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10 movie franchises that came back from the dead

Photo credit: Fox / Warner Bros / Universal / Disney
Photo credit: Fox / Warner Bros / Universal / Disney

From Digital Spy

It's hard to keep a franchise going. We get it. To produce so many films or shows, each telling broadly the same story, and keep fans hooked is a gargantuan challenge. When they fail, filmmakers just have to accept that their franchise has died.

Nothing in Hollywood, however, is left to rest in peace forever – sometimes franchises bounce back to life. Here are just ten that came back from the dead.

1. X-Men

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

Bryan Singer's X-films were critical and commercial hits. Things started to slide with The Last Stand but it was the X-Men Origins: Wolverine spin-off that really stranded the franchise in a dead pool. Ahem.

Thankfully for mutant fans, two years later, First Class re-spun the wheel, Days of Future Past took the series to new heights and Logan finally redeemed Hugh Jackman.

With Dark Phoenix on its way, X-Men is still going strong today.

2. Star Wars

George Lucas seemed to be finished with his space opera phenomenon when Return of the Jedi ended the Skywalker saga in 1983. Talk of a second trilogy never came to much – a couple of turgid Ewok specials did nothing for the legacy – but the trilogy had gone out on a high.

Then, in 1999, came The Phantom Menace, part one in a clumsy, adolescent and emotionally stilted prequel trilogy. The films made a ton of money, but for many, the beloved franchise was done.

Just when we thought Star Wars was lost, Disney bought Lucasfilm and gave it the budgetary kiss of life. New stars, adventures and spin-offs. Though Disney have admitted to doing "too much, too fast" with the franchise, its revived popularity gave them good reason to.

3. The Fast and the Furious

The Fast and the Furious was an unlikely success story in 2001, with the franchise's second gear driving even higher sales at the box office.

A third outing was inevitable but somebody should really have told the cast, none of whom returned for Tokyo Drift. Clean slates are often a life saver for flagging franchises – here, the move was a harbinger of death.

But not for long. Bringing the original troupe back for round four put the franchise into the recovery position, whilst the addition of Dwayne Johnson in Fast Five gave it new horsepower.

4. Mission: Impossible

Photo credit: Paramount
Photo credit: Paramount

Mission: Impossible made its television debut on 17 September 1966, running for ten popular series. When the show was revived in 1988, disastrous ratings proved fatal for the franchise, which was terminated after just two runs.

It would take eight years, not to mention an indomitable Tom Cruise, to will Mission: Impossible back to life, but reborn it was – and now in cinemas.

The franchise hasn't always had the smoothest ride in Hollywood either. Brian De Palma jumped ship after just one film, which heralded an underwhelming second outing, and Cruise's Oprah antics derailed the publicity for part three – but recent years have seen Mission: Impossible grow into a major industry player.

5. Star Trek

Photo credit: Paramount
Photo credit: Paramount

Star Trek beamed up to the big screen in 1979 but after some significant highs (Wrath of Khan, First Contact) and lows (Final Frontier, Generations) entered what seemed a terminal downward trajectory. Jonathan Frakes' Insurrection was a disappointment and Stuart Baird's Nemesis bombed.

On television, Star Trek just about stayed above water until its cancellation in 2005. For the first time in 18 years, there was no sign of any new action on the final frontier.

Desperate to revive their prized property, Paramount recruited JJ Abrams to reboot the franchise and win back the public. Three films later, Star Trek lives on, currently boasting a television series to accompany the two features in pre-production, albeit with one or two cast concerns.

6. Alien

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

Thanks to sequels and spin-offs, the Alien franchise never really disappeared. Those films that followed James Cameron's Aliens, however, came with an increasing feeling that 20th Century Fox were flogging a dead Xenomorph.

David Fincher's Alien 3 was a beleaguered project, launching without a script and ending without a director, whilst a higher budget for Resurrection failed to reignite the fire and a two-film crossover with the Predator franchise doused it.

Troubled by the decline and fall of their asset, Fox opted to take things back to scratch and re-recruit first-film director Ridley Scott. Love 'em or loathe 'em, Scott's prequel series has returned the Alien franchise to the watercooler, won back critical favour and performed reasonably at the box office.

7. Planet of the Apes

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

The original Planet of the Apes films had their ups (Franklin J Schaffner's 1968 original) and downs (Battle for the Planet of the Apes), but it was Tim Burton's remake that seemed to kill the franchise for good in 2001.

And yet, four years later, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver conceived a reboot, which was eventually released in 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Followed by Dawn and War, this new trilogy boasted higher quality effects than had ever been available for its predecessors and a sensational motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis.

So popular were the films that there's even talk of a fourth. Franchise saved.

8. Jurassic Park

Photo credit: Universal
Photo credit: Universal

For fourteen long years, Jurassic Park seemed destined to be another franchise where the legacy of one triumph was repeatedly floundered by inferior sequels – each of which almost halved the box office takings of their direct predecessor.

No fewer than five plots were crafted and scrapped for a potential fourth film, with original director Steven Spielberg calling for a constant stream of rewrites. As far as the fans were concerned, Jurassic Park had gone the same way as the dinosaurs.

Reboot, sequel and remake in one, the part four that eventually materialised not only rejuvenated the franchise but went on to become one of the highest grossing films of all time. Life always finds a way.

9. Batman

Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

A hero like Batman could never really die but Warner Bros gave it a good shot at killing him off in the '90s.

In spite of Tim Burton's critical success with Batman and Batman Returns, the studio was concerned that their caped crusader wasn't making enough money. Val Kilmer was recruited to turn things around but gave the world Batman Forever. To make matters worse, that was infamously followed by Batman & Robin – even its star, George Clooney, hates that one.

Unsuccessful resurrection projects came and went but nothing seemed to fly. That is, until Christopher Nolan took things back to basics and injected a dose of sorely lacking realism.

Nolan's Oscar-winning Dark Knight trilogy transformed Batman into a modern hero with box office bankability. Recent offerings have left a little to be desired but Batfleck still packs a punch.

10. The Muppets

Photo credit: Disney
Photo credit: Disney

Over two decades, Jim Henson's Muppets charmed audiences with good old-fashioned fun. Heck, their Christmas Carol is among the best seasonal films ever made.

But then, in 1999, Muppets from Space bombed, with critics proclaiming the magic gone. The next two films were relegated to television and the puppet heyday seemed a thing of the past.

Two fans who weren't prepared to let their childhood favourites go, however, were Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller. Bringing back the sparkle saw the pair turn out the highest-grossing film of the franchise to date in 2011's The Muppets.

Muppets Most Wanted might not have matched that success in 2014 but, with a new TV show due next year, the gang live on regardless.


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