6 Movie Franchises That Need to Die

It’s no secret that the film industry is dominated by prequels, sequels, and reboots. Original movies are hard to come by these days because investing millions into an idea that has nothing to do with pre-existing — and financially lucrative ­– IP is far more risky to a studio than it is to make Fast and Furious 18. The studios know that they are more likely to recoup their investments because previous films in the franchise have proven to be popular.

While there are plenty of movie franchises that I enjoy and that I think are still going strong (Mission: Impossible being the best example), there are others that feel tired, worn out, and like they’ve simply had their day. No matter how good a movie franchise starts out, franchise fatigue will always set in, and it’s better to end on a high note than it is to keep pumping movies out till people get sick of them.

Here are a few of the movie franchises that I think need to die:

Harry Potter

Yes, Harry Potter is fantastic and we all grew up with these films. The movies aged with us, becoming more mature as they went on. We got solid conclusion with The Deathly Hallows: Part II and I think it’s fair to say that most people were happy with the way we left Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The Fantastic Beasts movies have been an interesting experiment but haven’t reached the levels of popularity of the originals and honestly aren’t that great. Hopefully they stop after the third one, now due out in 2022.

There’s recently been talk, however, of a true Harry Potter sequel (or several), picking up twenty years after The Deathly Hallows: Part II, once again following Harry, Ron, and Hermione. While it would be great to see these fan-favourite characters once again, it’s unlikely that any new films in the franchise will reach the same levels as the originals and they might ruin what was otherwise a very heartfelt and well-deserved conclusion.

Bourne

The Bourne Identity in 2002 was a bit of a surprise hit from director Doug Liman, with Matt Damon absolutely nailing the titular character. When Paul Greengrass took the reins with The Bourne Supremacy, the series really came into its own and became renowned for its quick-cut, well-edited action sequences. The Bourne Ultimatum was perhaps the strongest of the three, featuring the same unique tone and atmosphere, but this time with even better fight scenes and a fitting conclusion for Mr. Bourne.

Starting with The Bourne Legacy in 2012 with a miscast Jeremy Renner, the franchise really went downhill. Legacy had a few decent moments but for the most part failed to capture what made the originals great. 2016’s Jason Bourne, featuring the return of director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon, seemed like it was set to put the franchise back on track, but that film proved to be a let-down as well. There was even a TV series, Treadstone, taking place in the Bourne universe that was cancelled after one season. There have been murmurs of a new Bourne movie for a while now (although Greengrass doesn’t wish to return to direct), but I think it would be better to just let new action franchises have the opportunity to flourish.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Oh, how I wish we never got a Pirates movie after At World’s End. The original trilogy of movies, featuring standout performances from Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, and Orlando Bloom, was fantastic and stands as one of my favourite film trilogies of all time. What came after…not so much.

The nosedive in quality with On Stranger Tides, the fourth film, and Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth, is actually quite baffling. Even Johnny Depp as fan-favourite Captain Jack Sparrow can’t save these movies — in fact, it kind of seems like he just stopped trying. The absence of director Gore Verbinski, who helmed the first three, might be partly to blame here, but it also feels like these scripts were simply rushed into production before they were ready. Now, with more films on the way, one a spin off with Margot Robbie and the other a soft reboot of the whole franchise (without Johnny Depp), it seems that the Pirates movies just need to go away.

Transformers

Were any of the Transformers movies good? The first one was fun, I guess, but they quickly went downhill after that. Director Michael Bay engages in his signature form of self-indulgent mayhem (Bayhem, if you will) in each film, with each entry more ridiculous and more unintelligible than the last. I know I’ve seen the fifth film in the franchise, The Last Knight, but I couldn’t for the life of me explain what it’s actually about.

2018’s Bumblebee wasn’t bad. It was nice to see a Transformers movie from another director (Travis Knight), but it was still a Transformers movie. The franchise has definitely overstayed its welcome for me, but then again I’m probably not the target demographic for these films anymore.

Fast & Furious

You can’t talk about film franchises that have overstayed their welcome without talking about the Fast & Furious. To date there have been nine F&F movies, eight in the franchise proper – the Fast Saga – and one spinoff. I’ve only really enjoyed one of the nine films, Fast Five, and have found most of the others to be generally unwatchable.

I know there are those who like this now-completely-bonkers franchise (remember when it was about car racing?), but nine movies is pushing it. With a ninth film due out for the Fast Saga sometime next year, a tenth and eleventh also in the works, a female-led spin-off planned, as well as a sequel to Hobbs and Shaw, it just feels a little ridiculous. How many movies do we need about people using cars to do things cars shouldn’t be used for? This franchise reached the end of the road long ago.

Jurassic Park

There is an argument to be made that the only truly good Jurassic Park film is the first one. I enjoyed the second, although a little less, and the third less still. Both Jurassic World films were also disappointing. The first Jurassic Park film was a revolution in terms of its CGI and practical effects work but also featured a compelling story with interesting characters. All of the following films, while featuring better effects and CGI and steadily growing budgets, have failed to capture the magic of the original.

With a third Jurassic World film due out next year, supposedly bringing the stories of Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ian Malcolm, and Dr. Ellie Sattler to a close, it’s inevitable that there will eventually be more Jurassic movies, but really, it’s time that this franchise go extinct.

What movie franchises do you think should end? Let me know in the comments down below!