Hollywood Franchise Reboots That Royally Sucked

Whenever people discuss the status of the current movie industry, the frequency of sequels, prequels, remakes, and reboots is bound to come up. Of course, it makes perfect sense given that it seems like every week there is news that Hollywood is planning to reboot another successful series from the past.

While there are examples of franchise reboots that have added to the history of an already cherished series, a significant number of them fall short. In fact, some of these reboots are so poor that they detract from the overall quality of the previously acclaimed series. With that in mind, let’s get to our list of 5 franchise reboots that were so awful they damaged the originals.

GODZILLA

The Godzilla franchise has millions of fans and is one of the longest-running film series in film history, so it made sense when it was remade for America in 1998. Unfortunately, the reboot’s plot turned almost everyone off, and we can only imagine how dreadful some younger viewers believed the original films were as a consequence. After all, if the original films had been written so poorly and contained such old effects, they would have been unwatchable.

PSYCHO

Psycho was a disturbing picture that inspired multiple sequels and is still regarded as one of the finest horror films of all time. While such films could never match the original, they did have certain qualities and did not degrade it. Gus Van Sant’s shot-for-shot recreation of Hitchcock’s film, on the other hand, was meaningless and robbed the original picture of its nuance, undermining some of the series’ greatest moments.

THE PINK PANTHER

Long regarded as among the funniest films ever produced, Peter Sellers’ Pink Panther comedies were comedic gold at their peak. On the opposite end of the scale, 2006’s Pink Panther remake film managed to make the otherwise gifted Steve Martin look like a terrible jerk, permanently tarnishing the series’ image.

HALLOWEEN

Don’t get us wrong: we understand that Rob Zombie’s version of Halloween has a lot of admirers, and we can see that some aspects of the picture were fascinating. Zombie’s picture, on the other hand, was way too vicious. The treatment of a female asylum detainee, for example, was extremely upsetting to witness. Furthermore, Zombie’s Laurie Strode was such a divergence from the original character that it tarnished a horror icon who played a significant role in the original franchise.

ARTHUR

Unfortunately, it appears that Dudley Moore’s great portrayal of an immensely affluent and juvenile alcoholic in Arthur and its poorer quality but the still pleasant sequel has mostly gone unnoticed. However, it appeared at one point that the brand might be revitalized with the release of a reboot starring Russell Brand. Instead, the eponymous character in that picture lacked appeal, making the series appear to be a flop.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

Following the success of Michael Bay’s Transformers films, Hollywood decided to contract him to make a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film reboot. While it makes financial sense, the 2014 TMNT film fails to replicate the appeal of the original series, making the franchise as a whole appear soulless.