One of the most divisive yet common trends in Hollywood is franchise reboots. While some of these films try to incorporate past movies into the new franchise, others disregard it almost entirely. Although some reboots have proven popular, many were either divisive or outright hated by their target audience. There are many reasons such a project may disappoint audiences.
The art of making a franchise reboot work requires a healthy balance of respecting the predecessor while making the movie feel fresh. When studios and creators deviate too far from audience expectations, they can quickly alienate viewers and, in many cases, flop at the box office. It's unlikely these reboots will stop any time soon, but fans will still be eager to point out when a movie disappoints them.
The Jay And Silent Bob trailer contains mature language.
10 Terminator Genysis Was A Blatant Cash Grab
The fifth entry in the Terminator franchise, Genysis had a lot of hype but lived up to almost none of it. It recast most of its leading roles with actors who just didn't fit the characters and seemed preoccupied with rewriting its timeline. This included fundamentally damaging its future hero, John Connor.
Genysis was such a disappointment that the next film, Dark Fate, was also something of a reboot of a reboot, leaving the franchise a complete mess. Genysis should have been great, but it disappointed many fans.
9 RoboCop Just Couldn't Channel Peter Weller's Movies
RoboCop is one of the best action movies in the history of the genre, in no small part due to Peter Weller's iconic performance as the cyborg hero. In 2014, the franchise got a reboot that made a number of missteps that failed in delivering what fans wanted.
Where the original franchise did a great job of fleshing out its "tale of two cities" dynamic as Old Detroit fell into disarray and dystopia, its reboot just fell flat. On top of this, the RoboCop design was abandoned for a more sleek, soulless version, one that lost the hero's humanity in the process.
8 Halloween's Final Entry Was The Nail In The Reboot's Coffin
When Halloween was rebooted in 2018, it was off to a good start. However, Halloween Ends completely tarred the trilogy. Rather than deliver on audience's expectations, the film led its characters and story to disappointment.
The second entry, Halloween Kills, ended on a cliffhanger with Michael surviving a mob attack and killing Laurie Strode's daughter. Rather than pick up where this left off, Halloween Ends diminished Michael's role in his own movie and focused more on passing the mantle to a man named Corey, who dies in the film.
7 A Nightmare On Elm Street Couldn't Live Up To The Original
One of the best-known slashers in the horror genre's history, A Nightmare On Elm Street received a reboot in 2010. Although Jackie Earle Haley was cast as legendary killer Freddy Krueger, the movie failed to match the original's eerie yet over-the-top style. Instead, A Nightmare On Elm Street ditched the "fun" and went too generic.
Despite Jackie Earle Haley being a talented actor, he just couldn't nail what Robert Englund had done so well with his spin on Freddy. The movie had a dull plot that audiences failed to connect with, and it wound up feeling like an entirely different horror franchise.
6 Men In Black International Lacked The Chemistry Its Original Stars Had
The on-screen chemistry between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the original Men In Black films worked like a charm. While Jones played the firm and seasoned agent, Smith played a young and brash rookie who didn't quite take the job seriously.
In the reboot/sequel, Men In Black: International, fans were disappointed to see a film that had little resemblance to its original. International was a box-office disappointment, and the humor just wasn't anywhere near what the franchise had proven capable of.
5 Jay And Silent Bob: The Reboot Spent Too Much Time Poking Fun At Reboots
The late '90s and early 2000s saw a heyday for Kevin Smith as he started his "View Askewniverse," a shared world for movies. Although they were rarely the leads, Jay and Silent Bob were popular characters and fans demanded more, eventually landing the duo a movie.
In 2019, Smith returned to the story of the two friends. However, of all the directions he could have gone in, Smith decided to effectively undo the potential he had set up in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Jay lost Justice and the bulk of The Reboot's runtime rehashed old jokes or just poked fun at the whole idea of reboots.
4 Hellboy Should Have Been Awesome, But The Original Is Still King
2019's superhero film Hellboy promised a fresh return to Mike Mignola's titular paranormal detective hero. As the talented David Harbour was following Ron Pearlman's masterful job as Hellboy, fans were willing to give the movie a shot. What they got was a disappointment.
Hellboy should have been great, thanks to improved CGI, special effects, and the heightened love of superhero projects. It also introduced new Hellboy heroes from the comics, like Ben Daimio. However, the reboot lacked the appeal of the original and was too dark and serious for what fans had in mind.
3 The Mummy Abandoned Any Connection To Its Beloved Predecessor
Tom Cruise could have been a good pick to lead a revival of Universal's Monsters franchise in the so-called "Dark Universe" project. However, with Brendan Fraser's Mummy franchise still so popular with many, fans expected something a little more light-hearted and adventurous.
However, The Mummy was a disappointment. Instead of patiently building up the universe like the MCU did, the franchise threw everything at the wall to see what would stick. The darker tone for what should be a fun movie was rejected, and both The Mummy and the Dark Universe went down in flames.
2 Scoob Tried To Do Too Much All At Once
Scooby-Doo is one of the most beloved and well-known cartoon franchises in history. Originating in the animation studio Hanna-Barbera, Scooby was just one of many cartoon heroes who hit TV throughout the studio's heyday. In Scoob, Warner Bros. tried to establish a shared universe between them all.
Scoob introduced the gang, Captain Caveman, Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, and Dick Dastardly and Muttley all in its 93-minute runtime. Not only was the cast of characters much too jumbled for a single movie, but some of the portrayals were too removed from character history, namely Captain Caveman.
1 Ghostbusters Was So Bad The Studio Erased It From Canon
2016's Ghostbusters went down almost immediately as a disappointment. From the moment the trailer dropped, fans started to cringe at the reboot. The film failed on almost every level, from comedy to effects, and felt more like a parody of the original than a reboot.
Despite the main cast being all talented comedians, the humor simply didn't land with fans. Its reception among fans was so bad that the studio opted to scrap it from continuity and produced a more direct reboot to the original in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.