The year 2019 is over, and it is a great time to look back and remember the media franchises that have slipped from box-office winners to failure and disappointment.
10. Franchise "Rambo"
Sylvester Stallone's active career still proves that he is not afraid to become a hostage to one role in order to prove that he is still "wow." He still exploits the previously popular role of Rambo, appearing in the latest (to date) film in the franchise, Rambo: Last Blood.
While the world's box office was moderately successful at over $ 91 million, audience reception was unfriendly. Last Blood received only 27% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and 26% on Metacritic.
Some critics drew attention to the unintentional xenophobic undertones, an abundance of gore and hackneyed plot moves. Do you think John Rambo really needs to rest?
9. Universe "Conjuring"
Back in 2013, James Wang released the horror film The Conjuring, which was so successful at the box office that it soon spawned an equally successful sequel in 2016.
Later, the "Conjuring" universe expanded to include such pictures as:
- "The Curse of Annabelle" (2014).
- The Curse of Annabelle: The Beginning of Evil (2017).
- "The Curse of the Nun" (2018)
- "The Curse of Annabelle 3" (2019).
And if the first two Annabelle enjoyed success with film critics and ordinary viewers, then since "The Curse of the Nun" ratings have crept down, and it became obvious that the franchise is moving in the wrong direction. "The Curse of Annabelle 3" is one of worst movies of 2019, which collected at the box office even less than "The Curse of the Nun" ($ 228 million versus $ 365 million).
However, it is possible that The Conjuring 3 and the sequel to the Nuns spin-off, slated for 2020 and 2021, respectively, will bring back public interest in the previously popular horror series.
8. Lego franchise
With the exception of the Lego Movie: Batman movie, Lego movies have never achieved the same level of success as the first Lego Movie.
The LEGO Ninjago Movie, released in 2017, was a disappointment, and the LEGO Movie 2, released in 2019, never made it to the franchise's triumphant return to the top spot in movie ratings.
Now LEGO has decided to end its partnership with Warner Bros. And is negotiating a joint work with Universal Pictures.
7. Hellboy franchise
Instead of continuing (and possibly ending) the Hellboy story directed by Guillermo del Toro, it was decided to reboot the Hellboy series. Directed by Neil Marshall, this reboot has become one of the most disappointing films of 2019.
The new "Hellboy" was criticized for its scrappy storylines, a completely uninteresting main villainess, empty dialogues, slurred storytelling and its bouncing pace.
One can argue about whether David Harbor in the role of Hellboy is the only salvation of the tape or whether the red-skinned devil in his performance is terrible, but one cannot be denied - Hellboy of 2019 plunged this media franchise into the hell of spectator disappointment.
6. Universe of monsters
The idea of creating an origin story for Godzilla and King Kong to justify their possible clash led to the 2014 Godzilla and inspired the thriller King Kong: Skull Island.
And in 2019, the movie "Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters" was released. And if all you expect from "Godzilla" is a fight between huge monsters, you are unlikely to be disappointed. However, those who expected interesting plot moves, thoughtful dialogues and at least a minimal sanity and logic ended up downgrading the film to 5.8 (out of 10 points) on Kinopoisk and 6.10 on IMDb.
And there is still a crossover film Godzilla vs. Kong, due out in November 2020.
5. Franchise "Charlie's Angels"
Here is an example of a media franchise revival that no one ever asked for. While the idea for the more progressive Charlie's Angels seems like a good idea on paper, in real life it is only achieved by bringing in more women onscreen and offscreen.
And for all its feminist message and hype, the new "Charlie's Angels" received "fu" from critics and lack of interest from the audience, which led to a low box office ($ 59 million).
4. Franchise "Terminator"
After the iconic Terminator 2: Judgment Day, this series had a complicated and confusing story. After James Cameron left the franchise, there have been several attempts to film an interesting sequel. Unfortunately, they all failed.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines failed to come close in popularity to the first two films. "Terminator: May the Savior Come" showed only a post-apocalyptic mess. And "Terminator: Genisys" and completely failed miserably, despite the old, but not useless Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"Terminator: Dark Fate", which was already "ruled" by James Cameron, was supposed to be the return of that very, real Terminator, with the good old guard, furious action, dynamic plot and drama of the relationship between man and machine. Instead, the audience received borrowing of original moments from old films, a mediocre visual component, but did not receive something new and as interesting as in the first two parts. As a result, "Terminator: Dark Fate" finally killed the faith in this franchise.
3. Franchise "Men in Black"
Here's another picture that didn't really need a sequel. Nevertheless, the new part of "Men in Black" tried to ride on the charismatic duo of Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, because earlier it was possible with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
But it turned out that in addition to famous actors and high-quality special effects, "Men in Black: International" also needs a solid plot, spelled out motivation of the characters and the ability to balance between humorous and action-packed components. The end result is so disappointing that it put Men in Black in the top 3 most failed franchises of 2019.
2. X-Men franchise
It is truly a heartbreaking sight to see a once glorious franchise turned into a boring mediocrity. This is what happened to the X-Men after the release of Dark Phoenix, a film adaptation of the Dark Phoenix Saga comic book series.
The main complaints about this film were related to the lack of a love triangle "Gene Gray-Cyclops-Wolverine", too much pathos, which was everywhere - from dialogues to the actions of characters, and the presence of plot "black holes" that arise due to the fact that this film is not a reboot, and should be perceived as part of a coherent mosaic along with other X-Men films.
The declared production budget of the painting was $ 200 million, and the fees were only 52 million more than this amount. And what was planned as a worthy conclusion to the popular series became one of the biggest movie failures of the year.
1. Star Wars franchise
After Disney released Star Wars: The Force Awakens, there was much to be expected from the new Star Wars. Even the later controversial Rogue One: Star Wars.Stories and The Last Jedi were still generating billions of dollars for the studio.
But they were followed by "Han Solo: Star Wars. Stories ”, which became the first film from the Star Wars universe to flop at the box office.
And in 2019, Disney released Star Wars: Skywalker. Sunrise, which received mixed reviews and raised doubts about the continued viability of films from the Star Wars franchise.
However, if you are disappointed with Disney's Star Wars, check out The Mandalorian. Perhaps he will return your faith in a galaxy far, far away.