12 Movie Franchises You Didn't Realise Were Still Going

9. Universal Soldier

The Films You Know: The Universal Soldier series has had one of the most bizarre trajectories in the history of franchise cinema: the original 1992 sci-fi action flick, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, was a modest hit despite critics loathing it, leading to two straight-to-video sequels minus the two stars...before the series somehow rose from the ashes and earned a theatrical release for the fourth movie, which saw Van Damme return to the series, with wrestler Bill Goldberg taking a supporting part. The movie was a colossal box office bomb, loathed by critics and apparently sealed the series' theatrical fate forever more. The Films You Don't: So, we have the two aforementioned straight-to-video sequels, Brothers in Arms and Unfinished Business (both released in 1998), before The Return bombed, and the series returned to straight-to-video for a new sequel a decade later, Regeneration, this time also bringing Lundgren back into the fold. The movie was more-warmly received than most of its predecessors, and led to the ridiculous 2012 3D movie, Day of Reckoning, which had a limited theatrical engagement but did most of its business on home video and VOD. However, it was criticised for Van Damme and Lundgren's lack of screen time, while the series' future currently remains up in the air.