Franchises like to divide themselves into three parts for the sake of neatness; The Dark Knight Trilogy, The Godfather Trilogy and, of course, the Crocodile Dundee Trilogy. Theyre all examples of movies that were designed to work together, with overarching themes, characters and storylines. Well, maybe not the last one. Of course, most sequels are just churned out for the sake of profit with little consideration for how the movies will link together. Some filmmakers actually put thought into such things, however, only to find their plans hindered when the second instalment fails to catch fire with the audience. This leaves a potential trilogy tantalizingly close to the finish line, but with little hope of ever crossing it. Hope springs eternal, though, and theres a whole separate list of franchises that got a belated final instalment years later. It took sixteen years for the final Godfather to arrive, ten years for Men In Black 3 and there was a whopping twenty-year gap between Predator 2 and Predators. With the announcement of a third Bad Boys movie, and a sequel to Tron: Legacy threatening to happen any time now, lets take a look back at some stalled trilogies that could really use some closure.
13. 28 Months Later
28 Days Later was the little indie horror that helped revive - pun intended - the zombie movie, all thanks to the Midas touch of Danny Boyle. The sequel surprised everyone by being pretty good, turning the original idea into a breathless action movie. Everyone expected 28 Months Later to quickly follow and round things off, but it seems stuck in development limbo. 28 Weeks Later ended on a cliffhanger and teased that the infection might be spreading worldwide. Boyle still talks about the possibility of a third movie happening, saying hed like to direct and hinting it might take place in Russia. Screenwriter Alex Garland said there have recently been serious talks about it, but it doesnt seem any closer to a start date. The odds of it happening eventually are pretty good, and it feels like a situation where the timing between certain people has to align to make it work.