The science fiction genre has delivered some of the biggest and most incredible cinematic spectacles in the history of the film industry. Having consistently evolved and developed in order to maintain its cultural relevance and popularity, the sci-fi genre has also seen many subgenres develop over the years. It has consistently enthralled and entertained audiences for generations, with many of the best sci-fi movies earning legendary status. As the stories of the genre of require fantastical and larger-than-life set pieces and extensive visual effects, sci-fi movies often require considerable budgets in order to come to fruition. With that level of investment required, there’s always something of a risk involved when it comes to movies.
While the genre’s best films often go on to spawn great sci-fi movie franchises, there are also those that don’t. Some even go a step further, bringing a franchise to an end due to being a major flop, either with critics or at the box office. In certain cases, a sci-fi movie even manages to kill a planned franchise before it receives even a single sequel, making the planned continuity dead on arrival. It’s a sad fact, but it’s true: some sci-fi movies are so disastrous that they tank entire franchises, sometimes for good.
5) Battlefield Earth (2000)
Now remembered as one of the biggest box office flops of all time and the worst-reviewed sci-fi movie ever, Battlefield Earth is pretty infamous for its failings. Based on the 1982 novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth was something of a passion project for John Travolta, who also starred as the movie’s villain. Travolta reportedly invested millions of his own dollars into the film, which told the story of a human rebellion against an oppressive alien regime in the year 3000.
Although Travolta announced during production that many sequels and spin-offs were planned, as the movie only adapted the first 400 or so pages of the 1,000+ page book, these projects were swiftly scrapped. This is largely due to the disastrous release of Battlefield Earth, which was plagued by widespread critical panning and abysmal box office takings. Ultimately, Battlefield Earth was enough of a disaster that it killed the planned franchise on arrival, with no further movies materializing since its release.
4) Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
There have been many Star Trek movies since the franchise began, and though they have largely been considered companion pieces to the higher-profile TV shows of the franchise, many of them have performed well at the box office. However, they had already cultivated a reputation as being relatively inconsistent in quality, and 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis definitively proved it. The tenth movie in the franchise and the fourth following the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Nemesis was not well-received.
Nemesis followed the crew of the Enterprise as they contended with the threat of a clone of Picard after he seized control of the Romulan Empire. Poor reviews and box office disappointment marked Nemesis as one of the most disastrous releases in Star Trek’s history, and plans for future movies following The Next Generation‘s cast were scrapped. In fact, the film was considered so bad that the franchise took a considerable break from the big screen, only eventually returning with a reboot of The Original Series rather than movies directly connected to the franchise’s shows.
3) Terminator Genisys (2015)
Known for its creative use of time travel elements and exciting action scenes, the Terminator franchise was once considered one of the heaviest hitters in the sci-fi scene. In particular, its first two movies earned it an excellent reputation, although things then entered a period of decline. The release of Terminator Genisys in 2015 ultimately proved too much for the franchise, though, with the disastrous movie killing the once-great film series.
A reimagining of the original movie, Terminator Genisys was intended to reboot the franchise. However, it was widely panned by critics, leading to all planned sequels and spin-offs being unceremoniously cancelled. The franchise eventually moved on with Terminator: Dark Fate in 2019, which ignored not just Genisys, but everything that came after Terminator 2. Even so, Genisys was so terrible that it once seemed to have ended one of the all-time greats of the sci-fi genre.
2) Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
The first movie was one of the best sci-fi movies of the 1990s, so when the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, was announced, it was an intriguing prospect. Combining elements of sci-fi and disaster movies by telling the large-scale story of an alien invasion was a winning formula in the ’90s, and the 2016 sequel promised to deliver even more of those same thrills. Sadly, its release was not as successful as many had hoped.
Independence Day: Resurgence earned negative reviews and proved to be a financial disappointment. Ahead of its release, director Roland Emmerich had stated his hopes to make a third movie, although the poor reception of Resurgence ultimately stopped that from happening. Despite the original’s continued popularity, the sequel’s release was disastrous enough to kill the franchise after just two movies.
1) John Carter (2012)
Throughout the history of the genre, there have been many considerable failures, but only a handful of sci-fi movies that should never have bombed. 2012’s John Carter falls into the latter camp, as the epic space opera adapted one of the most seminal and beloved sci-fi series of all time. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series, John Carter followed the titular American Civil War veteran after he found himself on Mars, embroiled in the planet’s political power struggles.
While it earned mixed reviews, John Carter was a major financial disappointment. This led to the planned sci-fi movie series being cancelled too soon, as it was never given a chance to develop and have its epic story unfold in full. While John Carter has since earned something of a cult following, it remains one of the most notorious box office bombs of all time, making any follow-up or reboot seem incredibly unlikely, despite the story’s massive cinematic potential.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!