8 Films That Were Made Solely To Hold Onto Rights
6. Punisher: War Zone
The Punisher has had three movies to date; Dolph Lundgren dyed his hair black for the 1989 dud, and Tom Jane hit the gym hard for the 2004 update. Jane made for a great Punisher, but the film itself was an awkward mix of gritty revenge thriller and camp action movie. Jane wasn’t terribly happy with it, so he insisted any sequel would have be much better.
After trying and failing to convince the studio to hire Walter Hill as director, he eventually left following three years of development after reading – and hating – the latest draft. Lionsgate didn’t have much time left to produce another film with the character, so they decided to make a soft reboot.
Despite a fraught post-production period – where director Lexi Alexander and the studio clashed over the movie's tone – the film has since become a cult classic, where fans are drawn to it’s over the top gore and acting.
Still, the movie failed at the box office and Lionsgate eventually let the rights revert back to Marvel. The character made his Marvel debut in the second season of Daredevil, where Jon Bernthal completely rocked the character.