There are plenty of contractual, logistic, and creative obligations when it comes to making a film, especially from massive studios with almost unlimited budgets since there's a lot of money at stake. To call a film "high-budget" requires at least $50 million in the budget, by average number - 2011's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides remains the most expensive movie ever made, costing a whopping $379 million and generating over a billion in the box office.
There have been plenty of interesting movie titles and ideas that, for whatever reason, never came to fruition. For 'sequel' and 'prequel' films, the challenge is to either replicate the magic that its film predecessor had or end the curse of its terrible critical and/or commercial performances. Here's a list of some of the biggest movies that never happened, including Andrew Garfield's hotly anticipated The Amazing Spider-Man 3, and why.
8 What Happened To The Amazing Spider-Man 3?
Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man franchise initially had two more sequels planned to center the aftermath of Gwen Stacey's death and some more villains, but following the lackluster critics' reception over the second film, all sequel plans have been canceled.
However, as the character Spider-Man entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Tom Holland, there have been talks and rumors of Andrew's return in a full-feature film that centers around his version of Spider-Man. He reprised his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home last year.
7 Why Wasn't There A Tomb Raider Sequel?
Based on the 2013 video game of the same name, the first film adaptation Tomb Raider released in 2018, amassing $274.7 million at the box office. There were talks about a sequel film, but a series of mismanagement, including changes in the writers' and directors' room, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have somewhat stalled the film's development.
This year's summer, MGM Studios reportedly lost its image rights after its contract expired and Alicia Vikander, the titular character's actor, has subsequently left the project.
6 Why There Wasn't An Iron Man 4
Marvel was at the top of the world when Iron Man became a hit, and they subsequently had plans for Iron Man4 as Tony Stark deals with the real Mandarin after the third film. However, when Iron Man 3 was slightly overwhelmed in critics' eyes and box office income, Marvel switched its focus to much bigger and riskier projects, namely the Avenger movies.
Instead, Tony is given a mentorship role to introduce Tom Holland's Spider-Man to the MCU and dies in Endgame.
5 Will There Be A 23 Jump Street?
Should the original actors manage to regroup and get together again for 23 Jump Street, it would have been the third installment of the franchise. Phil Lord, the director, said that "It's taken us so long to pull together we decided to skip over '23 Jump Street' and pick up the story one movie later." Instead, he revealed in 2019 that he's jumping 23 and working on 24 Jump Street instead, with completely new plot lines.
4 What Happened To The Call of Duty Film
While there were no official words at the time, CharlieINTEL reported that a Call of Duty film adaptation was in the works, enlisting Stefano Sollima as the director and Scott Silver as the screenwriter. The rumor remains a dream for the shooter game's fans, unfortunately, as Stefano said in 2020 that films were "no longer a priority for Activision". Should the rumor come to fruition, the slated project was supposed to hit the screen between 2018/2019.
3 Will We Ever See A Rush Hour 4?
The humorous story of LAPD's big-mouthed officer teaming up with Hong Kong's elite inspector was to continue in Rush Hour 4, at least until Jackie Chan shut down the report days after Chris Tucker announced it.
As reported by Daily Mail, his camp wrote in an official announcement, "'On behalf of Mr. Chan, we hereby declare that any and all such information, as spread by such infringers, relating to Mr. Chan providing or about to provide acting services in the motion pictures Rush Hour 4 and/or The Karate Kid 2 is false."
2 What Happened To Spider-Man 4 With Tobey Maguire?
Another Spider-Man film, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 was planned to be released in May 2011. The story would have been the darkest in the series: Peter leaves Mary-Jane and dates the Black Cat (Felicia Hardy), but he has to kill a sinister supervillain and her father, leaving him with no choice but to retire his vigilante days. Sam wasn't happy with how the third film turned out and couldn't meet Sony's Summer 2011 deadline, leaving the film's fate in limbo.
1 Will There Ever Be An Independence Day 3?
While there hasn't been an official title yet, Roland Emmerich announced an upcoming sequel shortly after Independence Day: Resurgence hit the theaters. However, as the aforementioned film faced harsh critics and audiences, plus Disney's merger with 20th Century Fox, talks of Independence Day 3 have all come to no fruition.
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