10 Horror Movie Sequels That Killed Franchises

5. Blair Witch (2016)

The Blair Witch Project was such a stupendous pop-culture phenomenon that, of course, Hollywood was going to quickly milk it for a follow-up. 

Rather than churn out another found footage film, though, the producers puzzlingly released a conventionally formed sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, just a year later. It scored scathing reviews and grossed just $47.7 million - a mere fraction of the original's $248.6 million - seemingly putting any wider film franchise ambitions to bed.

But it was finally and quite promisingly resurrected in 2016 with Blair Witch, a direct found footage sequel to the original 1999 film, shot in secret and directed by the reliable Adam Wingard (You're Next, The Guest).

The pre-release marketing did a fantastic job of building up the mystique surrounding the film, but it ultimately released to a polarised response, many criticising the writing and deeming it too much a rehash of the original movie. As a result it underperformed at the box office, grossing a disappointing $45.2 million worldwide - shockingly less than Book of Shadows. 

This consequently killed plans for more Blair Witch movies, and though a reboot has been in the works since 2022, the precarious state of the found footage subgenre at present makes that a shaky prospect at best.