10 Worst Sci-Fi Movie Prequels

The first two Underworld films were servicably entertaining trash, largely thanks to Kate Beckinsale's red-blooded performance and Len Wiseman's slick, knowing direction.

But rather than stick to what worked, the third film opted to go the prequel route, focusing on the beginnings of the Vampire-Lycan war while relegating Beckinsale's vamp protagonist Selene to a last-minute cameo.

There are two big problems with Rise of the Lycans. First and foremost, few but the most hardcore Underworld fans actually care about how the damn war got started, and secondly, shifting the focus to werewolf character Lucian (Michael Sheen) isn't nearly enough to conceal Beckinsale's absence.

Underworld is a franchise which thrives on giving audiences exactly what they expect, and so it's little surprise that this prequel was the lowest-grossing of the original trilogy.

Better still, when Beckinsale returned for the fourth film, Underworld: Awakening, its box office haul was almost double that of this movie.

And while we're at it, can we retire "Rise of the..." sub-titles already? Over a decade later, Hollywood's still obsessed with it.