Every year Hollywood produces more reboots and remakes intended to kickstart a brand new franchise. Often, though, when these movies come out, they’re bland or just plain awful movies at best. Either way, any hope of a new franchise is immediately destroyed when they are released to critical and commercial failure.
There are some reboots coming out though, and while they could have spawned a new franchise, for some reason they didn’t. Maybe they even deserved to spawn a franchise because they laid a good foundation even if the movie itself could have been better. Here’s a list of reboot movies that didn’t start a new franchise, but probably could have been if given the chance.
5 Terminator: Rescue
Terminator: Rescue might be the best Terminator continued after Judgement day. It’s not a perfect movie; in fact, it has a lot of issues and was quite reviled upon release. In hindsight, though, it’s the only sequel that really tries something new. It’s the only one Terminator film set entirely in the future during the war with Skynet.
It’s a story ripe for a sequel, starring Christian Bale as John Connor, Anton Yelchin as the young Kyle Reese, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor. Allegedly, Rescue was planned to be the start of a new series. However, critical reception and poor box office returns caused MGM to reconsider. They would eventually reboot the story with the much disparaged, Terminator: Genisys.
4 Dredd
This ultra-violent comic strip adaptation is way better than it has any right to be. The effects are great, the cast is great, the action is brutal, the story and world building are just right. Still, Dredd never spawned a sequel, let alone an entire franchise. Oddly enough, the film didn’t do very well at the box office, although it was rated somewhat well.
Maybe this is because Dredd is a relatively unknown IP address. After all, the last time he was on the big screen was in the matte Judge Dredd movie starring Sylvester Stallone in 1995. Perhaps it was the movie’s hard R-rating, though R-rated comic book movies have fared much better lately. Whatever the reason, Dredd definitely deserved more than it got. Despite a sizable cult following, there’s unlikely to be a sequel, even if it’s clear Karl Urban is ready to reprise his role as a helmeted enforcer.
3 Friday the 13th (2009)
Perhaps the best of the Hollywood slasher reboot era, Friday the 13th, while extremely superficial at times, is a solid slasher that could have come off as the starting point for a new Jason series. Atmospherically, the film is quite strong, and Jason Voorhees has never been more unrelenting than here. Rather than being portrayed as some sort of undead zombie, Jason is more of a runaway survivalist in the backcountry who uses traps and improvised weapons to brutally kill his victims.
The cast of teens is predictably insufferable, but that’s part of the fun when it comes to slasher type Friday the 13th has always been. They are good fodder for Jason, who is the most creative when it comes to kills in this iteration.
2 The Incredible Hulk
Released in 2008, The Incredible Hulk is one of the more unique Marvel movies, simply because of how dark and serious the movie is. The Hulk, played by Edward Norton at the time, can be quite terrifying and there is very little humor to be found in the film. These are just a few likely reasons why the film unfortunately never got a sequel, despite making some money (it even put on The Leader).
The next time the Hulk would appear, he would be inside The Avengers in 2012, where the role of Bruce Banner would instead be played by Mark Ruffalo. The Hulk has often been demoted to a supporting character in other superhero movies. He’s yet to receive a series of movies or show them all for himself, and even if he does get one, it obviously won’t have much to do with the Edward Norton Hulk movie.
1 Uncle’s Husband
It’s always disappointing when a solid movie ends up being a blockbuster, especially when the movie is as charming and fun as Uncle’s Husband. Starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Jared Harris, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, and Hugh Grant, this reboot of the Cold War-themed spy TV series features great action, clever humor, and surprisingly good performances from just about everyone.
unfortunately UNCLE just didn’t grab an audience when it came out in 2015. Despite this, the film could certainly have gotten a sequel or two on the back of its cast alone. It could also have been a great counterbalance to the sandy direction the James Bond series took with Daniel Craig Casino royale.
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