8. Mission Impossible
All the way from 1996, Mission Impossible has been a franchise that has played a huge role in making Tom Cruise the star he is today. Now I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Mission Impossible movies but after a certain point in time, it becomes quite repetitive.
The highlight of every single Mission Impossible movie is not the plot but that one action sequence that Tom Cruise carries out on his own and is heavily advertised, attracting the audience to the movie. Other than that, there is nothing special or anything that stands out as such about the Mission Impossible movies that came out recently. Now, after 28 years, I think Ethan Hunt needs to take a retirement.
7. Pirates of The Caribbean
As a kid and even today, Pirates of The Caribbean was one of my favorite franchises. However, after the release of Dead Man’s Chest, this franchise continued to become nothing more than a money-milking opportunity based on people’s love for Jack Sparrow. If Disney continued this franchise with even the tiniest bit of heart that was put into the first two movies it could have grown into being one of the best franchises out there but instead of doing that, it just became a money-making operation.
Now, a spinoff of Pirates of the Caribbean has been announced and my only question is why? People watched these movies for Jack Sparrow who won’t be in the movie so what’s the point of it? Dollar bills I guess.
6. Men in Black
The Men in Black tapped into the conspiracy boom taking place in the 90’s. This movie came out in 1997 and introduced us to a secret government organization called “Men in Black” which protected Earth and its citizens from alien threats and acted as a medium of communication between aliens who had taken refuge on Earth.
The initial trilogy of Men in Black was a massive success but in 2019, another Men in Black movie, Men in Black: International was released. The movie was not at all well-received which is bound to happen when you keep milking a franchise till the audience is fatigued by the concept. Even now, there are rumors around Sony developing a new Men in Black movie, and in my opinion, this franchise is as good as dead.
5. Jurassic Park
We have always been fascinated by Dinosaurs and how the world would look like with them being a part of it. Back in 1993, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park brought this idea to life becoming one of the most successful movies of its time. Jurassic Park was followed by two other movies that worked well too. Fast forward to 2015, and instead of letting Jurassic Park be a good memory for people all over the world, Lucasfilm brought it back as Jurassic World making another trilogy out of it. Except for the first movie, the other two failed to impress people.
However, the cause of this failure was not just the same generic storyline. Over time, people got majorly fatigued by the overall appeal of Jurassic Park but it seems that Lucasfilm does not care since a new Jurassic World movie is set to release in 2025.
4. Terminator
There is no denying the fact that there could not have been a better casting decision for The Terminator than Arnold Schwarzenegger. The first Terminator movie came out in 1984 and was a massive success. After that, it was followed by two more super successful sequels that made the franchise a name popular worldwide. However, when Terminator Salvation came out in 2009, it failed to emulate the success of its predecessors.
Instead of letting the franchise go, Skydance Productions released Terminator Genysis in 2015 which turned out to be a failure again and shared the same fate with Terminator: Dark Fate released in 2019. Even after these massive failures, as of now, James Cameron is writing the script for another Terminator movie instead of letting the franchise just come to an end.
3. Transformers
Please don’t get me wrong folks but this is something that needs to be said. When Transformers came out, it was a movie I might have rewatched almost 10 times but it was good only until the first three movies. Age of Extinction and The Last Knight seem forced to me and nothing more than mere cash grabs. Now, If Transformers stopped with the first three movies and then released Rise of The Beasts it would have broken charts instead of just a decent enough collection.
However, unlike other franchises, Transformers seems to have understood that they will have to do something new to spark people’s interest back in the franchise. And to do that, they teased a collaboration of GI Joe with Transformers with a movie set to come out either by the end of 2025 or mid-2026. So, let’s see if they will be able to redeem themselves with this one or not.
2. Saw
Saw is one of the longest-running franchises in the horror genre with the latest movie Saw X released in 2023. The initial movies from this franchise were really good if you enjoy a mix of horror and gore but after that, Lionsgate just started using this franchise to make as much money as possible by bringing back almost the same plot we have seen over the years.
Saw X did make money in the Box Office but there was no soul in the movie. This franchise should already be put to an end but it looks like that will not happen anytime soon since Lionsgate has announced a new Saw movie to release on September 27, 2024.
1. Fast and Furious
Vin Diesel lead Fast and Furious has been around for a very long time and now, a franchise that was about illegal street racing is launching cars into outer space. This is a franchise that desperately needs to end because now it’s more of a comedy than an action movie. The latest movie from this franchise, Fast X came out last year and this movie is as big a disaster as it gets.
Fast and Furious is the prime example of milking nostalgia since even after the terrible reception of Fast X, Fast and Furious 11 is in production already and is set to release on April 4, 2025.
Aparna Ukil
