Since the rise of Marvel movies in the 2000s, we’ve been living in the age of the cinematic universe. Sequels continue to dominate the box office, and the franchise is king. Without counting remakes, six of the 10 highest-grossing films of 2025 are continuations of previously existing IP. We can lament the fact that it’s increasingly difficult for original stories to break through, let alone get made in the first place. Alternatively, we can appreciate that many major franchises still produce solidly entertaining films.
Franchises are also led by stars we’ve come to know and love over the course of years, if not decades. “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” was a fitting coda to almost 30 years of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, and offered meaningful endings for series mainstays Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg. That same month, “Thunderbolts*” introduced audiences to new faces in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while showcasing previous faves like Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, and David Harbour. Although “The Conjuring: Last Rites” earned mixed reviews from critics, audiences enjoyed spending more time with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.
Of course, not every actor makes it to the end of their franchise. Often, a salary dispute is at play, as seen when Neve Campbell chose not to return for 2023’s “Scream VI.” In other cases, actors were simply eager to move on to new projects, as seen with Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, who departed the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise after the initial trilogy. And sadly, there’s no avoiding the realities of a performer’s passing, which forced the “Harry Potter” films to replace Dumbledore’s actor Richard Harris with Michael Gambon after the second movie.
While most franchises are well-oiled machines that manage to soldier on profitably without their former stars, it’s hard not to speculate about what might have been. This is especially true when we’re considering actors who left early in a franchise’s run. For this list, we’re focusing specifically on cast members who walked away or were asked to leave. Of those who left of their own volition, many performers have stood by their choice in the years since. However, it can be a tougher pill to swallow when it comes to those who were fired and replaced.
Using news articles, interviews, and oral histories, Stacker compiled a list of 25 actors from over 50 years of popular movies who were cut from franchises early on. These actors were replaced in either the middle of the first or second movie, after the first or second movie was completed, or never even made it to the first day of the shoot. Read on to uncover the stories behind cast changes in some of the biggest film franchises of all time.