10 Movies That Were Perfect Endings To Long-Running Franchises

May 23, 2024, 2 p.m.

Movies

10 Movies That Were Perfect Endings To Long-Running Franchises

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Summary Movie franchises often struggle with satisfying conclusions when continuing for financial gain.

Some long-running franchises like Indiana Jones and Harry Potter have wrapped up their stories beautifully before returning for more.

John Wick may have reached a crossroads, and the history of other franchises suggests that moving forward with sequels and spinoffs is unwise.

Most movie franchises tend to fizzle out, but some long-running franchises have already had the perfect chance to go out on a high note. Franchises usually keep making movies for as long as they are profitable. While this makes sense financially, it means that, when viewed as a whole, these stories don't get the satisfying conclusions that they deserve. Later movies rarely live up to those that made the characters so popular to begin with.

Some franchises become too big for their own good, and this often means that there is a financial incentive to keep going long after the story has run its course. Franchises like Indiana Jones and John Wick have tried to wrap up their stories neatly, but their enormous popularity means that more sequels are always likely. Looking back, many great franchises wasted their chance at a perfect finale, and it seems unlikely that they'll ever get such a golden opportunity again.

2:44 Related 10 Movie Franchises Where The First Film Is The Best One The first installments in many movie franchises are still considered the best when the premise was never suited to an extended story and fell apart.

10 Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade (1989)

Indy has one last adventure that mends his fractious relationship with his father

Steven Spielberg's original Indiana Jones trilogy ended with a bang, as The Last Crusade brought Indy's story to a satisfying conclusion with enough action and intrigue to rival Raiders of the Lost Ark. After the unabashed fun of that first outing, the Indiana Jones franchise created a prequel, Temple of Doom, to delve into Indy's less noble beginnings, and a sequel, The Last Crusade, which focused on his legacy and development.

The Last Crusade brought Indy's story to a satisfying conclusion with enough action and intrigue to rival Raiders of the Lost Ark.

By the end of The Last Crusade, Indy makes the difficult choice to ignore a potentially seismic archaeological find in favor of riding off into the sunset with his father and his friends. The following sequels were forced to undo this symbolic ending. Dial of Destiny almost ends with Indy choosing to live out his final years in ancient Syracuse with Pythagoras, rather than returning to his own timeline and patching things up with Marion. He has to be knocked unconscious for the film to get its happy ending.

9 Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)

Harry and his friends overcome Lord Voldemort

The Harry Potter series started out as a lighthearted children's adventure, but it matured alongside its audience. By the time the eighth movie came around, it was barely recognizable in comparison to the first. Visually, The Deathly Hallows - Part 2 is much darker and grittier, which matches up with the way that the tone of the stories developed. Key to this development is the character of Voldemort, who becomes a kind of fascist leader bent on bringing about a new world order.

The Fantastic Beasts movies which have followed may be just as playful as Harry Potter's early years, but they lack the emotional thrust which makes the franchise so popular.

Although the Harry Potter franchise expands its scope, the action remains focused on Hogwarts. The final movie in the series manages to reconcile the grand political themes with intimate personal stories. Harry and his friends triumph over evil, but there are also plenty of minor victories for characters like Luna, Seamus and Neville. The Fantastic Beasts movies which have followed may be just as playful as Harry Potter's early years, but they lack the emotional thrust which makes the franchise so popular.

Related HBO's Harry Potter TV Show: Updates & Everything We Know Harry Potter is being remade as a television show for HBO Max and every detail about the next adaptation featuring the Boy Wizard can be found here.

8 War For The Planet Of The Apes (2017)

Caesar's reign comes to an end

War for the Planet of the Apes Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director Matt Reeves Release Date July 14, 2017 Cast Judy Greer , Steve Zahn , Mercedes de la Zerda , Max Lloyd-Jones , Woody Harrelson , Alessandro Juliani , Amiah Miller , Terry Notary , Andy Serkis , Aleks Paunovic , Ty Olsson , Devyn Dalton , Gabriel Chavarria

After a false start with Tim Burton's critically panned remake in 2001, the Planet of the Apes franchise came roaring back with a reboot trilogy that surpassed all expectations. Acting as a prequel to the original sci-fi classic, the reboot trilogy follows the journey of Caesar, a chimpanzee who uses his scientifically enhanced intelligence to free his fellow apes from their human oppressors. His emotional death at the end of War for the Planet of the Apes marked the end of his saga, but he had achieved all of his goals.

Caesar's death coincides with his tribe of apes finding a new home where they will be safe from human interference. This seemed to provide enough of an answer to the main questions that the prequel trilogy had to address. Apes were on the rise, and humans were decimated by a virus that left the survivors with decreased intelligence. Instead of leaving it there, the franchise picked things up hundreds of years later, with apes even more socially developed. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' ending could even set up an entirely new trilogy.

7 The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

Frodo destroys the ring and Sauron is vanquished

Peter Jackson brought one of the greatest trilogies in film history to an end with the Oscar-winning The Return of the King. Following the path of Tolkein's book, but adding in plenty of his own touches, Jackson wrapped up the epic saga in style. Aragorn claims his rightful place as king, the hobbits are honored for their bravery, and Frodo departs willingly for the Undying Lands.

The franchise may be seeing diminishing returns, but an animated movie, The War of the Rohirrim, is set for release in December 2024.

The Hobbit trilogy failed to recapture the magic of this achievement, and the Amazon Prime Video series, The Rings of Power, also received mixed reviews for its first season, with plenty of critics unable to justify its record-breaking budget. The franchise may be seeing diminishing returns, but an animated movie, The War of the Rohirrim, is set for release in December 2024. Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be the franchise's first live-action movie since The Hobbit trilogy ended, but this project could lack the vitality of the original trilogy.

6 Aliens (1986)

Ripley kills the alien queen and escapes

Aliens Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director James Cameron Release Date July 18, 1986 Cast Sigourney Weaver , Michael Biehn , Carrie Henn , Paul Reiser , Lance Henriksen , Bill Paxton , William Hope , Jenette Goldstein

After the soaring success of Alien, James Cameron took the reins and created a sequel that stands up to the original. Aliens eases up on horror in favor of explosive action, meaning that it stands on its own two feet while avoiding too many direct comparisons to Ridley Scott's original movie. Aliens was a massive hit with audiences and critics alike, so another sequel always seemed likely, but the franchise may have been better off without one.

Including the poorly-judged crossovers with the Predator franchise, Alien has lost most of the prestige that it built with its first two outings.

The widely-panned Aliens 3 was the franchise's first failure, but it would not be the last. Including the poorly-judged crossovers with the Predator franchise, Alien has lost most of the prestige that it built with its first two outings. Aliens should have been the triumphant conclusion to Ripley's battle with the xenomorphs. Each subsequent movie only seems to make the aliens less mysterious and less frightening.

Related Alien: Romulus - Release Date, Cast, Story, Trailer & Everything We Know With Fede Álvarez at the helm of the new Alien movie the franchise is heading in a promising direction, but what is Alien: Romulus about?

5 Toy Story 3 (2010)

Andy's toys find a new owner

Toy Story 3 Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director Lee Unkrich Release Date June 18, 2010 Cast Jodi Benson , Ned Beatty , Tim Allen , Tom Hanks , Joan Cusack

Pixar's biggest franchise began, like all the studio's projects, as a standalone movie. As the franchise has developed, Toy Story has found more and more ways of developing the world of sentient toys in new and interesting ways, but it will be hard to top the ending of Toy Story 3. Released 15 years after the first movie, Toy Story 3 shows how far the animation had developed in that time. Saying goodbye to the franchise that helped make Pixar what it is today would have been the perfect way to move forward into a new era.

Saying goodbye to the franchise that helped make Pixar what it is today would have been the perfect way to move forward into a new era.

Instead of leaving Toy Story in the past as a perfect trilogy, Pixar created a fourth, and Toy Story 5 is currently in development. Toy Story 4 did a good job of finding a new story to tell after Andy's toys moved on with a new child, but the franchise may soon run out of legs. After two potentially satisfying endings, the Toy Story franchise could be tempting fate by carrying on the story for longer than it should.

4 Fast Five (2011)

Dom's crew pull an incredible heist on their best adventure yet

Fast Five marked a huge shift in the Fast and Furious franchise. The first movie was an action-packed street-racing thriller, and the next few movies largely stuck to the same blueprint. Then came Fast Five, which told a much bigger story with a wider variety of action. Cars were still the focus, but there were also plenty of fist fights on chases on foot to mix things up. Since then, the Fast and Furious franchise has only gotten bigger and more ridiculous.

The franchise could have ended there on a high note, with the characters getting a happy ending. The Fast and Furious movies since then have been a mixed bag.

Fast Five ends with Dom and his crew pulling off a seemingly-impossible heist in Rio de Janeiro, and getting the better of Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs in the process. The franchise could have ended there on a high note, with the characters getting a happy ending. The Fast and Furious movies since then have been a mixed bag. Furious 7 also would have been a pleasing finale with its emotional tribute to Paul Walker, but the box-office behemoth has kept on going.

3 Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Thanos is defeated and some beloved heroes say their goodbyes

The most profitable franchise in history was never going to walk away from the table after the highest-grossing movie in history, but Avengers: Endgame does seem like the logical end point for the franchise in some ways. The MCU has been a little hit-and-miss since the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, and it could face a serious problem if it tries to top the stakes and the spectacle of Endgame.

Endgame wraps up the stories of some of the MCU's most beloved characters, such as Iron Man and Captain America. Of course, Marvel Comics have a seemingly endless supply of new heroes ready to step into their place for future movies. Much has been written about supposed "superhero fatigue". Whether this is a real phenomenon or not, the MCU will have to find a way to make its new heroes as ubiquitous as the old guard.

Related Every Upcoming Marvel Movie: Full MCU Phase 5 & 6 List (& Beyond) Between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, here is every upcoming Marvel movie release date and what we know about the projects so far.

2 No Time To Die (2021)

Daniel Craig's era comes to an end, and so could the franchise

Although it seems unthinkable, the James Bond franchise will eventually have to come to an end. Daniel Craig's final movie as 007 was the franchise's most considerate and complete send-off for any of its stars, but it also could have been the perfect way to retire the character for good. No Time to Die ends with a more emotional and mature Bond sacrificing his own life to save the world once more, but also to save his child.

Daniel Craig's final movie as 007 was the franchise's most considerate and complete send-off for any of its stars, but it also could have been the perfect way to retire the character for good.

After decades of Bond movies, No Time to Die pulled off the last remaining stunt that seemed impossible for the franchise. But killing James Bond off proved to be a stroke of genius. Three years after No Time to Die, there is still no word on who will suit up for the upcoming Bond 26. Whoever gets the role, they will face the daunting task of having to measure up to Daniel Craig's performance.

1 John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

John finally frees himself from the Table

The original John Wick is a delightfully simple revenge thriller, but the simplistic plot lets the action shine. The franchise has had to develop the world around John Wick and its obscure bureaucracy throughout the sequels, and it has now reached a crossroads. After the underwhelming TV spinoff, The Continental, there's a concern that John Wick has become too complex and self-important for its own good. The other upcoming spinoffs are equally worrying.

Following his duel with Caine, John is finally free of all obligations to the Table, and although he dies, he does so as a man who took on a corrupt system and won.

The most concerning project of all is John Wick 5, which has been confirmed despite the death of the franchise's hero in John Wick: Chapter 4. Following his duel with Caine, John is finally free of all obligations to the Table, and although he dies, he does so as a man who took on a corrupt system and won. The franchise may not have the same impetus without Keanu Reeves as its star, although the upcoming John Wick spinoffs could indicate whether audiences are still interested.