Top 20 Movie Franchises That Failed to Continue with a New Lead

Back when both Vin Diesel and Paul Walker had stepped away from the series, Lucas Black’s Sean tried to rev up interest in the car films by starring in “Tokyo Drift”. At the time, fans and critics didn’t like the idea of the new high school protagonist taking the wheel. It earned a 3% Rotten Tomatoes score and still stands as the lowest grossing film in the franchise. After its initial critical and commercial flop, Vin Diesel was brought back to get the series on track. Despite its infamy, “Tokyo Drift” has been reevaluated as one of the franchise’s more ambitious and unique entries. Both its characters and plot were also fully welcomed back into the family after the series became box office gold again.

A story where teenager Scott Howard transforms into a werewolf to help his basketball team thrive made for a silly and successful film. Unfortunately for the studio, they couldn’t get Michael J. Fox to help expand this campy universe. Instead, Jason Bateman took over in a new tale where he was a werewolf boxer in college. His status as the cousin of the original lead couldn't protect the movie from a ton of criticism. It carried an extremely similar plot where the protagonist learns not to use their werewolf abilities for selfish sports gain. And outside of being a total retread, the talented Bateman still fell short of Fox’s performance. Fans howled for this franchise to go on hibernation after this lazy sequel.

Starring Jeff Bridges as the resourceful protagonist, Kevin Flynn’s journey into a strange and stunning digital world in the first “Tron” became a sci-fi cult classic. Unfortunately, its sequel couldn’t rise above its predecessor. “Tron: Legacy” followed Sam Flynn’s quest to find and reconnect with his lost father in an unfamiliar place. While Garett Hedlund does a solid job as a fish out of water lead, he didn’t have the same magnetism as Kevin Flynn. It doesn’t help that Jeff Bridges both reprises his role and plays the film’s villain. After getting middling reviews, Disney surprisingly considered giving Sam Flynn another shot. But the studio eventually decided to pivot and work on developing a new film with Jared Leto as the lead.

Just one year after this found footage film scared up massive box office returns, studio executives tried to strike gold again with “Blair Witch: Book of Shadows”. But they should’ve waited a bit longer. Since the main trio from the first film couldn’t return without some serious writing gymnastics, a new group is introduced to the world. The sequel tried to serve as both a meta commentary of the first film’s success and its own horror tale. However, the group at the forefront wasn’t as entertaining as the characters that kicked things off. Their horrific adventures also strayed away from the found footage format of the cult classic. The box office failure of the 2016 sequel further proved the franchise was cursed without its first leads.

In the eighties, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi made audiences fall in love with the titular duo in a broad and thrilling comedy. It seemed like the franchise would be retired after the tragic loss of
Belushi. However, a sequel arrived in 1998 with actors like John Goodman and J. Evan Bonifant serving as new co-leads. Despite their best attempts and good efforts from other cast members, no one had chemistry with Aykroyd like the late Belushi did. It also didn’t help that the film’s plot of reuniting the band had already been done to perfection in the previous movie. Without Jake Blues, something sounded off throughout the sequel to the musical hit.

After over two decades of rumors about another entry in this series, Lebron James laced up his sneakers to star in this Looney Tunes sports adventure. Whether his acting performance was miles ahead of Michael Jordan’s or worse is up for each viewer to decide. But the undeniable fact is that the King James movie is worse than its predecessor. Although “Space Jam: Legacy” tries to tell a touching father and son story, it relies far too heavily on nostalgia and character cameos. And while Jordan played it safe by playing the straight man, James tries and fails to make a lot of jokes work on his own. There’s no denying that this basketball king rules on the court. But he was out of his element in this follow up basketball comedy.

“American Psycho 2” opens with a girl named Rachael Newman slaying the original protagonist Patrick Bateman. That scene coincidentally serves as the perfect metaphor for how the follow up is seen in comparison to the original. During the sequel, they depict Rachael’s evolution into a cold blooded criminal. Although the first movie made you question if Bateman committed any violent acts, the sequel throws nuance out the window and confirms that she’s on a bloody spree. Mila Kunis later made it clear that she disliked her role as Rachael and hoped the studio wouldn’t make a third film. Fortunately for her and audiences everywhere, the franchise seems to be dead as of 2023.

The duo of Carmen and Juni Cortez were so iconic because the siblings completed top secret missions while butting heads. When they were replaced by Rebecca and Cecil Wilson, the new brother and sister characters lacked that confrontational dynamic. Their relatively easygoing relationship was too generic to get invested in. While the writing of the movie was also lackluster, it became clear what had gone wrong once Juni and Carmen reunited in the story. They became so much fun to watch together that we nearly forgot that they weren’t the leads anymore. If the franchise had been allowed to grow up with that duo, the fourth movie might not have been so poorly received.

It’s hard to imagine that the first musical entry in this franchise would’ve worked without Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson serving as the romantic leads. Audiences got a taste of what that would’ve looked like in the poorly received “Grease 2”. While Sandy was a girl next door who fell in love with rough around the edges Danny, the sequel swaps the roles. This time around, Stephanie is the tough and cool lead who falls for the squeaky clean Michael. Their new relationship dynamic still failed to feel fresh or as electric as the original couple. Additionally, their songs aren’t as memorable as the ones from the first installment. The “Grease” franchise didn’t get any Hollywood follow-ups for over forty years after this disappointing sequel.

While the quality of the first four films in this series varied, Regina Hall and Anna Farris were the shining constants in each of those parody movies. The creatives behind “Scary Movie V” thought the talents of Ashley Tisdale and Erica Ash could fill the void the original duo left. However, these new actresses lacked the strong connection and chemistry that their previous stars had. Although Farris and Hall probably would’ve had a hard job making most of the jokes in “Scary Movie V” work, they might’ve been able to elevate the material. Their absence and a rough screenplay combined earned the film a 4% on Rotten Tomatoes. Its miserable reception is likely the final knife in the heart of the franchise.

There’s no denying that audiences showed up to the original movie and its sequels to see a giant shark torment humans. But the franchise started sinking quickly when Martin Brody stopped being the main protagonist. In “Jaws 3-D”, his sons try to get us invested in a battle against an angry shark. Although the fourth film is all about the shark getting revenge against The Brody family, Martin dies before the story begins. Both sequels felt like they were just trying to distract from the fact that their biggest human character wasn’t around. Despite trying to incorporate new gimmicks and big stars, not a single “Jaws” sequel came close to the original’s success.

Ed Skrein is by no means a household name, but between his stint as the first Daario Naharis on “Game of Thrones,” and his breakout role as the delightfully villainous Ajax in “Deadpool,” he’s established himself as an undeniably recognizable face. Unfortunately, he was handed the mantle of Frank Martin, aka the Transporter, before he did “Deadpool,” and as you can imagine, fans didn’t take too kindly to seeing a relative unknown stepping in for Jason Statham, one of the hardest working action stars of the new millennium. It was already an uphill battle, but working with the lackluster material he was given, Skrein had little hope of winning over the skeptical fans.

Hey, remember when Vin Diesel seemingly wasn’t into sequels? Talk about a distant memory! Diesel’s tendency to stay away from them early in his career led to the spy thriller “xXx” being left without a lead. Apparently Diesel didn’t like the sequel’s script when he saw it, and, if it bore any semblance to the finished film, we can’t really blame him. Ice Cube was brought in to carry the franchise as his replacement, Darius Stone, only for the film to sink like a rock. The first “xXx” was absurd, but it had a reckless charm to it. This box office bomb… did not. Thankfully, Xander eventually returned.

While the second New York based film in the series wasn’t bad by any means, it still felt like the concept was being stretched to its breaking point despite Macaulay Culkin’s strong performance. How did the studio attempt to move forward? New star, new villains… not even a tenuous familial relation or tangential connection to the original two films! We get that Macaulay Culkin wasn’t interested, but you don’t just release an unconnected retread and call it the third film. Young Alex D. Linz does a fine job in the role of Alex Pruitt, and the film performed reasonably well at the box office, but it remains a sore spot with “Home Alone” fans around the world for obvious reasons. In the years following its debut, the franchise hasn’t had much luck trying to reignite interest with any new films.

No, we’re not talking about the Jaden Smith remake, which was actually a decent, if underwhelming reboot (and slightly confusing one since the kid in question was learning kung fu, not karate). But we digress. The lead swap we really want to talk about is when Hilary Swank’s Julie Pierce became Mr. Miyagi’s next pupil. Yep, you heard that right. This fourth installment in the beloved “Karate Kid” franchise saw Hilary Swank don the mantle of the titular kid, and it was so bad, that even the most nostalgic film lovers have largely wiped it from memory. In Swank’s defense, she was considered the one good thing in an otherwise cringe-worthy film.

When the first “Predator” film came out… it was greeted with mixed reviews. But cinemagoers, Arnie fans, and action junkies loved it, and, in addition to performing well at the box office, it quickly developed a legacy as a landmark sci-fi action film. They’ve been trying to recapture that magic with new leads and incredibly mixed results ever since. But it’s the immediate sequel, starring Danny Glover, that stands out as the most obvious lead actor swap out. In all fairness to Glover, he’s the only thing holding this film together, but Schwarzenegger’s shoes aren’t easy to fill. It also suffered from the loss of Arnold’s memorable, muscular supporting characters, although Bill Paxton does his best.

This is among the most notorious action sequels in history. If things had played out differently, though, it’s not hard to imagine a world in which a great “Speed” trilogy exists. Instead… we’ve got an awesome first installment and an awful second one. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock stole our hearts in the original epic action thriller. It was a tense, edge of your seat ride, with refreshingly relatable characters you cared about. A hit at the box office and with critics, a sequel was inevitable, but when Reeves refused, things fell apart. Jason Patric felt like a generic replacement, which, coupled with the film’s absurd plot, all but guaranteed that the film was doomed.

If Will Smith had been given a decent shot to return for the sequel to “Independence Day,” it likely would’ve succeeded based on his star power alone. “Independence Day” worked thanks to a careful balancing act involving an over-the-top disaster plot and memorable, likable characters, and without Will Smith in the equation, the long-awaited sequel just kind of fell apart. The whole “your beloved hero died off-screen” thing always makes for a rough start to a sequel. Unfortunately, the combined efforts of Liam Hemsworth and Jessie T. Usher, even with a lot of help from Jeff Goldblum, simply wasn’t enough. The concept was there, the explosions too, but the star power and feel good quality wasn’t.

We’ve said it before: there’s just no replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger. Additionally, Linda Hamilton’s dynamic performance kept us rooting for her to beat the machines. But after Schwarzenegger returned for the third film, both he and Hamilton sat out the fourth. “Terminator Salvation” film strays so far from its franchise roots that it almost doesn’t feel like a true sequel. After spending three movies trying to prevent the Skynet machine takeover, the new film shows us what happens when tech wins through the eyes of Marcus Wright. While franchise mainstay John Connor still played a large part, splitting the narrative didn’t work. This failed experiment led to 2 more films that audiences loathed. There’s a decent chance that this franchise has been terminated.

Although the Mask turns its user into a chaotic and obnoxious magical being, Jim Carrey was so funny that we still chuckled at his antics. But not too many people were laughing when Jamie Kennedy put on the wicked item. He played an extremely immature and annoying animator named Tim. Although we’re supposed to sympathize with him, the character’s lack of any redeeming qualities makes it impossible to get behind the new lead. Unfortunately, the power of the mask isn’t enough to make him funny or entertaining. The fact that Tim is more annoying without the powerful magic item amplifying his personality was a huge red flag. We’re not surprised that no one else has put on the mask since this disastrous sequel.