10 Once-Great Movie Franchises That Just Need To Die
It's time to let these poor franchises rest in peace.
If there's one thing that Hollywood loves, it's a franchise! A well-recognised brand name with huge stars attached is a sure moneymaker.
And you best believe that these studios will milk that brand with sequel after sequel, prequel after prequel and spin-off after spin-off until it's ran completely dry. Unfortunately the franchise quite often has to be dragged through the mud until it is hated by both audiences and critics alike for this to happen.
In the end a film's credibility can be damaged beyond repair forever after endless mediocre follow-ups. There is no shortage of examples, but some franchises have suffered a lot more than others and we can now only wish they could be put out of their misery...
10. The Conjuring
It would be quite easy to fill this entire list with horror franchises. As the trend goes, an independent horror film with a unique idea captures the attention of an audience and makes a very tasty profit. A studio soon takes note, and in the blink of an eye, what once was a small horror flick is a staggering multi-film franchise.
James Wan is sadly a prime example of this. The genius behind the first Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring films has seen his franchises ripped out of his grasp and milked to an unfortunate death. The most recent (and perhaps most blatant) example of this is The Conjuring films. Wan directed The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, both stylish entries to the horror genre that have their own iconic villains and scares. Since then, the franchise has been bastardised in the form of spin-off films.
Annabelle, the haunted doll that appeared as a bit-part character in the original Conjuring film now has her own trilogy of films, which sadly turns her into a by-the-numbers scary toy, an annoying trope from the horror genre. Other spin-offs exist such as The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona, both of which were poorly received and felt extremely disconnected from the flair of the original Conjuring films, being critcized for relying on jump-scares rather than true terror.
Hopefully this franchise can be put to rest before it's turned into the next Paranormal Activity.