10 Movie Endings That KILLED Franchises For Good
9. Michael Corleone Dies - The Godfather Part III
Sometimes a franchise just reaches a natural end-point when the character at the top of the pyramid dies, and that's absolutely the case with The Godfather, which expired alongside its protagonist Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in the third movie.
The divisive threequel concludes with Michael's daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola) being assassinated, before we leap forward almost two decades to an elderly Michael dying alone.
Though it's worth noting that Francis Ford Coppola's 2020 re-edit actually cut Michael's death - replacing it with him simply living in solitude in old age - the original ending is still the one that most people know.
More to the point, Part III brought the series to a literal dead stop back in 1990, slamming the door on the prospect of a sequel.
And yet, following Part III's polarising initial response, Coppola did consider making a fourth film which would adopt the prequel format of Part II, focused again on a young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro).
But between author Mario Puzo's death and the general lack of audience interest in more Godfather movies, Coppola ultimately appreciated that he'd killed the thing off with Part III.