10 Actors Who Refused To Return For Sequels To Acclaimed Films

At a glance, signing on to appear in the follow-up to a publicly adored and financially successful feature seems like a bit of a no-brainer. Who wouldn't want to earn a ton of money for reprising a character you've already brilliantly played and star in a movie which fans clearly want to see?

Well, this lot, apparently.

The promise of guaranteed work going forward simply isn't enough to keep every actor connected to a character or universe. Other variables, such as pay, the quality of the script or whether they actually even want to return to the role, all often come into play when trying to get a star to re-sign on the dotted line.

This is why the likes of Disney now almost always sign their stars to multiple sequels from day one as recasting a role midway through a franchise can often make films feel disjointed and disconnected as time goes by. Not to mention the fact that fans tend to not react well to another actor taking over a role which is synonymous with an iconic performer.

Sure, it would've been awesome to see some of these talented thespians come back for the sequels to some of their greatest hits. But, for one reason or another, these 10 folks were all happy to kiss these franchise continuations goodbye.

Not every piece of forced recasting immediately pisses off a franchise's fanbase.

In fact, there's an argument to be made that Maggie Gyllenhaal's portrayal of Rachel Dawes in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008) was something of an improvement on Katie Holmes version of the role which was seen in Batman Begins (2005).

Yet, it's still not exactly clear why Holmes decided to back out of the sequel to the critically adored first entry in Nolan's epic trilogy.

When The Dark Knight finally hit screens, the Dawson's Creek star simply stated, 'I had a great experience working with Chris Nolan (and) I'm sure it's going to be a great movie.' Instead of sharing scenes with Heath Ledger's iconic Joker, Holmes chose to appear in Mad Money (2008) with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah. The comedy would go on to earn $26.4 million at the box office, while the second Batman feature in Nolan's series earned widespread acclaim and $1.005 billion worldwide.

Holmes later admitted it 'was a decision that (she) made at that time and it was right for (her) at that moment', but you have to think she kicked herself once arguably the greatest comic book movie of all time changed the game forever.