Today, Hollywood tends to regurgitate old ideas and intellectual properties, and relies on the success of past films and TV series in order to try and capture a new generation of fans. While this can work and there have been many instances of success, there have also been some flops.
In this article, we look sadly at movie franchises who had incredible success before the 2000s, but recent reboots, remakes or new material has simply failed to have the same impact.
1. Alien / Predator
The Alien and Predator film franchises can be cobbled into one as the two intermingle and have overlapping storylines in some of the films.
Regardless, both franchises have seen better days and have experienced a massive drop in quality. Alien started off amazingly and the original remains one of the best sci-fi horror films of all time. However, recent additions such as Resurrection, Prometheus and Covenant have made the storylines convoluted, complicated and messy. Additionally, films such as Prometheus simply raised even more questions while failing to answer the original ones posed.
Predator has suffered similarly and films such as Predators and The Predator were nowhere near as good as the original two films. The most recent addition, Prey, has had mixed reviews and has reinvigorated the franchise somewhat, but it has still seen far better days.
2. Terminator
Long gone are the days where Arnold could sell out movie theatres and draw people in their thousands to see his incredible physique in films such as Terminator.
The original Terminator is regarded as an 80s classic and is universally loved. For its time, it was fascinating and the whole film rocked. We were then treated to an even better sequel in Terminator 2 that stands as one of the best sequels of all time. This created one of the most successful film franchises of all time too. However, from there the quality took a dive and the most recent Terminator films Dark Fate and Genisys are seen in a mainly unfavourable light.
The new characters were largely unlikable and the way they rolled out an aging Arnold didn’t really add much to the storylines. Hopefully they put this franchise to bed and don’t try to make any more sequels!
3. Star Wars
Many feel that the golden age of Star Wars has long since passed and ended with the prequel films, which in themselves many people didn’t like. The original three films (Episodes 4, 5 and 6) are regarded as masterpieces and beloved by most people. We grew to love characters such as Luke, Han and R2D2, and the movies gave us the greatest villains of all time in Vader and Palpatine.
However, the recent trilogy of films (Episodes 7, 8 and 9) simply didn’t have as much success. Sure, they looked visually amazing, but the storylines and characters were lacking. Many people didn’t like the way the characters from the original films were treated either.
4. RoboCop
The original RoboCop was incredible. It was over-the-top, had amazing action and the premise alone meant that it was a successful film. No one had ever seen anything like it before and Peter Weller put in a fantastic performance as the lead role.
The same can’t be said for the sequels and the 2014 remake. The sequels steadily declined in quality and the 2014 version was just okay and failed to deliver anything special. It certainly didn’t recreate the action and violence of the 1987 original.
5. Ghostbusters
The original Ghostbusters films stand the test of time despite looking a little dated and having special effects that don’t hold up well compared to modern movies. The characters were fantastic, the storyline was unique and intriguing and there were loads of memorable moments.
Although Ghostbusters Afterlife was seen in a positive light and has somewhat revived the franchise, Ghostbusters 2016 nearly killed it. The film was generally hated by fans of the original movies, and many felt that the jokes didn’t work, the acting was poor and the storyline was nonsensical. Most true Ghostbuster fans refuse to acknowledge that the 2016 remake even exists and do not count it as canon within the universe.
There are many more examples and many TV series that could be included in this list too. Just look at shows such as Dr. Who, Star Trek and The Rings of Power. It appears that sometimes Hollywood simply can’t recapture or continue what made some of the classics so appealing and this is apparent from these five franchises that have dropped off after the 1990s!
