14 Movie Franchises You Had No Idea Still Existed

11. Starship Troopers

Paul Verhoeven's 1997 sci-fi actioner is a delirious satire of American imperialism, but its failure to connect with audiences quickly the killed the prospect of a big-budget franchise.

A straight-to-DVD sequel eventually emerged by 2004 without original star Casper Van Dien and was largely panned, before 2008's third film, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, managed to lure Van Dien back and was broadly praised for being more in-tune with the original film.

Marauder most likely didn't make its $9 million budget back, though, as after this the franchise took an unexpected turn by going the animated route. Both 2012 and 2017's animated sequels were mauled by critics, even with the latter featuring the voices of Van Dien and original co-star Dina Meyer.

Still, if these low-budget animations are turning a profit regardless, as it seems they are, expect a sixth film to be announced in the near-future.