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Franchise Killer: Difference between revisions
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* ''[[El Hazard]]: The Alternative World'' performed poorly to the point that it was [[Cut Short]] with the show's [[Kudzu Plot|way too many plots]] being wrapped up (very poorly) in only a single episode. It also killed the ''El Hazard'' franchise, with no further work of any kind being done in the decade since. And we never saw the [[Stable Time Loop]] established in the original ''[[El Hazard]]: The Magnificent World'' through to its completion.
** ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'', another AIC franchise of the same era, barely escaped this fate one year earlier with ''Tenchi in Tokyo''. Despite being in most regards worse than ''[[El Hazard]]: The Alternative World'', ''Tenchi in Tokyo'' managed to last for a full 26 episodes, and only set back the franchise by 5 years instead of killing it altogether.
* Post-''[[Chars Counterattack]]'', ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'s'' Universal Century continuity entered an agonizing death-spiral. This started off with ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam F91]]'' being developed as a TV series, but crammed into a movie loaded with [[Kudzu Plot|so many dangling plot threads]] that it took a manga-only sequel to resolve them all. The next series, ''[[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam|Victory Gundam]]'', was [[Yoshiyuki Tomino]]'s [[Creator Breakdown|gigantic middle-finger to the franchise]] before departing. However, the true death blow was when ''Gaia Gear'' and ''G-Saviour'' were produced; [[Sunrise (company)|Sunrise]] [[Canon Discontinuity|does not list them with other UC productions]]. While the continuity continued to live on in [[OVA]]s covering events from the One Year War to the Gryps conflict, most subsequent TV production has been in an [[Alternate Continuity]], with the UC timeline being revisited in OVAs like ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt'', and ''Gundam Reconguista in G'', the latter taking place in the distant future of UC.
** This probably has something to do with the fact that Tomino was planning on ending it with ''Counterattack'' (in fact, he'd never even wanted to do ''any'' sequels in the first place, as his original plan had been to kill off pretty much any future threat from Zeon), but his sponsors just kept trying to squeeze blood from the stone. It's very telling that when they finally wised up and let Tomino bow out of the franchise and hired directors who were actually enthusiastic about the material they produced some of the most highly regarded work not only in the ''Gundam'' franchise, but in all of '90s anime.
** ''[[After War Gundam X|Gundam X]]'' almost killed the franchise, where due to consumer fatigue, the series entered an ice age for 3 years (if you don't count ''Endless Waltz''). ''Gundam X'' is one of only two Gundam TV series to be cut short of a full two-season run. The first? The original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''; it's easy to forget given what a massive franchise it's become that the original installment had poor ratings.
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* ''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]'' was so awful (lead actor [[George Clooney]] even ''said'' "I think we killed the franchise") that it convinced Warner to let the ''[[Batman]]'' fields lie fallow for a while, then let [[Christopher Nolan|someone else]] [[The Dark Knight Saga|take a crack at the series]]. Some Marvel Studios high-up is on record for saying that ''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]'' was the most influential comic book movie, on account of it definitively showing to movie studios that they can't shovel out crap comic movies and expect the fans to like it.
* ''[[Superman III]]'' was bad. ''[[Superman IV]]'' was [[So Bad It's Good|in some ways an improvement]]; but where it did go wrong, including glaring [[Special Effect Failure]], it broke [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]]. The series went comatose for nearly twenty years and when it came back, ''[[Superman Returns]]'' was a sequel to ''Superman II'' and [[Canon Discontinuity|ignored the continuity]] of ''Superman III'' and ''Superman IV''. ''Returns'' was decent (even taking into account the [[Broken Base]]), but didn't perform well enough to keep the franchise resurrected without another reboot.
* ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]''' plot contained a [[Sequel Hook]], but its financial and critical failure ended any chance the ''[[Star Trek: The
{{quote|"A Generation's Final Journey Begins". }}
** The major critical and box office disappointment for ''[[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier|Star Trek V the Final Frontier]]'' almost killed the franchise as a whole. The only reason there was a [[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|sixth movie]] was that Paramount wanted a movie to coincide with the [[Milestone Celebration|25th anniversary]] of the premiere of ''Star Trek''.
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* The film adaptation of ''[[Fat Slags]]'' (a strip in British comic ''[[Viz]]'') was so bad that their creator allegedly claimed he was going to kill off the strip as a result, though [[God Never Said That|this later turned out to be misquoted/misreported]].
* While the first two films in ''[[The Godfather]]'' franchises are regarded as classics, ''[[The Godfather]]: Part III'' is considered much less so. That, and director [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s declining health, effectively killed discussions about a fourth film. ([[Author Existence Failure|Mario Puzo dying]] prevented the rumours from coming back.)
* ''[[Mortal Kombat (film)|Mortal Kombat]]'', while not a blockbuster hit, is a decent action flick with solid characters. The second movie is a slopfest of one-shot character cameos, terrible dialogue, and (for the series) an inexplicable plot. After several rumors of a possible sequel/reboot by New Line were killed by [[Warner Bros]] buying the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' franchise and all rights therein,<ref>after [[Midway Games]], the franchise's original publisher, fell apart</ref> WB opted for the cheaper idea of a [[Web Original]] series, ''[[Mortal Kombat: Legacy]]'', instead of a movie.
* Sadly, the four-hour epic movie ''[[Gettysburg]]'', based on a novel by Michael Shaara, had its franchise killed by the abominably executed sequel/prequel ''Gods and Generals'', based on the novel written by Jeff Shaara (son of Michael) which had promised a third entry, ''The Last Full Measure'', also based on the Jeff Shaara book. The shocking thing about ''Gods and Generals'' is that, having seen a variety of pre-release scenes, unreleased scenes, and different (superior) cuts of shown scenes in the film that there was quite a lot of good footage that simply was not used; in effect, the whole franchise was killed by bad editing.
* ''[[Jurassic Park]] 3''. A fourth film languished in [[Development Hell]], but when [[Michael Crichton]] [[Author Existence Failure|died]], producer Kathleen Kennedy initially decided against making more, and then, in a subversion, Steven Spielberg revealed at 2011's Comic-Con that a fourth film should be released within the next two to three years.
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** The franchise has been successfully rebooted, with the critically-acclaimed release of ''[[Rise of the Planet of the Apes]]'' in 2011.
* The negative critical reception and underwhelming (but still relatively successful) box office intake for ''[[Charlie's Angels|Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle]]'' (not to mention the deaths of Bosley #2 Bernie Mac and Charlie himself, John Forsythe) means that the prospects for a third movie in the foreseeable future are unlikely. And with the new TV series burned at the stake by critics and cancelled after four episodes were aired,<ref>possibly an instance of [[Screwed by the Network]], as [[ABC]] had to know it wasn't going to get much of anything by dumping the show against [[The X Factor]] and [[The Big Bang Theory]]</ref> it's not so much "Good morning, Angels" as "Goodbye, Angels."
* ''[[Licence to Kill]]'', the 16th official [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] movie (and the second and last one to star [[Timothy Dalton]]) seemed to do this for a while. With inflation in account, it's the lowest grossing film in the franchise. The franchise was already entering uncertain territory as production had to be moved from England to Mexico in order to save money. Not only that, but the marketing for the movie was subpar at best (it's to date, the last Bond movie to be released during summer). Add that to ''LTK'' itself, being one of the most polarizing Bond movies of recent memory due to its decidedly [[Darker and Edgier]], ''[[Miami Vice]]''-influenced plot (especially considering the [[Lighter and Softer]] Roger Moore era was still fresh in the general public's mind). ''LTK'' felt like an end of an era (dating back to the [[Sean Connery]] era) as it was the last Bond movie to have any involvement from director John Glen, screenwriter Richard Maibaum, title designer Maurice Binder, cinematographer Alec Mills, and producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli (not to mention the last Bond movie to take place during the [[Cold War]]). There wouldn't be a Bond movie [[Development Hell|released for six years]] (the longest such delay in franchise history) due to legal wrangling over control of the series. In the meantime, Dalton's contract expired, [[Pierce Brosnan]] was hired, and [[
** While ''[[Die Another Day]]'' by no means performed badly (it was the best performing of the series until ''[[Casino Royale]]'') it was deemed ridiculous by many, and received at best mixed reviews. Soon after, Brosnan was dismissed and the franchise rebooted with a back-to-basics movie starring [[Daniel Craig]] as Bond.
* The [[Adaptation Decay|film of]] ''[[Eragon]]'' inexplicably altered so many plotlines and cut so much (even given it is based on a [[Doorstopper]]), including the ''entire Dwarf race'' that a sequel based on the plot of the second book would have been impossible, even if it wasn't an awful film.
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=== [[THQ]] ===
* The ''[[Nicktoons Unite!]]'' series died after ''Nicktoons: Globs of Doom'''s poor reception. THQ has since given up on Nicktoons [[Licensed Game|licensed games]], so the game that followed ''Globs of Doom'' was [[Take Two Interactive|2K Games]]' ''[[Nicktoons MLB]]'', [[Roger Rabbit Effect|a crossover between Nicktoons characters and real MLB players]].
* THQ released two ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'' games in 2008 - ''Big Willy Unleashed'' for the Wii, and then ''Path of the Furon'' for [[
* With the underwhelming reception of ''[[Red Faction]]: Armageddon'' and the multiplayer-focused ''Battlegrounds'', THQ has announced that it won't be doing any more ''RF'' games for a while. Of course, if they listened to the fans who made the second to last game Red Faction Guerrilla a hit, they'd have continued RFG's open world destruction gameplay style instead of making a generic underground corridor shooter.
* The publisher also canned its ''MX vs. ATV'' franchise after the various changes in gameplay to ''MX vs. ATV: Alive'' left fans cold.
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* ''[[Tomb Raider]]: Angel of Darkness'' didn't sell well, so Eidos passed the franchise's development rights on from Core Design to Crystal Dynamics.
* ''[[Deus Ex: Invisible War]]'' was the much anticipated sequel to the seminal ''[[Deus Ex]]''. It was so poorly received (by the community; it received decent marks from critics) that developer Ion Storm: Austin was driven to collapse, and the spin-off title ''Deus Ex: Clan Wars'' was changed to ''Project Snowblind'' to remove negative association with the ballyhooed franchise. Another title in the series wouldn't be made until 2011's ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution]]''.
* ''[[
* After ''[[Unlimited Saga]]'' was released in 2002, the only new ''[[SaGa]]'' games have been remakes of existing games in the series.
* ''[[Dawn of Mana]]'' effectively killed off the ''[[World of Mana]]'' series with frustrating and nonsensical gameplay and a level system that [[Restart At Level One|reset whenever you started a new chapter]], which meant [[Level Grinding|Loads And Loads Of Grinding]].
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* The ninth installment of the main ''[[Might and Magic]]'' series is generally regarded as the reason the developer stuck with the ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic|Heroes]]'' spinoff from then on; this was mainly due to the fact that the graphics of the engine had to be extensively upgraded in order to conpete. However, all of the company;s resources went into that and not into, say, a very good plot.
* ''[[Bloody Roar]] 4'' is considered the worst entry in the franchise by its small but dedicated fanbase. No new entries in the series were made after this one,<ref>rumors of a new entry in the series due out in 2012 were revealed to be a hoax</ref> but [[Eighting Raizing]] has since gone on to develop other licensed fighting games since as the ''[[Naruto Clash of Ninja]]'' series, ''[[Fate Unlimited Codes]]'' and ''[[Tatsunoko vs. Capcom]]''.
* With the surprise success of ''[[Zombies Ate My Neighbors]]'', [[
* ''[[Bubsy]]'' did well enough to get a few 2D sequels and a [[One-Episode Wonder|short-lived cartoon show]]. Then came ''Bubsy 3D'', seen as one of the worst games ever made, which smashed head-first into the [[Polygon Ceiling]] and destroyed any possible future for the series as a whole.
* The poor critical reception of the 2008 ''[[Alone in
* The [[The Problem with Licensed Games|video game adaptation]] of ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial|E.T.: The Extraterrestrial]]'' deserves a dishonorable mention here for temporarily acting as a partial ''[[The Great Video Game Crash of 1983|medium]]'' killer. The other half is the [[Porting Disaster|disastrously bad Atari 2600 port]] of the arcade classic ''[[Pac-Man]]''. The makers were so confident in Pac-Man's success that they made ''more game cartridges than there were consoles to run them on''. [[What an Idiot!|Smart, guys. Real smart.]] It has been theorized numerous times that Atari expected a significant rise in 2600 sales after the release of E.T., so the additional cartridges would have make sense had it worked out that way.
* ''[[Fatal Frame]] III'''s poor reviews and worse sales killed the franchise... [[No Export for You|except in Japan]], where there has been another game released, and could conceivably be more.
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* ''[[King's Quest: Mask of Eternity]]'' started with a ''very'' unwelcome [[Genre Shift]], taking a franchise that prized itself on emphasizing a creative, non-violent option whenever possible and making a hack and slash third-person action game, with a [[Darker and Edgier]] tone that [[Shoo Out the Clowns|sharply veered from the gentle humor]] and fairy-tale style of the previous seven games. What really iced the cake was that ''none'' of the [[Badass Family|Daventry royal family]] got speaking parts—the [[Player Character]] might as well have been from a different franchise entirely. Some of the fan sites [[Fanon Discontinuity|refuse to call it a King's Quest game at all]]. Even the Sierra "King's Quest Collection" [[Canon Discontinuity|quietly ignores it]], and Roberta Williams herself was so dissatisfied with it that she refused to call the game ''King's Quest VIII'', removing the numeral from the title altogether. ''Mask of Eternity's'' dubious status is reflected in the [[Fan Remake]] of ''[[King's Quest II]]'', as {{spoiler|you will receive full points whether or not you choose to knight Connor (acknowledging him as part of the story arc).}}
* ''[[Empire Earth]] III'' was a commercial and critical failure, derided for its myriad bugs, dubious development choices and one of the worst examples of "dumbing down" gameplay in a RTS. In addition to contributing to Sierra's downfall, it's widely thought to be responsible for the end of the ''[[Empire Earth]]'' series and Mad Doc studios. Mad Doc [[Old Shame|even removed any trace of the game from their website]] before getting bought by [[Take Two Interactive|Rockstar Games]].
* ''Fade To Black'', the 3D sequel to ''[[Flashback (video game)|Flashback]]'', slammed into the [[Polygon Ceiling]] head-on, crushing hopes of further sequels or a revival.
* There was a fourth ''[[Descent]]'' game planned, but it was cancelled due to poor sales of ''Descent 3'' and Interplay going bankrupt. Interplay has recently come out of bankruptcy and reregistered the trademark, and there are rumors that the fourth game may yet be made.
* The [[Broken Base]] which started in ''[[Star Fox Adventures]]'' may have managed to finally come back to bite the franchise in the ass with ''Star Fox Command''. It was the poorest selling game in the series to date and while it didn't put the kibosh on the [[Nintendo 3DS]] remake of ''[[Star Fox 64]]'', it might be a long time before any "new" ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]]'' games are seen.
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* While [[SNK]] had previously attempted to move the ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' franchise into the third dimension with ''Samurai Shodown 64''<ref>as in the Hyper Neo-Geo 64 arcade board, not Nintendo 64</ref> with limited success (average review scores, but new characters Shiki and Asura have appeared in other SNK games, such as ''[[Neo Geo Battle Coliseum]]''), they tried again with ''Samurai Shodown Sen'' (an [[Interquel]] to the ''SamSho 64'' games) more than a decade later. The game was a critical flop, with reviewers pointing out the confusing controls, poor character balancing, and ugly graphics.
* ''[[Leisure Suit Larry]]: Magna Cum Laude'' [[Polygon Ceiling|stumbled into]], but ultimately survived its transition into 3D. Its follow-up game, ''Box Office Bust'', added platforming, shooting and brawling elements, none which the game did well at all. Reviewers everywhere ripped the game apart, giving it some of the lowest composite scores of any game in the modern console era.
* The Western version of the first ''[[Kunio
* After [[Atari]]'s buy-out on [[Humongous Entertainment]], the company tried to continue ''[[Putt-Putt]]'' and ''[[Pajama Sam]]''. [[Putt-Putt]]'s last game wasn't all too bad, it had some poor voice acting and way too much recycled content as well as was boring, but it's at least playable compared to their attempt at ''[[Pajama Sam]]'', which had a '''very''' cringe-worthy choice of voice actor, a lame plot, [[Loads and Loads of Loading]], and several other things. They didn't sell or score well enough to continue onward, while the ''[[Backyard Sports]]'' series continued to get a worse treatment.
* ''[[Lunar]]: Dragon Song'' seems to have done this for the ''Lunar'' series; stemming from poor sales, bad reviews, and absurd gameplay mechanics. There hasn't been a non-remake ''Lunar'' title since ''Dragon Song'''s release.
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== Western Animation ==
* Ever wondered why you don't hear much about ''[[Felix the Cat]]'' anymore outside of merchandising or that 2004 direct-to-video film? You can pin the blame on the failure of ''[[Felix the Cat: The Movie]]'', as well as the surprisingly good ''[[The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat|Twisted Tales of Felix]]'' series (Then again, Felix is getting a supposed upcoming CGI series, but still).
* After ''[[Beast Machines]]'' there was supposed to be a sequel series (complete with prototype toys made) called ''[[Transformers:
* After the second season of ''[[Gargoyles]]'', creator [[Greg Weisman]] jumped ship, and a third season called ''Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles'' sank the franchise on TV. Greg wrote a comic series to replace the third season, but unfortunately it didn't sell well enough to keep up once [[Screwed by the Network|Disney hiked up the licensing fee]].
* In a rare example of a character being a one-person Franchise Killer, Elmyra managed to be the prime cause for the untimely demise of ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]''.
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