Why King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword Flopped So Hard

2. A Six-Movie Franchise!?

Years before King Arthur even hit screens, it was announced that the film was intended to be the beginning of a six-movie franchise, essentially creating a mini-universe of films not unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Audiences will be familiar with studios making similarly lofty claims in the past, but it's usually for a franchise they're enormously confident in, such as Marvel or most recently Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

On the other hand, audiences hear there are five more King Arthur films to come and either laugh or groan at Warner Bros' hubris, because why not wait and see if the first film goes well before committing to more movies, right?

Can't the original film just be standalone first? It's exhausting to consider the prospect of five more films like this, which may have further discouraged audiences from getting involved in yet another movie universe.

Somewhat ironically, the franchise plans are now stone cold dead, so audiences can now enjoy this standalone effort at their leisure without considering what they're getting invested in.