Scrapped Movie Sequels

[JamesG.]

I thought it would be cool to discuss sequels that never happened and why. Please add more if you know of any.



"The Mask 2"

Despite being offered $10 million to do "The Mask 2", Jim Carrey declined and the sequel plans were scrapped.

Sometime in the mid-90s Nintendo Power magazine even held a contest where the winner would receive a walk-on role on "The Mask 2".

(Jim Carrey is not a fan of starring in sequels, he was forced to do Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls under contract)







"Spider-Man 4"

Around 2007 it was announced that "Spider-Man 4" was in development with Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, and Kirsten Dunst returning. A script was then completed and then there was word that John Malkovich, Dylan Baker, and Anne Hathaway were coming onboard.

Sam Raimi then decided to step down from the project due to his doubt that he would be able to make the planned May 2011 release date.







"The Amazing Spider-Man 3"

Plans were in motion to continue with a Sinister Six spin-off film and "The Amazing Spider-Man 3".

Marc Webb said, “We were going to make a Sinister Six movie before we did 'The Amazing Spider-Man 3'. Chris Cooper was going to come back and play the Goblin.”







"Home Alone 3"

The idea was pitched to Macaulay Culkin about him reprising his role as a teen. He declined as he grew tired of the role and, at the time, became frustrated with acting.

So they went with a whole new script and whole new cast for the unrelated third film that came out in 1997.







"Conan the Conqueror"

After Conan the Destroyer (1984) there were plans for a third film called "Conan the Conqueror".

Schwarzenegger couldn't do it because he was under contract to do Predator and the script was later rewritten and made into the 1997 Kevin Sorbo film Kull the Conqueror.







"The Punisher 2"

Though it did not do well in the box office, there were plans for a sequel to Tom Jane's 2004 The Punisher due to its high sales on home rental and DVD.

Tom Jane and director Jonathan Hensleigh were originally said to be coming back and Jane decided to walk out of the project in Spring 2007. He wanted to do a more "realistic and gritty approach in the lines of Taxi Driver" and was not interested in the more comic book approach that the sequel was heading in.

Due to this the project got a major make-over and became Punisher: War Zone (2008) which was unrelated to the previous two films.







"The Wicker Man 2"

The Wicker Man director Robin Hardy was working on a sequel in 2008 that was to star Joan Collins and Christopher Lee as evil cult leaders.

Collins said of the film, "It's about two young people from America who are gospel singers. They go to a remote village in the Highlands to convert people to Christianity. They come in contact with an evil cult led by two people. One of them is Christopher Lee, and the other one is me."

The sequel was scrapped due to financial difficulties.



(However, in 2011 Robin Hardy did The Wicker Tree which people call "a spiritual sequel" to The Wicker Man. Christopher Lee had a small role.)







"Friday the 13th 2" / "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2"

There was also supposed to be a sequel to the 2009 relaunch of Friday the 13th. It was announced shortly after the theatrical release ended.

Brad Fuller announced on his Twitter that the sequel was "dead" and Platinum Dunes then moved on to other projects.



A sequel to the 2010 relaunch of A Nightmare on Elm Street was also discussed.

Brad Fuller took to Twitter again to say that, "New Line is not interested in a script at this time."







"Superman Returns 2"

There was supposed to be a sequel to Superman Returns (2006) with Bryan Singer returning and with many of the cast coming back.

The sequel was originally announced 4 months before the Returns premiere for a mid-2009 theatrical release.



Filming was supposed to start by mid-2007 but Singer had to put it on hold when he produced Valkyrie.

Then the 2007-08 Writers Strike delayed things even more and nothing ever happened with it.







"Charlie's Angels 3"

Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz have said in various interviews that they wanted to do a third installment. McG was also said to be coming back to direct, but he dropped out to do Terminator: Salvation.

The 3rd movie plans were scrapped when the 2011 tv-reboot went into production that ultimately flopped. (Drew Barrymore was an EP)

Then the 2019 Elizabeth Banks film also flopped.







'Bond 21'

After Die Another Day (2002) came out MGM wanted to do a spin-off film featuring Halle Berry's character Jinx. It was going to be the first spin-off film for the James Bond franchise.

MGM called off the project after noticing that other female-lead action movies of the time, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life, underperformed.

They told all of the people working on the Jinx film to now focus on 'Bond 21', which was to star Pierce Brosnan, for 2005.



Pierce Brosnan's 5th film as Bond never happened because he demanded too much money and the studio decided to reboot the entire James Bond franchise instead.







"Reno 911!: SOS"

Robert Grant and Thomas Lennon mentioned in their book Writing Movies for Fun and Profit that a sequel to Reno 911!: Miami (2007) was scrapped due to its poor box office.

They said that they planned to call the movie sequel "Reno 911!: SOS" and it was to feature the "Reno 911!" characters getting stuck on a deserted island with a serial killer on the loose.







"Alien 5"

Neill Blomkamp confirmed in 2017 that plans for "Alien 5" were off.

“I think it’s totally dead, yes. It’s sad. I spent a long time working on that, and I feel like it was really pretty awesome. But politically, the way it’s gone now, and the way that it all is — it’s just not going to live.”







The Girl Who Played with Fire / The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

David Fincher said he wanted to make film adaptations of The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest after doing the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in 2011.

They never happened due to various script delays. The 4th novel, The Girl in the Spider's Web, came Oct. 2018.







"Machete Kills Again... in Space"

Robert Rodriguez was going to do a trilogy based on Machete from the Grindhouse movie trailers and the 3rd one seems to be delayed.

The 2nd film, Machete Kills, was met with bad reviews and poor fan reception. The film ended with a fake trailer for the upcoming 3rd movie "Machete Kills Again... in Space".

Danny Trejo mentioned in some interviews back in 2015 that they were going to start filming on the 3rd Machete film later that year, but nothing happened.







"Dark Universe"

Universal's 2017 The Mummy was meant to launch the "Dark Universe" that was to feature updated versions of the classic Universal monsters all inter-connected.

Javier Bardem was announced as Frankenstein’s monster, Johnny Depp was The Invisible Man, and The Mummy also featured Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.

The Mummy turned out to be a major flop and both movie-goers and critics bashed it. Director Alex Kurtzman and writer Chris Morgan then abandoned the "Dark Universe" plans and a new Bride of Frankenstein was pulled from its Feb. 2019 release.







"Dracula 2000 II"

Patrick Lussier had wanted to do a theatrical sequel to Dracula 2000 and another direct-to-video one, but they never happened.

He told moviehole.net in 2009, "Joel Soisson and I originally wanted to continue the adventures of Uffizi… and before that, had even discussed a theatrical sequel to Dracula 2000, but none of those came to pass, I’m afraid.

But if you want to know what happened next… The Cardinal picks up Luke, forces him back into Transylvania to find Uffizi… only they find Julia, now mistress of the vampire horde. Uffizi’s bugged out on his own quest. Mayhem, of course, would’ve ensued."







"Forrest Gump 2"

Screenwriter Eric Roth wrote a sequel to Forrest Gump that had him in the back of O.J.’s Bronco, ballroom dancing with Princess Diana, his little boy having AIDS and people wouldn’t go to class with him, and working as a Bingo caller on a reservation.

He befriended a Native American woman who taught nursery school at a government building in Oklahoma City. He sat on a bench, waiting for her to have lunch, and the building behind him blows up.



Hanks, Zemeckis, and Roth decided to scrap the film after the events of 9/11.

“I literally turned it in the day before 9/11, and Tom and I and Bob got together on 9/11 to commiserate about how life was in America and how tragic it was. We looked at each other and said, ‘This movie has no meaning anymore.’”







"Bad Teacher 2"

Sony announced in June 2013 that they were working on "Bad Teacher 2" with Cameron Diaz in mind to return.

In April 2018, while out promoting Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, director Jake Kasdan was asked about the status of the sequel.

He told moviehole.net, "I think it’s probably unlikely at this stage I’m afraid. We could never really figure it out, even though we loved making that movie, and I loved working with Cameron, but I think it’s probably unlikely that we’d do a Bad Teacher sequel."







"The Bodyguard 2"

Kevin Costner appeared on PeopleTV’s Couch Surfing and revealed Princess Diana almost landed as his costar for the scrapped sequel.

“The studio liked the idea of doing a Bodyguard 2 with Princess Diana in the same kind of capacity as Whitney. Nobody really knew that for about a year. Sarah Ferguson was the one who set up the conversations.

I just remember her being incredibly sweet on the phone when she asked the questions. She goes, ‘Are we going to have like a kissing scene?’ But she said it in a very respectful — she was a little nervous because I think her life was very governed.”







"Good Burger 2 Go"

Dan Schneider had written a script for a Good Burger sequel, but Nickelodeon did not green light it. Steve Holland adapted the story into a paperback book, called Good Burger 2 Go, released in 1998.

The plot is about Ed chasing after a short-changed (18 cents) customer around the world, while the restaurant is trying to get his secret sauce recipe officially licensed.







"Divergent: Ascendant"

The 4th film in the Divergent series, Ascendant, was scrapped after Allegiant bombed. It was originally planned for a March 2017 release.

It was announced in Sept. 2016 that Lionsgate and Starz were looking into making the 4th film a TV-movie that would lead into its own television series. Divergent star Shailene Woodley said that she refused to sign on as she "didn't want to do a television series."

The TV film/series were eventually scrapped.







"The Karate Kid 2"

It was announced in 2014 that Sony Pictures was doing a sequel to the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid.

Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Taraji P. Henson were set to come back with Breck Eisner on board to direct.



After years of no progress on the sequel, Jackie Chan was asked about it in a 2017 interview. He said that the initial script wasn’t very good and the current script being worked on is much better.

He also said it might be problematic since Jaden Smith grew taller. "He’s not a kid anymore. You cannot call it The Karate Man. I don’t know."