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#1 Space Balls 2
The beloved Mel Brooks Star Wars spoof seems fertile grounds for a sequel (we are after all going to see a 7th Star Wars movie soon). For a while, the follow up seemed likely and there was even a rumored title floating around: "Space Balls III: The Search for Space Balls II". Despite this and Mel Brooks genuine interest in seeing the project come to fruition, no sequel ever emerged (unless you count the 2008 animated series that played on G4). Fans are still holding out for the possibility of Space Balls 2, but for now, they're best off just watching the Star Wars prequels and pretending they're actually dumb spoofs -- a feat that really isn't all that hard.
#2 Beetlejuice goes Hawaiian
Michael Keaton was set to reprise the iconic role in an all new movie directed by a man never known to turn down a bad idea: Tim Burton. The ill-fated sequel would have chronicled the Deets family as they move to sunny --gun totin', stand your ground Florida --where head of the household Charles plans to build a resort getaway. In a supernatural (and not at all predictable) twist, the grounds upon which the resort is to be built is actually (surprise!) an old burial ground. So naturally some pissed of ghosts do their best to wreck everything, until the titular Beetlejuice helps the family to fend off the ghosts and ultimately win a surfing competition. Where does the Hawaiian part enter into all of this? One can only assume that the film has its "ghost with the most" trading in his old black and white stripes for a festive aloha print.
#3 Battlefield Earth 2
Earth has John Travolta to thank for the massive brain fart that was the original Battlefield: Earth. It bombed and even Travolta himself did not want to continue the planned trilogy. Dubbing it the "next Star Wars," Travolta, being the avid Scientologist that he is, wanted to bring L. Ron Hubbard's best selling novel of the same name to the silver screen. What audiences were treated to instead felt like less like the new Star Wars and a bit more like watching a bad episode of Stargate while standing waist deep in horse manure.
#4 A Nightmare Before Christmas 2
Tim Burton initially wanted to sequelize the gothic holiday classic but lack of ideas kept him from following through on the film (if only he exercised the same restraint when approached with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Fans of Burton and Selick's animated masterpiece should breath a sigh of relief, because had this film been made, the gorgeous and iconic stop motion of the original would have been traded in for CGI. Here is at least one instance of Tim Burton deciding not to ruin our childhoods. Thank goodness.
#5 Commando 2 aka Die Hard 1
If you ever want to see Arnold Schwarzenegger play with a baby deer shortly before going on a vengeance-fueled murder spree, look no further than the 1985 action classic Commando. A sequel was proposed, but Arnold, then big ticket celebrity, turned down the project. The script was then rewritten and its title changed to "Die Hard". Audiences might just have been treated to Schwarzenegger and Hans Gruber squaring off in an epic battle to see who has the funniest accent.
#6 Wild Hogs 2
Wild Hogs, in spite of its all star cast including William Macy, Martin Lawrence, John Travolta, and ex convict turned TV funny man, Tim Allen, was pretty much a complete stinker. A script for the sequel was written and the cast had agreed to return, but some wise soul at the house of mouse decided to can this project early on. The original involved a group of middle aged suburban guys attempting to be taken seriously as a biker gang and of course failing horribly.
#7 Back to the future 4
A fourth entry in this long running series was, in fact, at one point going to happen. According to rumor, screenwriter Ed Solomon was brought in to write a treatment for both a 4th and 5th Back to the Future. The rumored plot revolved around Doc Brown (Christopher Loyd) accidentally causing the UFO Roswell crash. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) was rumored to be replaced wholesale by a female scientist character, at the time expected to be played by "Buffy" star Sarah Michele Gellar. The two films never left the treatment stage and are likely stuck in the past.
#8 Seriously, Dude Where's My Car
Ashton Kutcher may be starring in film in which he plays one of the preeminent computer geniuses of our time (Jobs), but the dude still can't find his car. The original film released to seriously, bad reviews and a sequel was in the works. Despite it's bad reviews the original did well in the box office, but is unlikely to actually see the sequel due to lack of interest on anybody's part.
#9 Matrix 4
After the CGI orgy that was Matrix: Reloaded, the Wachowski's decided to make yet another Matrix film for the two people in the world who had yet to get their fill the series' signature brand of kung fu filled, pseudo-philosophical, robot battling, trench coat having nonsense. Eventually this idea went away, the Wachowskis made Speed Racer instead, and Neo went on to play a robot named Keanu... ahem... Klaatu, in The Day the Earth Stood Still. Happy endings all around.
#10 Roger Rabbit 2: Cartoon Platoon
The sequel to the successful Robert Zemekis film that combines animation and live action in ways that would make any child's head explode, would have been strange. The premise involved Roger and friends banding together to fight in a cartoon war. If the film had managed to capture the drama and intensity of the Oliver Stone Vietnam classic (in its signature semi-animated way), I'm sure Zemekis would have had yet another blockbuster on his hands.
#11 Ghost 2: Second Sight
The 1990 film Ghost was a huge hit. Soon after the film's successful release talk of a sequel began. The sequel was to focus on Whoopi Goldberg's ghost chatting abilities and it was unclear if Patrick Swayze would be making yet another return from beyond the grave. The idea never went anywhere, which is probably for the best.
#12 Con Airport
The sequel to Con Air was to see John Cusack managing an airport for planes that (like the one in the first film) exclusively carry criminals. Of course things would inevitably hit the proverbial fan and action/suspense would ensue. The film never saw more than a 15 page treatment. Here's hoping for a sequel to the Samuel L. Jackson classic called Snakes at an Airport.
#13 Ei8ht
Seven (or Se7en as the film's promotional poster reads) was a pretty great action thriller. Director David Fincher has outright refused to ever make a sequel and yet regardless, New Line Cinema at some point thought it might be a good idea. The plot of the new film would have Morgan Freeman's character somehow acquiring psychic powers and using them to solve murders. Classic Freeman.
#14 Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash
Making a Horror film these days is a lot like cooking dinner with left-overs. Stale chow mein and day old pizza? Why not? Throw them together --taste the freshness! So how do you follow up on an ill conceived movie crossover that pits two cinematic dinosaurs against one another in a battle of who cares proportions? Add a third dinosaur. The film never took off due to lack of support from Evil Dead brain-daddy Sam Raimi. Give us Evil Dead 4 already!
#15 Twins 2: Triplets
Remember the film where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito were twin brothers? No? That's possibly for the best. Regardless, somebody wanted to make a sequel that would add a triplet into the mix. Eddie Murphy was among those rumored play alongside the not-so dynamic duo. There's still a chance this sequel could happen, but for now it's just another bad idea bouncing around the creatively bankrupt hive-mind of the Hollywood machine.
#16 Mrs. Doubtfire 2
10 years after the original film's 1993 release Fox decided it was time for Robin Williams to once again don a pair of sagging fake breasts. The (not at all creepy) premise would have had the incognito Williams follow his daughter to college to spy on her. Williams abandoned the projected after 3 years due to its less than great writing.
#17 Godzilla 2
Hollywood's first high-budget attempt at localizing the Japanese monster ended in financial and critical disaster with the release of Godzilla in 1998. Even so, talk of a sequel rose from the financial ruin the large CGI lizard left in its wake.Unsurprisingly, the sequel went the way of its titular dinosaur: extinct. With this year's Pacific Rim, as well as Godzilla 2014 just around the corner, Giant Japanese monsters are finally getting the respect they deserve here in the West.
#18 Breakfast Club 2
This one could have been good, or at least more than a slapped together cash grab. Director John Hughes envisioned the sequel taking place 10 years after the events in the original, and for the sake of realism marked 1994 as the start of the shooting schedule. Unfortunately, Hughes and bad-boy actor Judd Nelson had a previous falling out and when '94 came around, they had yet to patch things up. The film never went into production.
#19 Ferris Bueller 2: Another Day off
The message of this would be sequel is clear: wanna goof off in High School? No problem, you'll be rich when you're 40. The new film was set to have Broderick return as the now wealthy and 40 something ex-goof off, taking a personal day from his demanding job, only for the usual hilarity to ensue. (Middle-aged hijincks are sadly underrepresented in contemporary cinema. Here's hoping for 40 Year Old Virgin 2: Re-Virginated). Another Day Off never left the script stage due to lack of interest.
#20 Forrest Gump 2: Gump and Co.
The idea for the project surfaced in the early 2000's, and a whole script was written based on the sequel novel of the same name. After the death of baby mama Jenny and the failure of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (how will we ever get our "Bubba's After the Storm Bucket of Boat Trash" for only $20.99?) Forrest, and son, bumble their way through notable events from the 80's and 90's. Hanks ultimately dropped out the project, saying that the movie would ultimately be a needless "repeat".
#21 Dune 2: Messiah
Dune was cult director David Lynch's Star Wars in every sense except the only two that matter: quality and popularity. The film was, unsurprisingly, a box office flop and any plans for a potential sequel were quickly exiled to the barren wastes Arakis. Make no mistake: for fans of very hard sci-fi and Lynch's bizarre take on, well, everything, there is still something to love about this obtuse space opera. For every one else however, Dune was a weird, pretentious, confusing, and ultimately frustratingly long space movie that only made sense the more drugs you had taken.
#22 E.T.2 Nocturnal Fears
Just weeks after the original opened in theaters across the word, Spielberg and screenwriter Melissa Mathison got together to scratch out a script for the sequel. The plot of E.T.2 Nocturnal Fears was centered around an invasion of evil, Drew Barrymore-kidnapping, extra-terrestrials who's diabolical plans can only be thwarted by the original film's homely, big footed, miracle working, hero. Spielberg eventually decided to scrap the project and the idea has sat quietly in Hollywood limbo ever since.
#23 Casablanca 2
So you're Warner Bros. and you own the rights to a near perfect film whose ending is among the most celebrated moments in cinematic history, what now? Apparently the answer is to make a sequel wherein Rick and Ilsa's son (at one time rumored to have been played by Joseph Gordon Levit), travels to the Middle East to, among other things, fall in love with a Joan Baez inspired character and hunt Nazis. The project would have been based around a 1980 Howard Koch treatment, and rumblings about the film's production surfaced again in 2012. Film Buffs around the globe are praying this sequel stays dead.
#24 The Last Airbender 2
A sequel was planned but terrible reviews from fans and critics alike killed the future of this director's fantasy epic. Shyamalan has arguably never made a great movie, but even so, a fan of this twist loving Horror director would likely have left this movie scratching his/her head... and not because it features some mind bending surprise ending, but because The Last Airbender completely sucks.
#25 Gladiator 2
Gladiator was a huge success for filmmaker Ridley Scott, so of course a sequel seemed forthcoming (after all, how many Alien movies did they make?). Only one problem: Russel Crowe dies at the end (Spoiler Alert!). This small detail did not stop Australian musician Nick Cave from writing the script for this would be sequel. Cave's script had Russel Crowe's character battling through the afterlife as an immortal demigod so that he might return to Earth. Once accomplished the immortal champion battles his way through WWII, and Vietnam, ultimately landing himself a cushy office job at the Pentagon. The fact that this film was never made is truly proof that Hollywood doesn't know a good thing when it sees it.
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