10 Abandoned Franchises That Deserved Another Movie
1. Crank
People tend to either love the Crank movies or detest them with a passion. The batsh*t insane adventures of Chev Chelios aren't exactly the kind of thing that people greet with a shrug and say, 'Yeah, it was alright I suppose'. However, for those of us that hold them dear, it looks like we'll need to resign ourselves to the fact that a third installment is never going to happen.
Unsurprisingly, reviews for both entries were polarized to say the least, but the consensus is that Crank and sequel High Voltage rank as two of the best video game-inspired movies ever made, despite not actually being based on an existing property.
It also turned out to be a surprisingly profitable franchise for Lionsgate, who sank $32m into the demented vision of directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor and were rewarded by box office returns of $77.5m and almost the same again in home video revenue as Jason Statham's madcap antics around downtown Los Angeles attained instant cult classic status.
Statham has always voiced his desire to return for another go-round, but Taylor has voiced concerns that the decidedly non-PC series might not play too well with today's sensitive audiences, and it appears as though what was once planned as Crank 3D might never be able to make it to the big screen at all.