Harry Potter to Home Alone: These are the worst film franchise endings of all time

Why is it that after making a series of brilliant films, everyone involved in a film franchise manages to catch a horrific case of amnesia, and forget how to make a decent movie? Film franchises end disappointingly more often than they end well. We’ve had a think about it, and there are so many examples – too many to go through them all. So to prove our point, here’s a ranking of the top eight worst film franchise endings.

Harry Potter

Via Netflix

Harry Potter’s ending is an example of a film franchise ending done right. It’s what’s happened to the franchise since that’s been disappointing. That play that’s somehow still going? Talk about cursed.

Marvel

Via Disney+

Apparently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still churning out movies. As I’m a normal person, I didn’t know that. To me it ended with Avengers: Endgame in 2019. And that was the perfect end to a franchise. The hype built first around Avengers: Infinity War and then Endgame made the MCU a phenomenon, and the release of those two films were genuine cultural events. As I said, a perfect ending. But it seems they decided to continue spewing superhero movies out, and even TV shows – ruining that ending. 22 superhero movies in a decade and a half was more than enough.

Indiana Jones

Via Disney+

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I watched the most recent Indiana Jones film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and I enjoyed it. It by no means rocked my world, but it was an adequate film. The film sparked much vitriol when clips emerged online of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character quipping about the ills of capitalism. Film is a fantastic platform for critiquing society, but you have to wonder that if you have to spell it out for the audience as much as that, you’re basically calling them all thick.

It’s good to see Harrison Ford still making movies in his 80s. For most people of that age, the only time they’ll glimpse a coveted ancient artefact, it will be cheerfully showcased to them by Fiona Bruce on Bargain Hunt. And it’s good to get him out of the house. But many people were seriously disappointed with the franchise’s ending.

Sharknado

Via PLEX

The Sharknado franchise, also known as humanity’s greatest shame, came to a spluttering end with the self-knowingly titled The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time. A title has never been more accurate. That being said, the film was no more of a travesty than any of the rest of the series – so it’s not the worst of the worst. It’s one of the worst film franchise endings ever – an awful finale to an awful series is one thing, a disappointing end to a beloved franchise will be judged much more harshly.

Transformers

Via Paramount Plus

Everyone loved the first few Transformers movies, and they produced some truly iconic moments. Like that shot of Megan Fox fixing a car. The more recent output of the franchise has been much more disappointing, with no further iconic moments. There isn’t a living soul that’s thought about Transformers since the Obama administration.

Somehow, the budget of the last Transformers movie, which was released last year (who knew?), was $135 million. I could find 135 million more interesting ways to spend that amount of money than making a Transformers movie that no one watched, and I bet you could too.

Home Alone

Via Disney+

If you look at Sharknado, Transformers, or the MCU and think “Talk about whipping a dead horse!” – I have some news. They made another Home Alone film in 2021. That’s far beyond whipping a dead horse. That’s like going to a horse graveyard, digging up the dead horse’s even deader great-grandfather and whipping the bones.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Via Disney+

A totemic example of a disappointing end (maybe?) to a beloved franchise is Pirates of the Caribbean. The first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies were some of the best popular cinema ever made. And the trio of Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) are equally beloved. I have never met anyone who has anything bad to say about those movies. But with Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner being absent from the last two movies, and the magic of the first half of the franchise having completely disappeared Pirates of the Caribbean ended as one of the most disappointing franchises in history.

Star Wars

Via Disney+

Having poked fun at Marvel fans, I’m slightly apprehensive of admitting to be a Star Wars fan, but I am. Somehow. Because for the past seven years or so, Disney have been trying their very best to turn me off. The main sequence of movies has finished now, the last two of which fill me with far more rage than any fictional movie franchise should. Even now, it takes every ounce of self control not to turn on caps lock and catapult an enraged rant out through my keyboard.

Disney are still making Star Wars TV shows, but one look at the trailer for their most recent offering of Star Wars droppings told me it wasn’t worth my time. I haven’t got beyond an episode or two into any of their other recent shows, lest my brains turn to mushy peas from overexposure to inane dung.

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Featured image via Disney+