10 Movie Franchises That Should Have Stopped At One Film

10. Pirates Of The Caribbean

The first Pirates Of The Caribbean movie was a surprising breath of fresh air, although by number five in the series that freshness had become stale to the point of asphyxiation. The greatest thing about the first entry was Johnny Depp's unexpected channelling of the essence of Keith Richards, with an impersonation so uncannily 'right', that Richards himself was even moved to make a cameo appearance in 2007's At World's End.

So what went wrong? Maybe the question should be 'what went right?' Answer, nothing - except that unfortunately for the quality of the movies, each subsequent entry managed to make enough money to justify dragging the whole sorry mess back time after time.

The films lasted longer and longer until it felt like we were watching them in real time. Depp's performance became unbearably arch, the joke was no longer funny. The plots lost coherence and all that seemed to matter was how to keep the franchise going.

Apparently entry number six in the interminable snore-fest is due in 2021, and given that, to date, the first five films have grossed approximately $4.5 billion, what are the odds that it will be the last? Slim to none methinks!