10 Weirdest Reasons Movie Sequels Were Cancelled

10. Superman Lives - Ridiculous Producer Demands 

Superman Lives was the brain-child of Tim Burton, meant as a follow-up to his previous Batman films and an early attempt to make a DC movie series. Penned by Kevin Smith and based on the brilliant "The Death of Superman" comic arc, the film had Nic Cage playing the Man of Steel and was reportedly only three weeks from shooting when the project was scrapped.

So what happened?

The movie's cancellation was so obscure and complex at the time that filmmaker Jon Schnepp made an entire documentary - The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? - to get to the bottom of the mystery.

During interviews with various crew members and producers working on the film (including both Burton and Smith), Schnepp found that the movie was a shambolic mess behind the scenes.

From demands for Superman to fight a giant mechanical spider to giving Lex Luthor a space dog, ridiculous script re-writes (and a lack of faith from producers and Superman fans) all led to the project behind canned before it could get off the ground, with the film's final re-write from Dan Gilroy showcasing a boring and ineffective story.

In the end, Warner Bros gave up on it ever seeing the light of day, citing Batman & Robin's financial losses and their lack of commitment to the film's budget as reasons for the cancellation.