Launching a film franchise can be very difficult. Even when adapting successful material with a built-in fan base, there are plenty of pitfalls that studios and creatives can stumble into. Often,studios simply put so much effort into world-building and setting up future charactersthat they fail at making a single satisfying film that audiences would want to see any follow-ups to. Those franchise-starters that do manage to tell a solid standalone story often fail regardless of their quality because audiences don’t show up for them.
The 2010s were an era filled with plenty of franchise beginnings and continuations, but for everyfranchise likeJohn WickorThe Hunger Gamesthat found success, there were several others that failed to bear any fruit from their labors and instead died on the vine. That failure isn’t always warranted, and, as the following ten films show,many would-be franchises from the 2010s deserve far more love from audiencesthan they were initially given.
10’The A-Team' (2010)
Directed by Joe Carnahan
Joe Carnahan’sbig-budget adaptation of the action-packed'80s TV seriesThe A-Teamhad a lot going for it. It featured a solid cast filling out the four lead roles, withLiam Neeson(enteringhis action hero eraoff the success ofTaken) as team leader Hannibal,Bradley Cooperas Face, UFC starQuinton Jacksondonning the signature mohawk of B.A. Baracus, andDistrict 9’sSharlto Copleyas Murdock. With that charismatic cast and Carnahan eschewing his leaner and grittier aesthetics for a more overblown action movie, the modern update on four former soldiers turned mercenaries seemed primed for success.
The movie knows it’s meant to be big, dumb fun, and if it isn’t obvious to audiences at the start, it will be by the time the heroes are flying a tank. Critics didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength as Carnahan and were harsher on the movie than it deserved, and its lackluster performance at the box office killed all chances of the planned sequel. It’s a shame because Carnahan has since repeatedly shown his ability to craft pulpy over-the-top action in films likeBoss LevelandCopshop, and a return to the bigger sandbox afforded by a sequel had a lot of explosive potential.
The A-Team
9’Tron: Legacy' (2010)
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
While audiences will be getting a chance to return to the Grid withthe upcomingTron: Ares, that film looks to be, at the very least, a soft reboot of the series, withJeff Bridgesthe only returning actor. Bridges' presence, while making sense from a marketing standpoint, seems to ignorehis role inTron: Legacy. In that literal legacy sequel, Bridges played two roles, reprising his characters of Kevin Flynn and his digital doppelgänger Clu from the originalTron, though both were derezzed by the end of the movie.
Tron: Legacypositioned Flynn’s son Sam, played byGarrett Hedlund, as the new franchise protagonist, butthe film’s lukewarm critical reception and less-than-spectacular box officemeant that Disney didn’t push hard for a sequel. Despite several attempts and a long development, the original plans for a true sequel eventually dissipated, which is unfortunate sinceLegacyis a visually arresting sci-fi adventurewith a fantastic soundtrack byDaft Punkthat, despite some of its flaws, has earned a cult following much like its predecessor. It’s entirely possible thatArescould follow through, or at least reference, the hanging plot threads fromLegacy, but that seems unlikely given the lack of support that Disney has given the franchise.
TRON: Legacy
8’The Green Hornet' (2011)
Directed by Michel Gondry
2011’sThe Green Hornetis a real curio of the superhero subgenre.StarringSeth Rogen, who also co-wrote the screenplay, the film takes a more humorous approach to the classic superhero who originated in radio serials, which may have been just a little too ahead of its time in an era whereThe Dark Knightand MCU were going strong. The film’s bloated budget didn’t help matters when it came to getting a sequel greenlit.
With Rogen as the masked superhero andJay Chouas martial arts expert Kato, directorMichel Gondryfills the movie with someincredibly inventive action sequences. Even among the more comedic superhero films,The Green Hornethas a distinct voice, and the movie world needs more superhero movies that take weird, wild swings like this, whichit’s doubtful the inevitable reboot will be willing to.
The Green Hornet
7’The Adventures of Tintin' (2011)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Despite several of the cast and crew teasing thata sequel might still happen, it’s been over a decade since audiences gotSteven Spielberg’sgorgeously animated adaptation of the belovedHergécharacter Tintin. Using performance capture technology, Spielberg and the visual effects artists at producerPeter Jackson’s Weta Digital wisely didn’t attempt to match the animated characters directly to their live-action actors, instead attempting to adhere closer to Hergé’s illustrations. The result is far less uncanny than the dead-eyed abominations that filled out similar animated movies likeThe Polar Express.
Following the titular youthful reporter, who gets embroiled in a search for a lost pirate treasure, the movie owes a debt to Spielberg’sadventure franchise,Indiana Jones. However,Tintincarves out a new place in the genre thanks to the director’s lively use of the animated medium. Despitea relatively warm reception from critics and audiences, development stalled on the follow-up, but, given the agelessness of animated characters, there’s still hope for fans of the film.
The Adventures of Tintin
6’The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' (2011)
Directed by David Fincher
WhileStieg Larsson’s bleak crime novels in theMillenniumseries managed to geta full trilogy in their native Sweden, the American adaptation of the first novel,The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, only managed one entry. Even so,David Fincher’scold, violent mystery thriller isone of the best crime moviesto come out in the 21st century.Rooney Maraplays punk hacker Lisbeth Salander, who is recruited byDaniel Craig’sjournalist to assist with an investigation of a forty-year-old disappearance.
Fincher envisioned the film as the beginning of an adult franchise, and the film was given an appropriate marketing blitz to treat it as such, with the studio labeling it as the “feel-bad movie of the year.” Unfortunately, the attempts at marketing the film as counter-programming weren’t enough to turn the film into the overwhelming success the studio wanted it to be.Sequels based on the two follow-up novels were plannedbut were never put into production, and a lesser reboot was eventually made based on one of the non-Larsson-written novels.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
5’John Carter' (2012)
Directed by Andrew Stanton
John Carterwas supposed to spawna Disney franchise, but its marketing and release were seriously fumbled by the House of Mouse, turning it intoan infamous box office bomb. That disappointment put the brakes on Pixar directorAndrew Stanton’slive-action career and prevented starTaylor Kitschfrom achieving leading man status.The movie had a toxic reputation long before it even hit theaters, and critics weren’t too kind to it when it did, which gave audiences even more reason to stay away, since they had no real idea what it was about anyway. Based onEdgar Rice Burrough’s novelA Princess of Mars, the movie was originally titledJohn Carter of Marsbefore Disney removed the red planet from the title out of fear that audiences wouldn’t be interested in a movie about Mars.
The generic name change made the film even harder to market to audiences, and the trailers only exacerbated the issue by giving audiences only a vague sense of the plot, which involves a Civil War veteran who gets transported to the planet and becomes involved in a Martian civil war. Burroughs' novel has been noted as a major influence on the science fiction and fantasy genres, to the point that many of theideas originating in the novel were recycled many times overbefore it got a proper adaptation. Unfortunately, all these issues made the film feel less original and, without the benefit of a sequel, unfinished.
John Carter
4’Dredd' (2012)
Directed by Pete Travis
After the terribleSylvester Stalloneadaptation of the cult comic bookJudge Dredd, it took almost two decades before Hollywood took another crack at the satirical police state character. Luckily, the second time around, they hadKarl Urbanin the lead role, and acclaimed writerAlex Garlandbehind the script (and allegedly more). The resulting reboot,Dredd, was a visually arresting action movie, but had a mediocre box office performance, which, to date, has led to no sequel.
Urban wears the helmet of the lead character well, giving a gravel-voiced performance somewhere in betweenClint EastwoodandKurt Russell’sSnake Plissken, and the slow-motion action scenes are blisteringly beautiful. Despite a growing cult following, no movement has been made on the follow-up, preventing the possibility of seeing some ofthe wilder characters and plotlines from the comicsmake it onto the big screen.
3’The Man From U.N.C.L.E' (2015)
Directed by Guy Ritchie
While some fans have been holding out hope thatHenry Cavillwill be named asthe next James Bond, the English actor hadanother spy franchise that should have been. Based on the ’60s TV series,The Man From U.N.C.L.E.wasGuy Ritchie’s slick, stylish update that paired Cavill’s American agentNapoleon SolowithArmie Hammer’s KGB killer to protect the daughter of a nuclear scientist.
Like much of Ritchie’s work,the film was a lot of style over substance, but that worked in its favor, making it a breezy spy adventure that contrasted with the more self-seriousDaniel Craigera of Bond. Unfortunately, critics were more mixed on it, and it couldn’t recoup its costs at the box office. Add to that Hammer’s cancellation and exile from Hollywood, and any hopes for a sequel have been well and truly eliminated.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
2’The Nice Guys' (2016)
Directed by Shane Black
In a just world,Shane Black’sbox-office bombturned cult classicThe Nice Guyswould have had multiple sequels by now, all following the further adventures ofRyan Gosling’salcoholic private eye andRussell Crowe’stemperamental enforcer. The two actors' white-hot chemistry made Black’s neo-noir comedyone of the best buddy movies in yearsand could’ve sustained an entire franchise had more movie-goers flocked to see the original film in theaters.
Set in Los Angeles in the ’70s, the film’s twisty mystery plot involves a convergence of the auto and porn industries, and Black’s script is just as sharp as his previousLethal WeaponandKiss Kiss Bang Bang. Black had intended to make a sequel had the film been a success, but the film’s irreverent humor and throwback sensibilities went unappreciated at the time. Instead,Black went on to direct the sci-fi misfireThe Predator.
The Nice Guys
1’Alita: Battle Angel' (2019)
Directed by Robert Rodriguez
DirectorRobert Rodriguezand producerJames Cameron’sunderratedmanga adaptationAlita: Battle Angelhad been in development under Cameron for almost two decades by the time it was finally made, so perhaps the long-awaited sequel will still be made in the next decade, if Cameron finds timein betweenAvatarmovies. The film is certainly just as worthy of a sequel as that, admittedly more lucrative, franchise.
FollowingRosa Salazar’swide-eyed cyborg, built out of scraps, as she navigates Iron City, becoming both a sports star and a lethal bounty hunter,the movie is overstuffed with ideasand doesn’t always follow through on some of them. Still,Alitaboasts tremendous action andmore personality than many other action franchises that are still thriving. The movie infamously ended on a cliffhanger that has left fans waiting for a follow-up six years later, but has yet to materialize.
Alita: Battle Angel
NEXT:10 2010s Movies You’ve Probably Never Heard of But Must Absolutely Watch
