Sometimes even the greatest minds in the business can be drawn away from what is best by the alluring aroma of a fresh pile of cash, or a sudden blunt force trauma to the head, clouding their better judgement. Many directors, writers, actors or even cursed studios make a franchise out of what could have been a good film, pair of films, or trilogy. Some even keep on pushing the horse out of the pen over and over, until it is just lying there, its face buried in the dirt, wondering how it fell so majestically. So here we go with ten such beasts of burden, the once great, surprising or downright awesome films that lost it all to bad sequels, reboots and desperate or greed-driven money-grabbing.
10. Pirates of the Caribbean
Disney's pirate adventure series started off with a spectacular first film. Love it or hate it, the film captured the pirate lifestyle flawlessly and introduced one of Johnny Depp's more memorable eccentric types. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts and box office success of the second and third film, the series has whittled down on plot with each serving, and the miserable On Stranger Tides was more hideously wrong than half of Davy Jones crustacean crew. Plot inconsistencies, bad dialogue, a stupid objective, menstrual mermaids and a forgettable support cast left many wondering if the series would have better ended if everyone had just fallen into that whirlpool at the end of the third film. Or maybe even never left the amusement park ride at all. What it should be called by now: Pirates of the Caribbean - An Hour-and-a-Half of Jack Sparrow and Sword Fights.