Top 10 Movie Prequels That Were Box Office BOMBS

For a franchise based in the prehistoric era, going back further for a prequel shouldn’t have been a stretch. And, on paper, showing how Fred and Barney met Wilma and Betty is a pretty good pitch. The issue? “Viva Rock Vegas” gambled it all on a brand new cast, with none of the actors from the 1994 film, and got royally flushed out of the conversation. So, even though this follow-up had marginally better reviews, it couldn’t match the success of its predecessor. In fact, it couldn’t even make back its own budget in theaters. With numbers like that, we don’t think the Flintstones will be vacationing to Rock Vegas again any time soon.

It doesn’t take a magic mirror to see why this ill-advised franchise got lost in the woods. In 2012, the original “Snow White and the Huntsman” overcame its mixed reception thanks to the classic story and Kristen Stewart’s star power - two things that this prequel lacked. Stripped of everything that made it stand out, “Winter’s War” turned into a painfully generic fantasy flick. And not even a particularly good one. Despite the efforts of its committed cast, both audiences and critics agreed that this “Huntsman” prequel wasn’t worth a trip to the multiplex. Instead, the wannabe franchise-starter turned out to be a poisoned apple that spoiled the whole bunch.

What’s the opposite of “striking when the iron’s hot?” The answer is “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.” Despite being based upon the same comic series as the original film, it took an inexplicable nine years for this star-studded follow-up to hit theaters. Based on the result, it’s clear that they shouldn’t have bothered. The lengthy wait between installments killed any momentum the film series may have had, and not even the returning cast could change that. Even though the prequel had a bigger budget, “A Dame to Kill For” failed to match even a quarter of the original film's box office. That’s a sinful result, indeed.

The name is a bit confusing, but as it turns out, this movie is actually an origin story for the “Kingsman” universe. Then again, “confused” is a good way to describe “The King’s Man” overall. While the original films are known for their stylish action and R-rated humor, anyone expecting that here was left disappointed. Rather, “The King’s Man” is a subdued character piece about fatherhood in World War I. It’s not bad by any means, but it’s just not “Kingsman.” Audiences outright rejected this new direction, and said as much with their wallets. Let’s just say that, much like actual undercover spies, this movie came and went without anyone noticing.

The scariest part of this horror flick isn’t the gore or jump scares. It’s the writing. To be fair, that’s far from the only reason the movie underperformed. No, “Rising” was doomed from the get-go, because it required the filmmakers to recast the lead role. While Gaspard Ulliel delivers an admirable performance as a younger Hannibal Lecter, Anthony Hopkins’ Oscar-winning turn in the original “The Silence of the Lambs” overshadows the prequel. In the end, “Hannibal Rising” took one of horror’s most iconic characters, and reduced him to a run-of-the-mill slasher villain. It had the poor profit margins to reflect that, too, pulling in just $82 million on a budget of $50 million.

In a brilliant bit of meta storytelling, this prequel didn’t just go back in time. It also reversed in profits and audience reception, too. Although, something tells us that wasn’t intentional. To put it nicely, “Exorcist: The Beginning” was a disaster. Both its critical and commercial performance paled in comparison to the 1973 original. It couldn’t even match the low bar of the series’ less-successful sequels. Directed by Renny Harlin, the film had actually been retooled from Paul Schrader’s “Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist”; after Harlin’s film bombed, Schrader was allowed to release his version, but it was not much better received.

It takes a village to make a movie, and trainwrecks like this are why. Since most of “Gods and Generals” was financed by one man, there was nothing to stop the filmmakers from turning in a five hour snoozefest. You heard that right. The original cut of this “Gettysburg” prequel ran for five whole hours. It was trimmed down to three for the theatrical release, but the movie was unsalvageable. “Gods and Generals” was critically reviled, and failed to recoup even a quarter of its production costs. While the parent movie,“Gettysburg” eventually became a cult classic, there’s no word-of-mouth coming to save “Gods and Generals.”

By 1992, the “Twin Peaks” television series had already hit the mainstream, fizzled out, and been unceremoniously canceled. But, despite the clear writing on the wall, creator David Lynch marched ahead with this feature-length prequel. And it went about as well as you’d expect. “Fire Walk with Me” was too weird for casuals, and not satisfying enough for hardcores. Which begs the question, who was this movie made for? Unfortunately, “Fire Walk with Me” didn’t have a good answer, and it showed in the meager box office returns. If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the prequel has since been reevaluated as a benchmark of experimental storytelling.

Don’t let the title fool you. This 2011 film is most definitely not a remake of the 1982 classic. But, even though it’s a prequel through and through, the studio bafflingly decided to give it the same name as the original. Unfortunately, the actual movie doesn’t get any more creative than that, either. Marred by slow pacing and unoriginal ideas, 2011’s “The Thing” failed to impress any kind of audience - not walk-ups, not critics, and certainly not longtime fans. Still, no one was more disappointed than the distributors, who had to write the movie off as a box-office bomb. Maybe next time, they’ll label their prequel accordingly.

At a time when the galaxy far, far away was at the epicenter of the pop-culture zeitgeist, a Han Solo spinoff film sounded like it would print money. But, it had a pretty massive asterisk attached: it didn’t star Harrison Ford. Production was troubled, with original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller replaced by Ron Howard midway. When the origin story hit theaters, audiences made it clear that they weren’t happy. So, despite having one of the franchise’s biggest budgets, “Solo” became the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars movie to date. Clearly, the Force was not strong with this one.