In a day and age filled with sequels, reboots, prequels and anything other way to capitalize off an existing franchise’s success, it’s not hard for great movies to be given a chance to continue their stories.
However, even within this, there lies a large group of films that surprisingly weren’t given a green light for a continuation, even though they may be more than deserving.
Kicking off the list, Timur Bekmambetov’s 2008 action film “Wanted” is one of the more surprising movies to only consist of one entry. “Wanted” starred names such as James McAvoy in the peak of his career, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Chris Pratt and many more.
“Wanted” was more than impressive at the box office. With its open-ended conclusion and incredibly expansive universe, a sequel seemed bound to happen.
“You don’t want to just retread a similar story, but when we get the script to a certain bar, there will be a sequel,” explained producer Marc Platt via Screen Rant. “It’s taken a while because it’s challenging… We have good ideas though. It’s coming along.”
Shortly after, in 2014, production on a “Wanted” sequel came to a stand-still and ultimately fizzled out. For a movie that performed so well, and with such an intriguing universe to explore, it’s a disservice to fans that a sequel will likely never come to fruition.
Next up on notable films that never received a sequel, and another film from 2008, Peter Berg’s found-footage superhero film “Hancock” is up there as one of the more surprising films in this list.
“Hancock” starred Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman. Unsurprisingly, it was an immediate hit, riding off a resurgence in the found-footage genre around that time.
“Hancock” was able to pull in well-over $600 million in the box office off a $150 million budget. With a performance that monstrous, it’s not shocking that Columbia Pictures was anxious to plan a sequel. However, it would never amount to much.
“There are so many cooks in that particular kitchen that are so busy,” explained Berg via HitFix. “To get us all in the same room where we can talk and then agree on anything? You’ll never meet a group of people who will have a harder time agreeing on anything.”
Though Berg concluded the interview saying he “thinks it will happen,” it’s been well-over a decade since the film’s release and there have been zero updates regarding a sequel.
Sometimes it really just comes down to stars not aligning. Whether that’s a director taking on an ambitious new film, an actor snagging a big-time role, or a writer losing interest in the story, it doesn’t always mean a sequel was purposefully avoided, it usually just means it wasn’t in the cards.
Sequels based on unfinished source materials have the hardest time getting made. This was displayed perfectly with Spike Jonze’s 2009 adventure film “Where the Wild Things Are,” based on a children’s book of the same name.
Spike Jonze’s ambitious children’s film received a fair amount of praise at its release, being credited for faithfully adapting Maurice Sendak’s book of the same name written in 1963.
“Where the Wild Things Are” featured established actors such as James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Dano and Catherine O’Hara. Thanks to its established name, along with its talented cast and crew, “Where the Wild Things Are” broke the $100 million milestone at the box office.
“Where the Wild Things Are” became a cult classic almost immediately after the film’s release, with many fans calling for a sequel.
“People said, ‘why didn’t you do Wild Things 2? Wild Things 1 was such a success,’” explained Sendak in a video interview with the Tate museums in Britain in 2011. Sendak went on to describe a sequel book as “the most boring idea imaginable.”
Despite this, many fans still think a Spike Jonze led sequel is well-worth being produced, despite how much of a longshot the movie would be.
Sendak passed away in 2012, expressing his disdain for the idea of a sequel book until his final days. It’d be hard to craft around such a lack of source material, which unfortunately means a sequel film will likely forever stay a dream in many fans’ minds.
Transitioning into more recent films, Shane Black’s 2016 dark comedy “The Nice Guys” is one of the more realistic sequels on this list.
“The Nice Guys” immediately developed a huge following on release, in partial credit to Ryan Gosling and Russel Crowe’s hilarious performance as private detectives.
The film served as a perfect homage to 70s detective films and gave audiences a fresh take on the genre. Due to the film’s open-ended final scene, a sequel was almost immediately expected by audiences. This was further pushed by Gosling, Crowe and Black, all of which expressed interest in another entry.
Black entertained the idea of a sequel, explaining, “If someone decided that it were enough of a cult hit to justify that, I’d be on it,” before concluding that he has “all kinds of ideas.”
The main thing preventing a sequel from getting pushed into development is its lackluster box office performance. “The Nice Guys” didn’t perform great theatrically. It only developed a cult following months after its run in theaters.
Last on the list, and the most anticipated by a mile, Richard Donner’s 1985 comedy/adventure film “The Goonies.” It’s shocking there hasn’t already been a sequel developed, especially when you take into account the film’s conclusion.
“The Goonies” more than performed theatrically, raking in an insane $125 million in the box office off just a $19 million production budget. “The Goonies” became one of the defining films of the 1980s, and it continues to be cherished nearly four decades later.
“The Goonies” also kickstarted a plethora of young actors’ careers such as Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Ke Hey Quan and Sean Astin. Brolin and Quan went on to win Academy Awards years later.
The idea for a sequel to “The Goonies” isn’t a unique one. A second entry has been jumping around for the past 39 years. In 2014, a sequel film was even announced by Donner himself, but this idea was eventually scrapped once again.
In a video interview with TMZ in 2014, Donner seemingly confirmed the sequel was in development. However, this didn’t lead to anything and has basically been forgotten.
“Chris [Columbus] and Dick and I have had a lot of conversations about it, every couple of years we come up with an idea, but then it doesn’t hold water. I don’t think we’ve really successfully been able to find an idea that is better than ‘The Goonies’ we made in the ‘80s,” explained Steven Spielberg, who produced the first one, in an interview with Josh Gad in 2020.
Unfortunately, Donner passed away in 2021. Any possibility of a sequel without Donner seems like a longshot. It looks like this is as far as a sequel will ever get in development.
While it can be fun to theorize and hope for a sequel to one of your favorite movies, it’s important to realize that some sequels aren’t meant to happen. This could be for any number of reasons, from a lackluster box office performance to a lack of original source material. Sometimes a sequel just isn’t in the cards, and that’s okay. It’s important to appreciate the movie you did get, rather than feeling like you lost out on a movie you didn’t.
