10 Sequels That Were Cancelled Due To Box Office Flops

In yet another ill-judged attempt to take something semi-beloved and make a ton of money out of it, John Carter was intended to be a franchise of epic, space-sized proportions for Disney; Star Wars for a new generation, helmed by Andrew Stanton, the guy who brought Pixar's Wall-E to the big screen.

In a curious case of counting their chickens before they'd hatched, however, it turned out that Disney had no idea whatsoever as how to market John Carter and proceeded to murder their film before it ever got a chance to shine. One crucial mistake came about when the studio decided to drop "Of Mars" from the title, leaving the film to sound as bland and uninviting as a tinned food brand.

Worse than that, though? John Carter is yawn-worthy. For such a huge movie, set across multiple planets, featuring aliens and a hero capable of jumping fifty feet into the air, it's plainly boring to sit through. It also isn't funny, none of the characters are even the least bit memorable, and the action is "blah."

At a cost of $263 million, the film grossed just $286 million, which meant the planned trilogy was put "on hold" - a polite way of saying that it was never gonna happen. A script for a sequel was reportedly written, but in 2014 Disney relinquished the rights, signalling a sad, sudden end for John Carter. Of Mars.