Sometimes the easiest way to ensure that a story gets told is to place it in a world that already exists. Studios are always looking to expand on existing franchises, but due to the ever-evolving shenanigans of the film industry, or perhaps the power of the script, proposed sequels can often find their footing.

Whether it’s a concept scrapped during the scriptwriting process or a movie that studios tried to cram into a franchise before abandoning it, several films started off as sequels or spin-offs before becoming projects in their own right. While not every film has been a critical success, some have become rival franchises to those they were never a part of.

1 ‘Quiet Place’ (2018)

Emily Blunt follows John Krasinski holding a boy while walking through the woods in A Quiet Place
Image via Paramount Pictures

John Krasinskithe critically acclaimed horror film was nearly jettisoned into orbit Cloverfield Universe. co-author Scott Beck said, “We were actually talking to one of the executives about this film, and the way it was presented, it looked like there might be a crossover, but when we finally turned over the final script to Paramount, they saw it as a completely different film.”

While, 10 Cloverfield Lane was already at Paramount and they wanted to expand the franchise, but the strength of the script allowed writers Beck and Brian Woods to develop Quiet place in your own movie. John Krasinski rewrote the script, eventually directing and starring in the film. It has since become a standalone franchise with a sequel in 2020 and two more films in development.

2 ‘Snow Day’ (2000)

snow day nickelodeon

Will McRobb And Chris Viscardi were responsible for the popular Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete and Pete, so when Nickelodeon Movies was founded in 1995, they were the first couple commissioned to write a screenplay for a movie. They wrote snowy day How Pete and Pete: The Movie; however, after it was introduced, it was forgotten about. Years later, the project was revived, but the leading actors became too old to play their roles again.

snowy day was retooled into a new film with a younger cast. However, fans of the original series are quick to point out the parallels between the characters in the film and the characters The Adventures of Pete and Pete. movie stars Chevy Chase, Chris Elliott, Schuyler Fisk, And Emmanuel Chiriquiand despite a lukewarm reception, received a musical remake in 2022.

3 ‘Consolation’ (2015)

Anthony Hopkins, Abbie Cornish, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and David Weiss in Comfort.
Image via Lionsgate Premiere

Written in the early 2000s. Comfort found a home in New Line Cinema, where executives sought to recreate success David Fincher’With Se7en. Studio bought Comfort be retooled into a sequel called Ei8ht, but no one was thrilled about the sequel to the seemingly perfect movie. Fincher said of the project, “I would be less interested in that than what cigarettes put out in my eyes.”

Without Fincher’s support, the sequel flopped and the film became a standalone project. Although Comfort put together a stellar cast Anthony Hopkins, Colin Farrell, And Jeffrey Dean Morganit failed to win critical sympathy or shake associations with the proposed ill-fated sequel.

4 “The Hateful Eight” (2015)

Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson in The Hateful Eight
Image courtesy of Weinstein.

After Quentin Tarantino found my groove with Django Unchained, he wanted to use what he had learned to make another western, but instead of another film, he devoted himself to writing a novel called Django in white hell. Roman was to follow Django to a cabin with characters from Hateful EightHowever, Tarantino began to realize that the public’s trust in Django was a problem for his story.

“I literally say to myself, ‘You know what’s wrong with this piece? Django. Django has to go,” Tarantino said. “This work should not have a moral center. He shouldn’t have a hero.” He turned his novel into a screenplay and brought Django’s qualities into the screenplay. Samuel L. Jackson character Major Marquis Warren. The film stars Jackson Kurt RussellAnd Jennifer Jason Leigh as several of the eight eponymous criminals caught together during a snowstorm.

5 “Die Hard with Revenge” (1995)

Revenge Die Hard Feature
Image via 20th Century Fox

In the early 90s, Jonathan Hunsley wrote a special script called Simon says. It was suggested Brandon Lee like a sequel to his movie rapid firebut after his untimely death on the set Crowit ended up in the hands of Warner Bros. The studio wanted the script to be rewritten to serve Lethal Weapon 4however, Mel Gibson wasn’t ready to make another one Deadly weapon the movie is right after the third one.

The script was eventually sold to Fox, who remade the script into Hard Die with Revenge, with the first half mostly untouched by the specials. The film was met with mixed reviews, but has since become a franchise favorite.

6 “Speed ​​2: Cruise Control” (1997)

Sandra Bullock looks at Jason Patric in front of the ocean in a Speed ​​2 cruise control, 1997.
Image via 20th Century Fox

After a huge success Speed, the executives were eager to cash in on the success by green-lighting the sequel, even though neither actor was contractually obligated to return. Fox pitched hundreds of options for sequels, but eventually pieced together a script from concepts developed and abandoned tenacious director and producer John McTiernan.

In a 2001 Movieline interview, McTiernan said, “After we did Die Hard 3the studio took a lot of the stuff we developed for another sequel and turned it into Speed ​​2: Cruise control. Ocean liner going ashore and all that? This is what we wrote for tenaciousUltimately, the executives abandoned the ocean liner concept because it looked too much like a movie. Under siege. Speed ​​2 was a box office bomb and a huge critical failure.

7 ‘Cyborg’ (1989)

Jean-Claude Van Damme in Cyborg, 1989.
Image via The Cannon Group

In 1987, Cannon Films had moderate success with their He’s a man movie Masters of the Universe, based on the Mattel toy line of the same name. Studio and director Albert Pyun began production on a sequel along with a spin-off Spider-Man film. However, Mattel and Marvel canceled their deals with the studio two weeks before filming, after the studio spent over $2 million on costumes for both films.

“I wrote the first draft of what has become”Cyborg‘ during the weekend and invited a young actor who wanted to be a screenwriter to polish it,” said Pyun. The film was a modest hit for the studio, earning two sequels and a cult following.

8 “Minority Report” (2002)

Three men look in the same direction while talking in a minority report.
Image via 20th Century Fox

Based on a short story Philip K. Dick, Minority Report was originally chosen in 1992 as a sequel Remember all (also based on Dick’s story). However, Just remember Carolco Pictures was unable to secure funding until it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995. A few years later, after being redeveloped into a standalone project, it fell into the hands of Tom Cruise And Steven Spielbergwho was looking for a project to work with.

It took both Cruise and Spielberg five years to find time between film commitments. It was a critical and box office success and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound Editing.

9 ‘Columbiana’ (2011)

Columbia (2011) (1)

Plans for a sequel Leon: professional happened right after the popular movie. Luc Besson wrote a script for Matilda, who will follow Natalie Portman character as an adult, and planned for Portman to reprise his role. director Olivier Megaton said: “Ten years ago we decided to do ‘Matilda‘that was ‘Professionala sequel, but we couldn’t do it because of the development of many things.” Professional.

“When we decided to change the script and make another film with a revenge story like “Matilda“He had to give up everything about Matilda,” Megaton said. Besson and Megaton reworked the film into a standalone project that became Colombian. The film did not find audiences, but remains the closest to Leon: professional viewers of the sequel will receive.