Top 10 Movies Likely to Be 'Retired' After 2016

Snow White and The Huntsman had a rocky start with a modest box office performance of $400 million and mixed critical reviews. Despite this, the film still managed to get a sequel. However, the follow-up, The Huntsman: Winter's War, not only failed to improve on its predecessor but actually performed worse, even with a star-studded A-list cast. The result was no surprise as the sequel barely scraped by with $115 million in box office revenue, which was only enough to cover its budget. It's clear that no producer would dare to continue investing in this franchise after such a failure.

Summit Entertainment went all in with the ambitious fantasy film Gods of Egypt, hoping to create a new cinematic franchise to rival the success of Twilight. With a hefty investment of $140 million, the studio had high hopes. However, the film quickly turned into a colossal failure, earning only $10 million at the box office. The movie faced harsh criticism from both critics and audiences, who panned its shallow storyline and accused it of racial casting issues. Given such a disastrous start, it's almost certain that this film will be quickly forgotten, and any potential sequel would be a rare and unlikely event.

As an iconic representative of 80s comedy films, Ghostbusters was rebooted by Sony with an all-female cast. However, the female-led Ghostbusters faced significant challenges from the start. Online backlash erupted due to the cast's departure from the original film, combined with a weak PR campaign that failed to ignite interest among most audiences. Despite these setbacks, the movie was not a complete disaster as some had expected, receiving a mixed reception instead. Directed by the talented Paul Feig, the film made a decent enough box office return of $229 million globally. However, given the lukewarm reception, it’s unlikely that this ghost-hunting team will continue their adventures in the future.

Starting with the iconic horror film from 1999, The Blair Witch Project, the sequel Book of Shadows was so poorly received that it effectively erased the original from the public’s memory. After the franchise went dormant for 15 years, Lionsgate surprisingly revived the series with Blair Witch in the summer of 2016 (originally titled The Woods). Produced on a modest $5 million budget, the film grossed $44.3 million at the box office. While not disastrous, this return fell short of expectations. Compared to other low-budget horror films like Saw or Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch struggled to make a significant impact, making it unlikely the franchise will see a sequel anytime soon due to disappointing returns.

In 2012, the famous actor Tom Cruise took on the lead role in a film titled Jack Reacher, based on the novel by Lee Childs, which was also one of the key works that cemented Childs' fame. However, the film's debut didn’t quite meet expectations, earning just over $218 million at the box office. Despite this underwhelming performance, the producers remained hopeful for a continuation of the franchise with a sequel titled Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. With a budget of $60 million, the sequel grossed only $136 million, a significant drop from the original. This sharp decline led Paramount to make the decision that Jack Reacher would indeed "never go back", just as the title suggested.

Garry Marshall, the director behind the iconic films Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries, made a strong return in recent years with a series of romantic comedies, including Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, and Mother's Day. However, after the release of Mother's Day, the film was immediately slammed by critics for being dull and overly long, despite the success of its two predecessors, which earned over $100 million. The main reason for the failure of this third installment was the passing of Garry Marshall shortly after the film’s release. With his death, he took his beloved film franchise with him, leaving behind unfulfilled potential and deep regret.

Based on the popular novel series of the same name, the planned four-part sci-fi movie franchise included: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, Ascendent. Despite being based on a well-known book series, the Divergent films failed to live up to expectations, lacking the appeal and competition of other successful adaptations like The Hunger Games. The latest installment, Allegiant, is likely to be the final chapter of the franchise on the big screen. With earnings of just $179 million, far below its $110 million production budget, this third film barely made a dent. In response, Lionsgate has decided to shift the final part of the series to a television format, a shocking move that surprised many fans and the cast, who had not been informed in advance.

Alice In Wonderland is an incredibly imaginative tale that made the name of author Lewis Carroll famous. The story of Alice was brought to life in a live-action adaptation by Disney and Tim Burton in 2010, earning a staggering $1 billion worldwide. However, despite such a successful start, Alice faced a disappointing fate in 2016. In stark contrast to the $1 billion of its predecessor, Alice Through the Looking Glass struggled at the box office, grossing only around $300 million. What led to this downfall? A large part of it was due to the movie's poor quality, its disjointed plot, and a lack of appeal, compounded by the long gap between the two films, which caused audiences to lose interest in the fantastical tale. With all these failures, it's clear that Alice may have earned a one-way ticket to oblivion, never to return under Disney's watch.

The Ninja Turtles franchise, produced by Michael Bay, faced a massive backlash from longtime fans, but surprisingly, the box office numbers told a different story. Initially thought to be a flop, the 2014 release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles earned an impressive $493 million, well above its $125 million production budget. The sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of Shadows, which debuted in the summer of 2016, made significant improvements by staying truer to the original comic book source material. Fans were also treated to beloved characters like Rocksteady and Bebop. However, despite these upgrades, the film grossed only about $300 million, which was far less than its $135 million budget. Producer Andrew Form confirmed that there are no further plans to continue the franchise, and it seems the Turtles will remain dormant for the foreseeable future, with a potential revival happening 5 to 10 years down the road.

Nicholas Sparks is a renowned author in the romantic fiction genre, whose works have been frequently adapted into films. Over the past two decades, 11 of his emotional love stories have made it to the big screen, captivating audiences worldwide with hits like The Notebook, Dear John, The Last Song, and The Lucky One. The first eight films adapted from Sparks' novels enjoyed immense box office success, solidifying his reputation as a beloved author. However, by 2014, the tide began to turn. After the failure of The Best of Me, the following two releases, The Longest Ride and The Choice, in 2016 also failed to impress. The poor reception of The Choice seemed to mark the end of Sparks' film career, leading him to shut down his production company. As a result, 2017 marked the first year since 2011 when no Nicholas Sparks film graced the theaters.