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35 Deeply Disappointing Movie Sequels That Should Have Never Happened (And Great Ones That Never Saw the Light of Day)

They can’t all be winners

35 Deeply Disappointing Movie Sequels That Should Have Never Happened (And Great Ones That Never Saw the Light of Day)

April 30, 2024

How many times can they take a sledgehammer to the legacy of The Mask?

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35

An American Werewolf in London SEQUEL WOULD'VE HAD A LOT MORE NAZI MONSTERS AND A WEIRD LOVE TRIANGLE. The proposed sequel by John Landis would've featured Debbie Klein, the woman mentioned at the start of the first film when Jack says he likes her. Debbie tries to track down David, who apparently wrote her letters during the first film without Jack knowing it. Debbie starts having visions of those Nazi mutants David had nightmares about, and she eventuall finds David's nurse, Alex, who is also a werewolf now and still dating the (very dead) David whose soul is trapped on — Source

34

A Nightmare on Elm Street ENTRY ABOUT Charles Manson. John Saxon pitched an Elm Street movie that was set in 1969 when Nancy was 5 years old and Freddy Krueger was still alive. Nancy would've had an older sister Betsy who got involved with the hippie movement and killed along with a bunch of teens, leading the parents to accuse local guy Freddy and burn him alive. The ending would then reveal that it wasn't Freddy behind the murders, but Charles Manson. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

The Simpsons Movie ALMOST HAD A space sequel. It turns out that an episode aired in 2015 was originally meant to be the premise for the movie sequel. The episode in question sees the family go to planet Rigel 7, where Homer almost becomes alien dinner. The producers decided to do it as an episode instead, fearing it wouldn't be canonical enough as a sequel to the movie. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

The Nightmare Before Christmas

A SEQUEL TO The Nightmare Before Christmas WOULD'VE SEEN JACK VISITING Thanksgiving World AND THE STOP-MOTION WOULD'VE BEEN DITCHED FOR CGI. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

ACCORDING TO EMILIO ESTEVEZ The Breakfast Club ALMOST HAD A SEQUEL WITH SOME KIND OF SWITCHED PERSONALITIES. In a 2005 interview, Estevez said that John Hughes apparently had an idea of doing a sequel with the students now in college and being detained once again. Only now, they would have the exact opposite personalities that they had in the first film. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

SOLACE WAS ALMOST TURNED INTO A SEQUEL FOR SE7EN CALLED Ei8ht. New Line Cinema read the script of Solace and initially wanted to rewrite it to fit the world of Se7en, with Morgan Freeman's Somerset character finding out that he's actually a psychic detective. They wanted to call the sequel Ei8ht, but luckily no one outside the studio wanted anything to do with it. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Planet of the Apes ALMOST HAD A SEQUEL WITH APES WATCHING HUMANS HAVING SEX. Screenwriter Sam Hamm wrote a sequel that saw a spaceship flown by apes crash into Earth, unleashing a deadly virus that kills all babies. There's a lot of comedy for some reason, like topless gorilla dancers, and one particular scene that sees two human astronauts being recorded having sex to a guerilla cover of Stayin' Alive while the apes watch. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

I Am Legend 2 WOULD'VE SEEN WILL SMITH RETURN AS (TWIST!) A CLONE. The studio wanted a sequel so bad, they really considered bringing Smith's character back as some kind of clone for some reason. Luckily the director knew it was too ridiculous to fly. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

26

NICK CAVE WROTE A SEQUEL TO Gladiator THAT INVOLVED MAXIMUS WAKING UP IN THE AFTERLIFE, KILLING SOME GOD, AND RETURNING TO THE MORTAL WORLD WHERE НЕ FIGHTS IN EVERY HISTORICAL BATTLE IMAGINABLE - FROM THE CRUSADES RIGHT THROUGH TO VIETNAM. Russel Crowe hired Cave to write the sequel, and Cave never really took it as a film that would actually get made. Clearly. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

WE ALMOST HAD A Friday the 13th FOUND FOOTAGE SEQUEL. 00:14:03:4273 HD REC R AWB FPS 30 f 2.8 1/400 ISO 400 Paramount was really into this idea, but the producers of the reboot (Brad Fuller and Andrew Form) vetoed the pitch, saying that the franchise was all about watching people being stalked, and the found footage style would shift that focus and make the audience the prey. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Е.Т. II: Nocturnal Fears Before the script of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Spielberg came up with Night Skies, a story about evil aliens terrorizing folks in Kentucky. Screenwriter Melissa Matheson turned it into Е.Т., focusing on the relationship between a boy and a friendly alien, but she and Spielberg also wrote a possible treatment for E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears, that saw the return Night Skies' flesh-eating aliens who abduct and torture Elliot and his friends. Thankfully, Spielberg decided his beloved movie didn't need a sequel. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

SIMON WEST WANTED TO DO A Con Air SEQUEL... in space. West floated the idea of the sequel being a studio version where they're all robots or the convicts are reanimated as super-convicts, or where the good guys are bad guys and the bad guys are good guys. Something shocking. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

TO FURTHER BOTH FRANCHISES, WE ALMOST HAD A BIZARRE CROSSOVER OF Candyman vs. Leprechaun The idea was floated during the early 2000s when studios wanted to revive the iconic '90s franchises, but luckily Tony Todd took one look at the script and noped out. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Back to the Future II WAS ALMOST ALL ABOUT MARTY'S PARENTS BEING HIPPIES AND HIM TRYING TO GET THEM TO HAVE SEX. With Marty traveling back to 1967 in this version of the film, he interferes with the day his parents were supposed to conceive him. So he has to make sure they bone him into existence. For that to happen, he needs to raise $500 at an anti-war rally to get his mother to his dad in San Francisco, which means he basically crowdfunds his own conception. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

WORST SEQUELS EVER STAYING ALIVE The Saturday Night Fever sequel has an annoying Rocky underdog story feel, which was, of course, the result of Sylvester Stallone directing. But Stallone himself only became involved with the project after Travolta spent years rejecting darkers script, then saw Rocky III and went, yes, that is what I want. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

WORST SEQUELS EVER SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE Christopher Reeve was too inexperienced as a director to helm the entire project. Richard Donner, claims he was asked to return, and Wes Craven was hired, but didn't vibe with Reeve. Reeve suggested Ron Howard, but Sidney J. Furie was finally booked. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

WORST SEQUELS EVER Eh:00 S SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE After Superman III, Christopher Reeve was done with the series, but The Cannon Group convinced him with a $6 million paycheck and creative control. Reeve suggested the whole nuclear angle, as he was annoyed by the failure of arms control talks. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

WORST SEQUELS EVER SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL A major reason for Speed 2's failure was Keanu Reeves' disinterest in returning, but another, little- discussed factor was the absence of writer Graham Yost. Не came up with the Speed concept and wrote the original script- but studio suits thought they knew better, didn't call him back, and only gave him a lousy characters created by credit. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

WORST SEQUELS EVER SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL Speed director Jan de Bont was obsessed with a recurrent nightmare about a cruise crashing into an island. A mock-up town was built in the island of Saint Martin and then rebuilt after a hurricane, a ship's bow was powered by engines and pulled at 18 miles per hour-and the whole, 5-minute dream fulfillment ended up costing $25 million. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

WORST SEQUELS EVER HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING Everybody knew this movie would be a disaster. As a bad omen, Christopher Lambert and Michael Ironside hurt each other while fighting with 22- pound broadswords. Lambert tried to walk out during filming, but was contractually forbidden to do so. The studio meddled so much that the director abandoned the premiere 15 minutes in. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

WORST SEQUELS EVER GS SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY Original director Terence Nance left the movie because of artistic differences, and was replaced by Malcolm D. Lee, who cut a scene in which Pepé Le Pew tries to pick up a bartender. Now, we get it, as Pepé was born cancellable, but why leave A Clockwork Orange's Alex and his gang of droogs, then? CRACKED.COM — Source

13

WORST SEQUELS EVER SON OF THE MASK If this movie looks like an ADHD clusterf*ck, well, that's literally star Jamie Kennedy's opinion. According to him, the original, two-hour version made more sense, was better constructed, and had scope and tones. The problem is that the studio didn't find it funny, cut 40 minutes, and added the brain-scrambling CGI of the masked baby and dog. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

WORST SEQUELS EVER SON OF THE MASK Sequel talk began immediately after the release of the 1994 original. Director Chuck Russell was on board, but by 1995 Jim Carrey had dropped off and the whole thing was shelved. When a 1995 Nintendo Power magazine contest offered a non-speaking role in the sequel, then, 2012's very last issue gave them the next best thing instead: money and an apology. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

WORST SEQUELS EVER CADDYSHACK II Initially excited, director Allan Arkush soon realized this trainwreck didn't even have a working script. Не also thought Jackie Mason was no match for the original's Rodney Dangerfield, that he couldn't make a convincing golf swing, and that he had less chemistry with his love interest than with the catering service. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

WORST SEQUELS EVER 6 SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY A proposed Space Jam sequel called Skate Jam involved pro skater Tony Hawk. Before production settled on LeBron James, however, other sports- related celebrities were considered: Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan (again), Jackie Chan for Spy Jam, and Jeff Gordon for Race Jam (which you know some people would criticize for sounding political). CRACKED.COM — Source

9

WORST SEQUELS EVER AMERICAN PSYCHO II: ALL AMERICAN GIRL The very definition of a cash-grab, this movie was supposed to be called The Girl Who Wouldn't Die, (which sounds splattery enough), but the title was changed mid-production in order to make it a loosely-connected American Psycho sequel. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

WORST SEQUELS EVER JAWS: THE REVENGE So this film was directed by a nobody, right? Nope. Joseph Sargent had a long career on movies and TV. In fact, he directed the two-hour Kojak pilot in 1973, which Spielberg himself credited for inspiring him to hire Lorraine Gary to play Jaws' Ellen Brody (leading to her prominent role in this fourth part). CRACKED.COM — Source

7

WORST SEQUELS EVER JAWS: THE REVENGE Universal wanted the movie out ASAP, since they were having financial trouble and Jaws 3D had made bank. But they also gave complete writing and directing freedom to Joseph Sargent, who despite being told to make it a human story, could only make the plot interesting with a friggin' paranormal angle. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

WORST SEQUELS EVER UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN Nobody remembers this horrid sequel, which means there is still some sanity left in the world. If we had to remember one thing about it, though, it'd be the Megadeth music video. The song is pure '90s dance club industrial-rock lameness, and the video includes Van Damme and Bill Goldberg. It's awful. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

WORST SEQUELS EVER AMERICAN PSYCHO II: ALL AMERICAN GIRL Mila Kunis feared this would ruin her career. About a possible third film, she said, Please- somebody stop this. Write a petition. When I did the second one, I didn't know it would be American Psycho II. It was supposed to be a different project, and it was re-edited, but, ooh ... I don't know. Bad. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

WORST SEQUELS EVER MEAN GIRLS 2 At the end of Mean Girls the Plastics realize they're, well, mean girls, and we even see Regina George becoming a better person-so of course, the crappy sequel had to ditch all that. The only continuity between both movies is Principal Duvall, played by the great Tim Meadows (God bless his soul). CRACKED.COM — Source

3

WORST SEQUELS EVER BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2 A classy documentary director, Joe Berliner, was hired for this film. But wanting to make it marketable, Artisan screwed up his vision and made him ditch all the slow build-up for more blood and exposition- the exact opposite of the 1999 original. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

WORST SEQUELS EVER BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2 The 1999 original was produced by Haxan Films and distributed by Artisan. Following its success, Artisan wanted a sequel right away, but Haxan wanted to wait until the trend died out. Artisan just went with it-and this was the result. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

WORST SEQUELS EVER CUPID BIRL BB EN BY SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2 Fun fact: Jon Voight seems to have lost his mind. Не was an executive producer for the first Baby Geniuses, proudly announced the sequel, and even based his Superbabies character on Josef Mengele. knbh CRACKED.COM — Source

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