The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Twilight are three of the most successful film franchises of all time – but what about the planned adaptation series that never took off?
Whether it be for better or worse, Hollywood loves an adaptation. From novels, comic books and television series, to blockbuster video games, the movie studios love nothing more than banking on a source material’s built-in fanbase. As we all know, this strategy can lead to record breaking box-office receipts and multiple sequels. James Bond has been running for over 50 years, the third Lord of the Rings film swept the Oscars, and eight of the top 10 grossing films of all time were based on existing properties.
However, it’s not all plain sailing. Getting an adaptation wrong, or just choosing the wrong source material, can lead to disastrous losses and many, many disappointed fans. To remember the film franchises we’ve lost, Hypable has selected a list of seven movie adaptation franchises that were cut short.
‘Eragon’ (2006)
Released three years after Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Eragon tried to become the next big thing – and on paper, things seemed good. Combining elements of Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy and a character back-story not unlike that found in Harry Potter, the movie was tipped for success. Based on the first book in The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini (who started writing the series at the ripe young age of 15), Eragon follows the titular teenager as he discovers and trains a mysterious dragon, all the while being hunted by the sinister Ra’zac.
Though it was, technically, a box-office success (earning $249 million worldwide, on a $100 million budget) Eragon was universally panned by critics. With just a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film was one of the worst received films of the year – dubbed “lifeless,” “silly,” and “lame” by many reviewers (and audiences). The naysayers got their way, as the combination of bad reviews and a good-but-not-spectacular box-office taking meant that plans for a sequel were shelved.
The book series continued to enjoy success though, with the final book, Inheritance, selling half a million copies in its first day of publication.
‘The Golden Compass’ (2006)
Lord of the Rings studio New Line Cinema made no secret of the fact they were hoping they had bagged themselves a new smash-hit series with His Dark Materials. One of the trailers for The Golden Compass even featured the One Ring of Middle Earth transitioning into the Alethiometer. Based on the books by Phillip Pullman, the His Dark Materials movies were intended to be a trilogy following orphan Lyra and her friend Will in a dimension-hopping adventure featuring witches, gypsies, and talking polar bears. The popular and critically acclaimed source material was twinned with an impressive cast including Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, and Ian McKellan. A sure fire hit, right? Wrong.
Plagued by production woes and last minute interference by the studio, the plot of The Golden Compass saw seismic shifts in story structure and set-pieces. What’s more, the film was boycotted by several religious organisations who were outraged by the book’s criticism of Catholicism. A disappointing opening weekend, and the relinquishment of international distribution rights meant that New Line suffered considerable losses on the production, and as a result had to massively restructure their whole company.
In 2011, author Phillp Pullman declared that we wouldn’t be seeing any more His Dark Materials films with the same cast, permanently quashing any hopes of a completed trilogy. However, his remarks do leave the door open for a potential reboot.
‘John Carter’ (2012)
Perhaps one of the most public box-office bombs in recent history, John Carter was in effect doomed from the beginning. With a bloated budget of $250 million and well documented production problems (the project switched from Disney to Paramount, and eventually back again), John Carter needed to earn at least $600 million at the box-office to break even on the film’s budget and marketing costs. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, as there were certain signifiers of success. The movie was based on A Princess of Mars, the first entry in the Barsoom series which spawned ten sequels. John Carter was also the live-action début of Finding Nemo and WALL-E director Andrew Stanton.
However, even a bit of Pixar magic couldn’t balance the books – as the movie resulted in massive losses for Disney. Despite unwavering enthusiasm for further entries in the series from cast and crew, the studio aren’t likely to be getting behind another undoubtedly expensive and risky film.
‘Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within’ (2001)
Before the days of Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series was one of the giants of the games industry. So, nobody was surprised when the company set up Square Pictures and announced Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. With series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi directing, and a sizeable budget of $137 million (still the most expensive film based on a game series), it seemed the project had the creative and financial backing it needed. Spirits Within also brought plenty of innovation, becoming the first photo-realistic computer animated film.
However, it seems Square couldn’t rally its gamers into the cinemas – as the film made a loss of $53 million and received decidedly mixed reviews. The unforeseen production time and growing budget led to the eventual closure of Square Pictures.
It’s not all bad though, as Square did spawn a successful film in Advent Children: a sequel to the universally loved Final Fantasy VII.
On page 2: Princes, Gentlemen, and Dragon Tattoos
Page 2: Seven movie adaptation franchises that never took off
‘Prince of Persia’ (2010)
Originally launched in 1989, the Prince of Persia series of games saw renewed life when they were relaunched in 2003 with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Featuring innovative gameplay and the unique ability to rewind and pause time. After spawning three sequels, Jerry Bruckheimer was hoping he had found himself the next Pirates of the Caribbean when he purchased the rights to adapt the series.
However, the production received a lot of criticism when it was announced that white actor Jake Gyllenhaal would take on the role of the titular Persian prince. This bad blood continued, and audiences didn’t seem to be too interested in Bruckheimer’s planned “mega-franchise.” Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time received negative reviews and a modest (though profitable) box-office taking. It seems the company weren’t too impressed with the film, as a sequel is still to be announced.
‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (2011)
Fresh from the amazing success of The Social Network, esteemed director David Fincher jumped straight into an adaptation of the first entry in the Swedish smash hit series The Millennium Trilogy. Written by Stieg Larson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels had already earned the respect and success of the world both as a publishing sensation and a Swedish film series. However, Hollywood being Hollywood, an English remake was always bound to happen.
So with the directing talents of David Fincher, and the acting prowess of Daniel Craig (his second appearance on this list – is he perhaps a recipe for disaster?) and Rooney Mara, this gothic mystery seemed destined for critical and commercial brilliance. It certainly achieved the first, with reviewers complimenting the dark and gritty style of the slick remake. However, Fincher’s take on the Neo-Nazi murder mystery didn’t seem to connect with audiences, as slightly underwhelming box office takings meant that work on sequel The Girl Who Played with Fire was seemingly halted.
Though actress Rooney Mara is still keen on returning to the franchise, it seems that the money men of the movie industry aren’t so taken to the idea.
‘The League of Extraordinary Gentleman’ (2003)
Like a Victorian Avengers, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman saw the coming together of Jekyll and Hyde, Tom Sawyer, The Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, Professor Moriarty and more. With Sean Connery cast as the lead role, and the film being based on a comic book by Alan Moore (the man behind V for Vendetta and From Hell), it seemed like the superhero team-up movie the world had been waiting for was coming eleven years earlier than The Avengers.
However, the film was marred by continued production problems – and ultimately lead to Sean Connery’s retirement from the film industry (The League of Extraordinary Gentleman remains his last appearance). Despite some financial and critical acclaim, any plans for a sequel were quickly abandoned.