Recasting is a common practice in movie franchises, and it's always influenced by various factors. From contract disputes to bad behavior, there are many reasons why actors get replaced. For most franchises, a change of face rarely happens more than once for a single character, but there have been a few instances where movie characters were recast way too many times.
Recasting characters is especially common in movies with a single continuity rather than those like the James Bond and Batman franchises which keep getting rebooted. At times, these changes made the subsequent projects better while on other occasions, the fresh faces failed to conjure the same magic as their predecessors.
10 John Connor (Terminator)
Judgement Day is often regarded as one of the sequels that are better than the original movie and even though Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 cyborg is the character that contributes heavily to awesomeness, John Connor also plays an important part. The protagonist is played brilliantly by Edward Furlong, who had to be dropped from the next movie to substance abuse.
Nick Stahl does a good job in Terminator 3, but even he had to pave way for Cristian Bale in Terminator: Salvation. After all, Bale was way more bankable, having achieved fame by taking on the Batman mantle. Regrettably, a weak storyline prevented Bale from channeling the same Bruce Wayne magic, so the role was once again passed to Jason Clarke.
9 Sean & Mike Brody (Jaws)
The Jaws sequels never match up to the standards set in Steven Spielberg's iconic movie. However, one thing that remains constant throughout the four chapters is the presence of Martin Brody's sons, Sean and Mike, who are played by different actors each time.
Since each movie takes place a couple of years after the other, it makes sense for older actors to be used each time. However, a section of fans would have wished for the original stars to keep reprising their roles since they had also aged a few years by the time each new project was being developed.
8 Kitty Pride (X-Men)
Kitty Pride is often thought of as one of the weakest members of the X-Men hence it's no surprise that she was only included in a cameo capacity the first time around. The character was played by Sumela Kay in X-Men before Katie Stuart took over for another limited appearance.
In the threequel, Elliot Page took over the mantle, a development that also made sense since she is an established actor and the role had been expanded. Page would keep the role for yet another movie before bowing out. Even so, there's a strong chance she might show up in the MCU in the event that the original movies get linked to the current continuity via the multiverse concept.
7 Tommy Jarvis (Friday The 13th)
Killing one of the most terrifying horror villains is no little feat, so Tommy Jarvis is revered for doing that temporarily. As for the casting changes, age was the first major reason. In Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, a decision was made to feature a teenage Jarvis and so John Shepherd took over the role from the younger Corey Feldman, who had starred Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.
In the next installment, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, Jarvis hasn't aged too much hence Shepherd would have reprised the role if he wanted to, but he didn't. Thom Mathews thus became the next actor to take the job. Not only did he give a good enough performance to cover up for the face change, but his version of the character was also more mature.
6 Inspector Clouseau (The Pink Panther)
Some actors determine the fate of franchises and that was the case with Peter Sellers, who played Inspector Clouseau. Thanks to his brilliance, there was enough fan interest for the studio to make several Pink Panther movies from 1963 to 1993. As good as Sellers was, he had reputation for being difficult to work with, so the decision to recast him after the second installment felt justified.
Unfortunately, interest in Pink Panther dipped after his departure, so he was brought on for two more movies before he died. Even though the franchise continued after his death, its fan desire withered once again, so events eventually came to a conclusion.
5 Entire Cast (Atlas Shrugged)
In what is the most bizarre case of cast turnover, the three installments of Atlas Shrugged all have different actors playing the seven core characters. As strange as it sounds, there is a logical reason for it. Atlas is a low-budget franchise, yet the actors kept getting bigger roles after their appearances, meaning the producers couldn't afford them anymore.
The decision to scale down the budget is also linked to the first installment's poor performance at the box office. Whereas the original movie had a budget of $20 million, the sequel and threequel had $5 million and $3 million respectively, which explains the decision to go for actors with lesser star power (via Wall Street Journal).
4 Frankenstein's Monster (Frankenstein)
From M3gan to The Perfect Toy, there have been many great modern retellings of the Frankenstein tale but the original franchise produced by Universal can be credited with laying the foundation. Over the course of eight movies, Frankenstein's monster was played by four different actors.
Thankfully, Frankenstein's monster is one of the few movie characters that look the same no matter which actor is playing him. For that reason, casting changes aren't always too noticeable. More so, the recasting in the original franchise was more beneficial than detrimental since the unique acting styles of each actor prevented the character's mannerisms from being monotonous.
3 Audrey & Rusty Griswold (Vacation)
It's easy to ignore new faces for the same characters when the movies are light-hearted enough to make fun of it and Vacation does so brilliantly. Decades into the series of films, Clark tells his two children, "I hardly recognize you anymore." This is in reference to Audrey and Rusty having fresh credits each time.
That's just one of the many times that the franchise pokes fun at itself and because it's a norm, every unusual thing is easily accepted by fans. The laughter aside, the differences in appearance don't seem too weird when the fact that the movies stretch across three decades is considered.
2 Asterix (Asterix & Obelix)
Since he's one of the most popular comic characters, it would be ideal if one actor was the face of Asterix. Unfortunately, things haven't turned out that way. The medieval warrior has been handled by someone new each time yet the role of his sidekick Obelix has always gone to Gérard Depardieu.
Thankfully, the frequent recasting hasn't affected the franchise negatively. All five projects have been received well commercially, hence the need to continue making more. After all, the humor tends to be the true star of the Asterix film series, not necessarily the actors, and for that reason, the constant swapping of the lead actor is something that can be easily ignored.
1 Pinhead (Hellraiser)
Recasts are a much more delicate affair when one actor has played the role for eight Hellraiser movies across two decades. Well, Doug Bradley would have loved to continue since fans were very appreciative of how his vocals defined the character in the same manner that Mark Hamill's laugh defines the Joker. Regrettably, reduced budgets meant he had to step aside.
For the next two movies, Pinhead was played by Stephan Smith Collins and Paul T. Taylor respectively. Thankfully, there has been a reason for fans to celebrate recently after a big-budget reboot was released on Hulu. Though Bradley doesn't reprise his role, the new project offers something new by gender-swapping Pinhead and presenting a compelling storyline.