Sequels are a funny beast — rarely do they live up to the original movies they’re based on, and they can often feel like hollow imitations of what came before. It’s no wonder some stars flat-out refuse to do them when they can. Here are a few examples of actors who made a lucky escape…
1.
Speed was a huge hit in the ’90s, thanks in no small part to Keanu Reeves’ charisma in the lead role, and his incredible chemistry with Sandra Bullock, but he turned down the follow-up Speed 2: Cruise Control.
He declined after reading the script and deciding it “just wasn’t right”. His character, Jack, was replaced by an almost identical character named Alex, who was played by Jason Patric.
Speed 2: Cruise Control turned out to bomb at the box office and was widely panned by critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of only 4% (compared to the first movie’s 95%).
But while Brendan Fraser returned for a third movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Rachel didn’t. There were rumours this was due to her character being aged up to be the mother of an adult son, but she claimed it was primarily because of scheduling conflicts.
Maria Bello replaced Rachel in the role of Evie for Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Although it did achieve box office success, it was the lowest earner of the franchise, and a critical flop, with just 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. The planned follow-up was subsequently cancelled.
3.
Jodie Foster won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role as Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs, but she wasn’t interested in revisiting the character for the sequel, Hannibal, due partially to scheduling issues but mainly due to creative concerns.
Julianne Moore replaced her as Clarice, and while Hannibal was a commercial success, it received mostly negative reviews, and Jodie seemed to have no regrets, later saying “I saw Hannibal. I won’t comment.”
4.
Richard Dreyfuss declined to reprise his Jaws role of Matt Hooper in Jaws 2 because original director Steven Spielberg wasn’t returning — and also because of pay concerns.
And while Jaws 2 was a hit, it received mixed reviews, with Roger Ebert even calling it “pure trash”.
5.
Chris Tucker starred alongside Ice Cube in Friday, which was a commercial and critical success, but he didn’t reprise his role of Smokey for the sequel Next Friday due to religious reasons — although Ice Cube suggests money was the actual issue.
Whatever the reason, he doesn’t seem to have regretted his decision. Next Friday, meanwhile, was absolutely panned by critics.
6.
Jim Carrey initially agreed to return for a sequel to his hit comedy The Mask, but ultimately walked away after his experience with the Ace Ventura: Pet Detective sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, left him feeling creatively dissatisfied and turned him off to the idea of returning to a character he’d already played.
A sequel, Son of the Mask, later went ahead without him, and it was an utter failure at the box office and with critics.
7.
Daddy Day Care didn’t get great reviews from critics, but it was a huge commercial hit. Despite this, star Eddie Murphy opted not to return for the sequel, Daddy Day Camp (in fact, none of the original cast returned).
Cuba Gooding Jr took up the mantle as Eddie’s character Charlie, but Daddy Day Camp was even more negatively reviewed than its predecessor — earning a measly 1% on Rotten Tomatoes and winning Worst Prequel or Sequel at the Golden Raspberry Awards.
8.
Long before it was an MTV series, Michael J. Fox starred as Scott in quirky comedy Teen Wolf, which was so successful it quickly spawned a sequel, Teen Wolf Too.
However, due to reportedly disliking the heavy werewolf makeup and also being busy with other projects, Michael J. Fox declined to return for the sequel. Teen Wolf Too instead focuses on his character’s cousin, Todd, who was played by Jason Bateman. It was a complete critical and commercial flop.
9.
Independence Day was a blockbuster smash when it was released in 1996, and Will Smith was a key part of that success in the role of Captain Steve Hiller. It took twenty years for a sequel to appear in Independence Day: Resurgence, and despite several original cast members returning, Will declined due to scheduling conflicts and salary concerns.
Resurgence was a box office disappointment and failed to impress critics, earning 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even returning star Vivica A. Fox acknowledged afterwards that she didn’t think the movie was good, and that “we missed out by not bringing Will Smith back”.
10.
Geena Davis starred opposite Jeff Goldblum in The Fly, which was a commercial and critical hit, but she refused to return for the sequel when the script had her character, Veronica, dying in childbirth in the first act.
She was replaced by Saffron Henderson, and while the movie was moderately successful at the box office, it is pretty widely hated by fans and critics alike.
11.
When paparazzi images revealed Kristen Stewart allegedly having an affair with Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, both were let go from the franchise — although Kristen was offered a cameo in the sequel, Snow White and the Huntsman: Winter’s War, which she turned down.
Jessica Chastain joined the franchise as the wife of Chris Hemsworth’s character, the titular Huntsman, but the movie was a letdown for fans and critics, not to mention at the box office. Kristen Stewart later said, “Thank God” she wasn’t in it.
12.
While Macauley Culkin and the other lead cast members returned for Home Alone sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, he was taking a break from acting by the time Home Alone 3 was in the works.
The movie shifted focus from Macauley’s character Kevin to a kid called Alex, who was played by Alex D. Linz. While Home Alone 3 didn’t completely flop, it didn’t reach the heights of the first two movies, and it’s not remembered very fondly compared to the originals.
13.
Jamie Lee Curtis shot to stardom as Laurie Strode in Halloween and its sequel Halloween II, but she bailed on the franchise and its many, many sequels for nearly two decades after that because she didn’t want that one role or genre to define her.
While she did return to the series and several of its movies in her later career, with varying degrees of success, the declining quality of the intervening movies suggested she made the right choice early on.
14.
Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to reprise his role of Dutch in Predator 2, the sequel to Predator, due to a salary dispute.
Although later movies in the franchise did well, Predator 2 itself wasn’t very well received and was the lowest-grossing movie in the series.
15.
And finally, Brendan Fraser didn’t return to the titular role of George of the Jungle for the sequel, George of the Jungle 2 because, he says, the studio was “too cheap” to hire him.
He was replaced by Christopher Showerman, and the sequel ended up going direct to video and completely underwhelmed audiences and the few critics who bothered with it.
