These 10 Movies Were Ruined By The Fans...

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the movies where the creators might regret giving the fans what they asked for. Which movie do you think was the biggest waste of potential? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

#10: “Alien: Covenant” (2017)

Before he made this movie, director Ridley Scott was ready to move on from the iconic Xenomorph. Although the deadly creature is what made the original film so terrifying, Scott felt it was time to retire the beast. But fans had their own ideas. They weren’t happy that the Xenomorph was left out of “Prometheus,” the first “Alien” prequel, and they made their displeasure clear to Scott. Worried that he’d lose the goodwill of the fans, Scott changed his mind and decided to bring the Xenomorph back after all. The resulting movie is basically a rehash of the previous “Alien” films and didn’t do nearly as well at the box office as its predecessor.

#9: “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” (2004)

Fans of the video games were sharply split in their reaction to the first film in this franchise. Although it was a financial success, it didn’t include any game characters and felt more like a generic zombie movie. In order to keep the fans on board, the filmmakers brought some beloved characters from the games into the sequel, including fan-favorite villain Nemesis. They must have thought that would be enough to keep audiences happy, because the rest of the movie feels extremely low effort. It looks cheap, the story is nonexistent, and what is up with the editing? We hope a lesson was learned here: you need more than fan service to make a decent movie.

#8: “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers” (1988)

For the third film in the famous slasher franchise, the creators tried to go in a different direction. In “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” they shifted away from Michael Myers to focus on a story about witchcraft, hoping to turn the series into an anthology. This did not go well. The fans clamored for more Michael, and the producers basically had no choice but to give them what they wanted. Due to an impending writers’ strike, the screenwriter had to develop the entire script in just eleven days. The final product was slow, boring, and not scary. Even the Shape’s mask doesn’t look right.

#7: “Jurassic Park III” (2001)

While many fans consider Ian Malcolm to be the most loveable franchise character, others were disappointed that the second film didn’t bring back Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler. In an attempt to appease the fanbase, the studio wanted to ensure that the duo of scientists returned for the third film, but figuring out how to make that happen was a challenge. The first script was thrown out completely, while the second was deemed too complex, and underwent heavy rewrites. Ultimately, the cast and crew had to start shooting without a finished script, which director Joe Johnston called “nerve-wracking.” Dr. Grant’s involvement with the final story seems incredibly contrived, and Ellie’s presence feels like an afterthought. These two icons deserved better.

#6: “Saw 3D” (2010)

Contrary to what you might think based on the title, this is actually the seventh film in the “Saw” franchise. By this point, it definitely felt like the writers were running out of ideas. So they turned to a fan theory that had been circulating on the internet for years. The theory was that one of the victims from the first movie, Dr. Gordon, had become Jigsaw’s apprentice. Of course, as soon as Cary Elwes was revealed to be involved in “Saw 3D,” everyone knew exactly where the story was headed. The result was an extremely predictable movie and a plot twist that was anything but surprising.

#5: “Green Lantern” (2011)

Imagine casting Ryan Reynolds to help make your movie more serious. The original concept for “Green Lantern” was an action comedy, with Jack Black starring as an everyman swept up in a superhero story. Fans hated the idea. The negative reaction on the internet was so strong, Warner Brothers threw out the concept and started from scratch. They ended up with a weak story full of bad dialogue and way too much terrible CGI. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. Now we know that Ryan Reynolds plus true action comedy is box office gold.

#4: “Blade Runner” (1982)

If you’ve only seen the director’s cut or the final cut of this sci-fi classic, you might not be aware that the theatrical release included some truly terrible voiceover. For this, you can thank the test audiences who saw the film at an early screening. They found it too difficult to follow, which led the studio to insist on adding the narration. Hearing Deckard’s internal monologue out loud completely changes the tone of the film and ruins some otherwise beautiful scenes. No wonder it flopped at the box office. We’re just grateful that Ridley Scott finally got to release the version of the movie he originally envisioned.

#3: “Spectre” (2015)

“Skyfall,” the third movie starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, was the most successful film in the long-running franchise by a wide margin. So how come a lot of die-hard Bond fans didn’t care for it? It could be because director Sam Mendes was inspired by “The Dark Knight,” and in many ways, “Skyfall” feels more like a Batman movie than a 007 movie. To keep the fanbase satisfied, Mendes decided to bring back more traditional Bond elements for “Spectre,” like intimidating henchmen, plenty of gadgets, and of course, an iconic Bond villain. We just wish he’d put as much effort into creating a compelling story as he did into pleasing the fans.

#2: “Justice League” (2017)

You probably know that this movie is a bit of a mess partly because director Zach Snyder departed the project early to deal with a death in his family. Joss Whedon took over and ordered a number of reshoots and changes to the script. But many people don’t realize that Whedon was brought on to make changes before Snyder actually left. The studio wasn’t happy with the fan reaction to “Batman v Superman,” and they wanted “Justice League” to have a lighter tone. We ended up with a lifeless mishmash of a movie where the reshoots are painfully obvious. Another DCEU movie, “Suicide Squad,” suffered from similar problems, with the studio even bringing in the trailer company to recut the film.

#1: “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” (2019)

“The Last Jedi” was objectively a critical and box office success. But some “Star Wars” fans weren’t thrilled with the direction it took the franchise. Some of them had valid reasons, and others … not so much. Unfortunately, Disney and director J.J. Abrams let the opinions of this small but vocal group have way too much influence over the final film. It almost felt like they were trying to undo everything established in the previous movie. Suddenly Rey isn’t a nobody – she’s part of an important family. Kylo Ren rebuilds his helmet after smashing it in “The Last Jedi.” Most baffling of all, Palpatine returns, despite having clearly exploded decades earlier. The result is the worst reviewed “Star Wars” movie since the prequels.