20 Movie Franchises That Carried On For Way Too Long

4. Alien/Predator

The Movies: Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Predator (1987), Predator 2 (1990), Alien 3 (1992), Alien Resurrection (1997), Alien vs Predator (2004), Alien vs Predator: Requiem (2007), Predators (2010), Prometheus (2012) Starting with Alien; Ridley Scott's seminal 1979 'haunted house in space' movie remains one of the greatest sci-fi pictures ever made. Rightly regarded as a classic, nobody could have predicted the franchise would still be going over 30 years later. In 1986 James Cameron picked up the reins and delivered a brilliant follow-up that is arguably superior to the original. Unfortunately, this left the franchise nowhere to go but down. David Fincher made his feature debut with 1992's Alien 3, with the director completely disowning the final product. The movie isn't as bad as its troubled production history would suggest, although the wildly uneven tone bears the hallmarks of outside interference. 18 years after the original, the franchise was officially run into the ground with the turgid Alien: Resurrection. Not as downright bad as its reputation suggests, but still a disappointing and massively dull entry in the once-great franchise. The Predator franchise began in 1987, featuring Arnie at the peak of his powers, and is one of the high points of 80s action cinema. Three years later a sequel arrived, with none of the original cast returning bar Kevin Peter Hall in the Predator costume. Relocating the action to Los Angeles, Predator 2 was a disappointing sequel that couldn't hold a candle to the original. The two franchises finally combined onscreen in Paul WS Anderson's Alien vs Predator, a movie that combined two of the most iconic and bloodthirsty extra-terrestrials in cinematic history into an unforgivably dull monster-mash. However, AVP was made to look like a masterpiece compared to 2007's Requiem, an undoubted low point for both franchises. 2010's Predators was a direct sequel to the original that also served as a reboot and brought the franchise back to its action-packed roots, and the result is a solid B-movie that is the best Predator movie since 1987. Not to be outdone, the Alien franchise also made a return to screens following the mess that was AVP: Requiem. Well, kind of. Ridley Scott returned to the director's chair 33 years later to deliver Prometheus, with the final product greatly dividing opinion. It seems unlikely that the two franchises will cross paths again anytime soon, with no news on any further Predator movies. However, with Prometheus grossing over $400m worldwide and Ridley Scott confirming in October 2013 that a script for a sequel is complete, at least one of the iconic sci-fi franchises will continue.