Movie trilogies are frequent in the film industry today as more studios try to bank their box office hopes on recognizable IPs with characters and actors that audiences are already familiar with. From the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the James Bond franchise, Hollywood is filled with box office success for using the same popular characters over and over.
However, it doesn’t always work out how they expect, and sometimes a sequel will flop, or the third installment will get trapped in development hell, and what was supposed to be a trilogy is left unfinished forever. Whether any of these films get a third entry eventually or not, they have all been left with only two entries up to this day.
10 The Amazing Spider-Man
With a resurgence in fans calling for a third entry, the Marc Webb Spider-Verse was left abruptly unfinished and on something of a sad note, with the death of Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Andrew Garfield got the chance to revisit his version of Peter Parker in the recently released Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, the canceled Amazing Spider-Man 3 (and 4) have had no updates since Garfield returned to the screen as the web-slinger. All we know about the supposed threequel is that Shailene Woodley had signed on to star as Mary Jane Watson and that serious discussions were being had about the Sinister Six. Whether it will happen is currently up in the air, especially as Garfield has a problem responding to questions about another film.
9 Escape From New York
A classic film, Escape From New York was a huge piece of both Kurt Russell and director John Carpenter’s careers. The character Snake Plissken has become legendary, and the sequel Escape From L.A., while poorly received, has become a cult classic for many.
While Escape From L.A. was released in 1996, Carpenter and Russell still haven’t given up hope of more Snake Plissken movies over 25 years later. With other Carpenter work, like the Halloween franchise, receiving newfound success lately, he is refusing to rule out a return to the Escape From New York franchise. Even if it's one sci-fi future that would have already happened if it was going to.
8 Tron
Another classic franchise, Tron was a revered sci-fi film that starred Jeff Bridges as a young software developer pulled into a virtual world. Tron is noted for inspiring many other recognizable sci-fi worlds and projects since it was first released in 1982, it inspired the entire genre of movies set in video games.
Disney revived the project for a sequel in 2010’s Tron Legacy, featuring Jeff Bridges again as well as Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde. Interestingly, the third entry on this one seems likely, as Jared Leto has long been attached to a new Tron film which could be getting some announcements soon, but so far any Tron trilogy remains unfinished.
7 Kill Bill
When director Quentin Tarantino decided to make a revenge thriller with animated sequences and a pregnant former assassin coming out of a coma to chase down her old boss and got away with it being a success, everyone was rather confused.
However, with a unique style and cast of fascinating characters, Kill Bill Vol.1 was a huge success. The sequel seemed to wrap up the story of the Bride neatly, but Quentin Tarantino has maintained for a long time that he still wants to make Kill Bill 3, including Uma Thurman and potentially her daughter Maya Hawke as they go on the run after living peacefully for a long time. Though fans can continue hoping for this, Uma Thurman gave a recent update that may disappoint many.
6 Kick-Ass
Kick-Ass was a much-beloved deconstruction of superhero movies that began even before Hollywood had been consumed by the genre. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the eponymous hero who was always completely out of his depth, the film was a hit success and was praised by both fans and critics.
The sequel was a much more modest success but was still given praise from many, and at the time a third and final film in the series was planned. However, over the last eight years, there have been a variety of updates, and it now appears more likely that the franchise will be rebooted under Matthew Vaughn’s Marv Studios banner.
5 National Treasure
National Treasure is one of Nicolas Cage’s most beloved and recognized films, but the adventure franchise never evolved past a single sequel when the third installment got first trapped in development hell and was later put on the back burner by Disney due to the poor performance of other Nicolas Cage films around the time.
Disney has more recently looked to television for this franchise and has confirmed an expansion to the film series is coming soon, including Justin Bartha returning as Riley Poole from the films. While this makes another film seems unlikely, it isn’t impossible. Especially with the recent success of Nicolas Cage films like Pig and The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent.
4 Gremlins
Gremlins is another classic franchise that failed to get as far as many would have expected of it. The box office hiccup of Gremlins 2: The Bad Batch did a surprisingly effective job at setting the IP backward and swallowing up chances of a trilogy being completed.
However, this is another case where television and streaming services may save the day. HBO Max is currently working on an animated prequel series entitled Gremlins: Secrets Of The Mogwai. After starring in a Mountain Dew advert alongside Gizmo recently, original franchise star Zach Galligan said that success for the animated series would make a third film in the franchise a certainty.
3 28 Days Later
28 Days Later was integral in revitalizing the zombie genre and gets a lot of credit for projects fans have seen since in the genre. 28 Months Later wasn’t much of a direct sequel, focusing on an entirely different group of characters, but Danny Boyle has talked a lot in the past about a possible threequel entitled 28 Months Later.
While both he and series screenwriter Alex Garland have been busy with other projects recently, Boyle gave a franchise update pre-COVID that suggested he had a great idea for the third film and wanted to make it. Cillian Murphy has said more recently that he’d love to return for the next film, but whether it’ll ever come to fruition remains to be seen.
2 Hellboy
Ron Perlman’s Hellboy franchise is one series that is extremely unlikely to ever receive a third entry. Despite recently speaking out on wanting to make the film despite now being 72 years old, Ron Perlman’s franchise was probably finally buried for sure after the franchise was rebooted with David Harbour starring in the title role.
That film also didn’t manage to garner much box office success after Perlman’s Hellboy 2: The Golden Army failed to beat $200 million at the worldwide box office. It seems unlikely that any Hellboy 3 project will be getting off the ground soon with the IP having recently failed again.
1 Sherlock Holmes
Robert Downey Jr. has been a valuable commodity in Hollywood over the last fifteen years, mostly due to his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With his role as Iron Man seemingly finished now, there are questions about when his third Sherlock Holmes film will finally be completed.
The film has been pushed further back on release calendars over the pandemic years, but now fans are eagerly awaiting an update, as this franchise seems to be one that will definitely get a fitting end to the trilogy eventually. Though the Sherlock Holmes franchise could be another one that ends up on HBO Max instead.