10 Movie Endings That Basically Doomed Their Franchise

8. No Fate But What We Make...Or Is There? - Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

The Ending

John Connor (Nick Stahl) and Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) reach what they believe to be Skynet's core, only to discover that it's actually a fallout shelter.

Skynet has now spread through the Internet and effectively become unstoppable, launching the nuclear holocaust known as Judgment Day, killing billions while Connor and Brewster are left to accept their helpless survival and plan the first steps of the human resistance.

Why It Doomed The Franchise

Removed from the wider context of the Terminator franchise, this is actually a pretty ballsy and impressive ending for a $200 million blockbuster, but it sadly also undermines the entire message of Terminator 2.

T2 of course ended with Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) looking to the future with hope for the first time, content that there's no fate but what we make.

Now, you can argue that this maxim actually applies to Skynet as much as it does humanity, but it does feel like a rather awkward thematic backpedal, and one that the rest of the series has further struggled with.

The increasingly desperate glut of sequels have gone back and forth on the inevitability of Judgment Day and tied the increasingly convoluted timeline in so many knots where even the most dedicated fans have stopped caring.

The contradictions began in Rise of the Machines and only got worse from there, sadly. No sensible fan will be expecting much from the new Cameron-produced sequel which, despite his more active involvement, still looks pretty rubbish.