The Maze Runner launched strongly in 2014, turning a solid profit and suggesting it could hold its own in the crowded YA adaptation space. But each sequel pulled in less than the one before it, and by the third film, the franchise was running on fumes more than genuine momentum. A reboot is apparently in the works, which at least suggests someone still believes there's something worth salvaging from the premise. | © 20th Century Fox
Artemis Fowl had been stuck in development for years before finally arriving on Disney+ in 2020, and the finished product made it clear why it had taken so long. A pandemic release on streaming didn't help its chances, but the critical reception was bad enough that a theatrical run likely wouldn't have saved it either. It was supposed to launch a franchise based on Eoin Colfer's beloved book series, but instead it became one of the more forgettable big-budget misfires of recent memory. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Eragon arrived in 2006 on a wave of studio optimism, a bestselling fantasy novel by a teenage author, a built-in fanbase, and a post-Lord of the Rings appetite for epic world-building. The film wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't the phenomenon anyone was hoping for either, landing with a thud critically and underwhelming at the box office. The intended franchise never got off the ground, and Paolini's sprawling Inheritance Cycle remains one of fantasy's great missed opportunities on screen. | © 20th Century Fox
Stephen King's Dark Tower series is one of the most ambitious mythologies in modern fiction, which made the 2017 film adaptation's failure sting a little extra. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in the lead roles should have been enough to generate real excitement, but the film was critically panned and quietly forgotten at the box office. Various reboots and adaptations have been floated since, but none have made it to the screen, leaving one of King's greatest works still waiting for the version it deserves. | © Sony Pictures Releasing
Universal invented the cinematic monster universe, which makes its repeated failure to revive one in the modern era all the more frustrating. The Dark Universe ambitions collapsed almost immediately after Dracula Untold and the Tom Cruise-led Mummy reboot both underwhelmed, and subsequent attempts like The Wolf Man have struggled to build any real momentum despite decent reviews. The pieces are there, but the franchise has yet to figure out how to put them together in a way that actually connects. | © Universal Pictures
Tim Burton's 2001 Planet of the Apes remake was clearly designed as a franchise launcher, it even ended on a cliffhanger meant to set up a sequel. The film made money, but not enough enthusiasm, and the follow-up never materialized. A decade later, the whole thing was rebooted from scratch with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which turned out to be the version that actually stuck. | © 20th Century Fox
Sony's Spider-Man universe has had one of the rougher runs in recent comic book movie history, churning out film after film that audiences and critics have greeted with indifference or outright mockery. Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter all arrived with real budgets and recognizable faces and left without making much of an impression or much of a profit. It's a franchise that keeps swinging and keeps missing, seemingly unsure of what it actually wants to be. | © Sony Pictures
The Percy Jackson films had a built-in fanbase and a rich source material to draw from, but managed to squander both within two movies. Fans of Rick Riordan's books were quick to point out how little the adaptations seemed to understand what made the novels work, and general audiences weren't engaged enough to sustain the franchise regardless. The Disney+ series that followed has been a very different story, proof that the property was always worth adapting, just not the way the films went about it. | © 20th Century Studios
Tron has been trying to become a major franchise for over three decades without ever quite getting there. The original became a cult classic, its 2010 sequel was visually striking but fell short of Disney's expectations, and the third installment, released in 2025, appears to be heading toward outright bomb territory. It's a strange legacy, a franchise that keeps getting second chances and keeps falling just short of the moment that would make it all worthwhile. | © Walt Disney Pictures
The Chronicles of Narnia got off to a genuinely strong start with a faithful and visually impressive adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but the momentum faded fast. Prince Caspian showed cracks, and by The Voyage of the Dawn Treader it was clear the franchise couldn't hold onto what made the first film work. The series stalled after three installments, though a reboot directed by Greta Gerwig is now in the works, so Narnia may not be done just yet. | © 20th Century Fox
M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation of the beloved animated series landed in 2010 to nearly universal condemnation – fans of the source material were furious, and critics weren't much kinder. It made modest money at the box office, but the backlash was loud enough to kill any plans for sequels almost immediately. The story got a second chance in the 2020s with a Netflix live-action series, which at least suggested the world still had an appetite for the material, just not Shyamalan's version of it. | © Paramount Pictures
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword had a strong cast, a visionary director in Guy Ritchie, and a fresh spin on a classic legend, the ingredients for a franchise starter looked right. But the film's bold reimagining divided critics and left general audiences cold, and the box office numbers told the final story: it didn't come close to recouping its budget. What was planned as the first chapter of a sprawling series ended up being the only one. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Mortal Engines had Peter Jackson's name attached and a massive budget behind it, which made its 2018 box office collapse all the more embarrassing. Critics weren't kind and audiences largely stayed home, leaving the film to recoup only a fraction of what it cost to make. It's become one of Hollywood's more cautionary tales about spectacle without substance, proof that no amount of visual effects can compensate for a story that isn't pulling its weight. | © Universal Pictures
Green Lantern was supposed to be DC's launching pad for a shared cinematic universe, but it landed with a thud in 2011 despite Ryan Reynolds giving the role everything he had. The film strayed too far from its source material and never found its footing, failing to break even at the box office. Reynolds has since made a career out of joking about it, which is about the best thing to come out of the whole endeavor. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Fantastic Beasts looked like a sure thing on paper, a Harry Potter spinoff with a built-in global fanbase and plenty of wizarding world lore to explore. The first film delivered, but the second made it clear the franchise had no real direction, and by the time The Secrets of Dumbledore arrived in 2022, audiences had largely checked out. No further installments are planned, leaving what was supposed to be a five-film series dead at three. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Not every franchise gets to be Marvel. Hollywood has a long history of greenlit universes, planned trilogies, and would-be blockbuster series that never made it past the starting line, or worse, limped along long enough to make the failure hurt more. These 15 franchises are proof that a big budget and good intentions aren't always enough.
