Exact Reasons These 10 Sequels Were Never Made

8. Fear Of Diminished Returns - Elf 2

When a movie makes a boat-load of money or taps into a fanbase slowly that could then be leveraged easily for a lucrative sequel, you usually see that sequel make it to the big screen. Or you see the film rebooted if there's something in the way of making a follow-up. But that seems not to be the case with Elf, which has - thusfar - avoided either treatment despite the obvious potential.

Will Ferrell has been repeatedly pressed on the idea of a sequel and revealed that he turned down a mammoth $29m to make the follow-up the studio so dearly wanted. He says it wasn't a difficult decision either, even with that astronomical offer, because he didn't want to do a disservice to Buddy or the original:

"I remember asking myself: could I withstand the criticism when it’s bad and they say, "He did the sequel for the money"? I decided I wouldn’t be able to. I didn’t want to wander into an area that could erase all the good work I’ve done – but you watch, I’ll do some sequel in the future that’s crap."

Narrator: he did.

But at least he stuck to his guns with Elf 2.