Whether they're comedy legends or action icons,
these actors said "no thanks" to a major follow-up film with no apparent regrets.
Like many on this list, Bill Murray isn't exactly known for his friendliness towards follow-ups, but
his résumé isn't totally exempt from them either. Case in point: Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties.
"So do you have any regrets?"
"Heh… Garfield, maybe."
But despite his dual outings as the lasagna-loving fat cat,
Murray failed to return as Bosley in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle after a reported feud with
co-star Lucy Liu and director McG. But naturally – or maybe, supernaturally – it's his history
with Ghostbusters that's drawn the most public interest — and controversy — over the years.
Murray, who starred in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, famously refused to have
anything to do with the ill-fated and unproduced Ghostbusters III because he wasn't impressed with
the idea, much to Dan Aykroyd's chagrin. In an interview with Variety, Murray commented,
"I read one that Danny [Aykroyd] wrote that was crazy bizarre and too crazy to comprehend."
Murray did, however, agree to make a cameo in Paul Feig's all-female
reboot as a sign of solidarity for the new generation of ladies battling ectoplasmic
goo. He even voiced Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters: The Video Game,
which was effectively a third film. Murray finally returned, albeit briefly,
to bust some ghosts in the 2021 sequel-reboot Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which brought back the
original heroes to pass their proton packs over to the next generation of paranormal investigators.
Known best for his action roles in The Matrix and John Wick franchises,
Keanu Reeves has become something of a staple in the genre.
In 1994, Speed was a breakthrough success for Reeves, helping to make him recognizable for
more than just his goofy antics in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Point Break.
"Woah."
Speed certified him as a bona fide action star years before The Matrix.
But Reeves wanted nothing to do with a Speed sequel.
In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, he explained what turned him off to a
reunion with co-star Sandra Bullock and director Jan de Bont, saying,
"I got the script and I read [it] and was like 'ugh.' It was about a
cruise ship and I was thinking a bus, a cruise ship, speed, bus,
but then the cruise ship is even slower. [...] I just can't do it."
Speed 2: Cruise Control went ahead with Jason Patric in the lead,
but was hated by critics and audiences alike.
Though Reeves opted out of returning for Cruise Control, would he consider returning for Speed
3? While nothing is officially in the works, after encores in The Matrix Resurrections,
Bill and Ted Face The Music, and John Wick: Chapter 4, maybe anything is possible.
"Yeah. Not really."
Though The Dark Knight is the most successful of Christopher Nolan's famed Batman trilogy,
the first installment, Batman Begins, is not to be slept on. The film focuses on Christian Bale's
Bruce Wayne as he slowly turns into Batman. Starring opposite Bale is Katie Holmes, who
plays Bruce's childhood friend and love interest, Rachel Dawes. Among the only characters to learn
that Bruce is Batman, Rachel is pretty pivotal to the film — though she'd be recast in the sequel.
The real reason why Katie Holmes declined to return for The Dark Knight is something
only she truly knows, but there's plenty of speculation to go around. The public line on
why she gave a hard pass to the movie and the substantial paycheck involved was that
it conflicted with her shooting schedule on Mad Money, an all-female buddy crime comedy.
Unfortunately, almost nobody saw that picture, which flopped big-time at the box office.
Other sources, such as Yahoo! Movies, have suggested that Holmes' marriage to
Tom Cruise might have impacted her decision. But no matter the cause, Holmes made it clear
that the decision was hers, and told MTV that she had no regrets about leaving Gotham City.
Back to the Future may well be the best sci-fi movie of all time. A time-traveling
coming-of-age adventure, the film solidified Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in the
pop culture zeitgeist. To this day, it's one of the most beloved films in cinema history,
and while the reception to its sequels is admittedly mixed, the original remains a
favorite among audiences everywhere. Among the spectacular cast is Crispin Glover,
who played Marty's father George McFly in a heartwarming hero story.
But even though his character was slated to return in Back to the Future, Part II,
Glover ducked out of the sequel and its eventual continuation, Back to the Future,
Part III. According to Glover, he stepped back due to salary and creative disagreements
with producers who, instead of recasting the role, used his likeness by molding
his old man mask from the first movie into something usable for the second.
The whole thing is a bit strange and unsettling. Glover, who was understandably annoyed,
sued the studio for using his likeness without his permission — and won.
"Because of my lawsuit, there are rules in the Screen Actors Guild that make it
so producers can never do something like that again. And I'm proud of the lawsuit."
Somehow, both Back to the Future sequels made do without ever showing Marty's father again,
although they alluded to George McFly in their own
unique ways. It helped that the third one mostly took place in the Old West.
The first two X-Men movies helped revolutionize the superhero genre when comic book movies were
nearly at a standstill. In fact, Bryan Singer's second attempt at reimagining the X-Men for
modern day audiences, X2: X-Men United, is still considered among the franchise's best. The film
introduced us to Alan Cumming's Kurt Wagner, a mutant later codenamed Nightcrawler by his allies.
But Cumming decided against returning for X-Men: The Last Stand, despite the
fanfare surrounding his portrayal of the teleporting mutant. The actor hated the
intense makeup process involved, and even claimed that the set was abusive.
X-Men: The Official Game — which took place between X2 and The Last Stand — explains
that Nightcrawler has left the team, deeming their lives too violent for a peaceful man.
Interestingly, Cumming admitted to being a bit nostalgic about the role around the time X-Men:
First Class rolled around. Because this film started a new timeline for the X-Men universe,
Nightcrawler was recast, with Kodi Smit-McPhee playing a much younger variation for X-Men:
Apocalypse and its 2019 follow-up Dark Phoenix.
One good way to ensure your leading lady won't bother to come back for a second film is to
kill her off in the first scene of the script. Such was the case with Geena Davis, who declined
an opportunity to appear in what would have basically been a cameo role in 1989's The Fly II.
"She's gone."
After being such a big part of the Jeff Goldblum-led original — which is actually
a remake — Davis' absence is definitely felt in the sequel — though to be fair, Goldblum is missed
also. He at least appears via archival footage, but even that wasn't enough to save the film.
Leftover footage of Davis' character Veronica Quaife from The Fly, along with substitute work
by actress Saffron Henderson, made up for her absence during the brief portions her character
appeared. The sequel, which followed the story of Veronica's son with Seth "Brundlefly" Brundle,
didn't do well. Not only were Goldblum and Davis absent, but director David Cronenberg,
producer Stuart Cornfeld, and co-writer Charles Edward Pogue also bowed out.
Interestingly, Goldblum, whose character didn't make it out of the original alive, has recently
shown interest in returning for another Fly movie, but it's doubtful that Geena Davis would join him.
Bridesmaids was a sassy, no-holds-barred, unapologetically brazen comedy that left audiences
begging for more. Directed by Paul Feig, the 2011 film was a success on every level, beloved by
critics and audiences alike. In fact, it quickly became producer Judd Apatow's highest-grossing
film, at least at the time. But despite the film's undeniable success, star and co-writer
Kristen Wiig has no desire to return for a second round, either in front of or behind the camera.
In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Wiig explained,
"We knew during the first one, this was it. We would have made a lot of money if
there was a second one, but that's not my goal in my creative life."
Echoing Wiig's sentiments and honoring her vision, director Paul Feig said it
was pretty much up to Wiig alone as to whether a sequel would happen. Since we still haven't
seen Bridesmaids 2 announced, it seems like Wiig is sticking to her guns on this one.
When asked by E! News whether she'd consider making another Bridesmaids
film without Wiig's involvement, her co-star Melissa McCarthy responded,
"God, I wouldn't want to. I would never want to. I think it's a terrible idea."
After a decade of speculation and rumors surrounding a potential sequel,
that just about settles that.
As "come what may" as his characters are,
you might not expect Will Ferrell to be a choosy guy, but there's one role Ferrell
has no interest in revisiting. There will be no sequel to the 2003 hit Elf.
"You sit on a throne of lies."
The holiday comedy was certainly on the "nice list" when it came to box office receipts,
but when the studio raised the idea of Ferrell reprising his most recognizable character,
he wasn't interested. Ferrell told USA Today,
"I just think it would look slightly pathetic if
I tried to squeeze back in the elf tights: Buddy the middle-aged elf."
"Lose the tights. I mean, as soon as possible." "As soon as possible?"
"As soon as possible."
As a result, a follow-up to the holiday box office smash still hasn't happened,
and likely never will — but maybe that's a good thing. Other hit Christmas comedies,
such as The Santa Clause, have done well with second installments. But for every Santa Clause 2,
there's also a Christmas Vacation 2, and Buddy the Elf doesn't need any of that.
Forrest Gump was one of many career-defining performances for Tom Hanks. It earned him
his second consecutive Academy Award for Best Actor along with endless jokes about
his box-o-chocolates mantra and his undying love for his peas-and-carrots pal "Jenn-aye."
"My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
Although Forrest's story comes to a natural conclusion by the film's end, there is actually
source material for a sequel — Winston Groom's follow-up novel Gump and Co., which was released
a year after the film premiered and follows Forrest's life through the 1980s. Despite multiple
attempts at a sequel, there are plenty of reasons that Forrest Gump 2 was never made — including
the September 11th terrorist attacks — but the biggest reason was Tom Hanks himself.
Hanks held out on reprising the role, despite reported attempts by the studio to
get Gump — pardon the pun — up and running again. Back in 2022, Hanks told Variety,
"I will say that, with a long time in between, we did take a stab at talking
about another Forrest Gump that lasted all of 40 minutes. [...] I've always
said, '[...] If there's a reason to do it, let's do it. But you guys can't force me.'"
Sounds like Hanks is perfectly content leaving Forrest back in the '90s — or rather, the '80s.
Robert Duvall is one of cinema's most prolific actors. With roles in films like Apocalypse Now,
The Judge, Open Range, and plenty of others going all the way back to To
Kill A Mockingbird and beyond, Duvall has quite the filmography under his belt — and an Academy
Award to show for it. Of course, one of his most famous performances comes from a movie
that is still considered by many as the greatest film of all time: The Godfather.
Playing the role of Tom Hagen in The Godfather and its immediate sequel,
Duvall was a dynamic presence on screen. And Hagen, like most characters in the picture,
was not one to be trifled with. But by the time The Godfather, Part III rolled around,
Duvall was no longer interested in returning to a life of crime,
especially if the pay wasn't up to snuff. In a 2004 interview with 60 Minutes II, Duvall said,
"If they paid [Al] Pacino twice what they paid me,
that's fine. But not three or four times, which is what they did."
In response to Duvall's absence, The Godfather, Part III notes that Hagen died sometime before
the film's events, while new characters assume the legal responsibilities of the Corleone
family's criminal empire. Though it would have been nice to see Hagen return, not even Duvall
could save Part III from becoming the most hated of Francis Ford Coppola's iconic gangster trilogy.
First appearing as a scared young woman in the 1984 sci-fi/horror feature The Terminator,
Linda Hamilton took on the role of Sarah "mother of the human resistance" Connor with ease. By the
time we saw her again in the even more impressive 1991 sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, she'd
transformed herself into a warrior who was nearly as formidable as the titular cyborg himself.
"You broke my arm."
"There are 215 bones in the human body. That's one. Now don't move."
Though T2 is the gold standard of Terminator movies, a threequel titled Terminator 3:
Rise of the Machines was released just over a decade later. Unlike the first two,
the third wasn't directed by James Cameron and
didn't star Hamilton opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hamilton told MTV —
"I read it and I knew my character arc was so complete in the first two. "[Sarah] died halfway
through and there was no time to mourn her. It was kind of disposable, so I said no thank you."
While she refused T3, Hamilton reprised her role vocally for Terminator Salvation,
though she avoided the franchise for another decade afterwards. Sarah Connor was recast
in both Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Terminator Genisys before Cameron convinced
Hamilton to return one last time for 2019's Terminator: Dark Fate. Sadly, the film flopped,
leaving Hamilton disillusioned. After its release, she told The Hollywood Reporter,
"I would be quite happy to never return. I would really love to be done."
More than likely, she'll get her wish.
Who doesn't love Marlon Brando?
"Hey, Stellaaaaa!!!!"
This cinematic legend starred in A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, Apocalypse Now,
and even received top billing in Superman: The Movie, even though he played the Man of
Steel's father and not the hero himself. But, we all know that Brando is best-known for his
iconic performance as Vito Corleone, patriarch of the infamous crime family in The Godfather.
"You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me "Godfather."
Though Don Corleone was the breakout character of the first film, Brando wouldn't return for
either Godfather sequel. Robert De Niro played a younger Vito in flashback sequences for The
Godfather Part II, though Brando was initially scheduled to appear at the end. Somewhat famously,
Brando failed to show up for the film's final scene — a flashback to the era before
the first film — and director Francis Ford Coppola quickly reworked the scene
to proceed without him. Evidently, it was an offer he could easily refuse.
Similarly in 1980, Brando's scenes were removed from Superman II due to a lawsuit between the
actor and the film's producers, who cited "creative differences" as the reason behind
the omission. Though these scenes were lost for years, the original director,
Richard Donner, recut the film in 2006 according to his original vision, re-adding Brando's final
scenes as Superman's father Jor-El. Brando's Jor-El returned once more posthumously,
in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, through repurposed archival footage from 1978's Superman.
The original James Bond, Sean Connery, is notable for his dashing good looks,
swashbuckling demeanor, and unmistakable Scottish accent. But even he has been
known to pass on a sequel in his time. Connery finished his initial run as
Bond with his fifth appearance, in 1967's You Only Live Twice.
Connery returned to the role four years later — after his first replacement, George Lazenby,
left the series following one film — to star as Bond in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever, his final
007 film for Eon Productions. Connery was replaced by Roger Moore, who played Bond
in the next seven films. Connery returned for Never Say Never Again, which was made
outside the official canon and would actually prove to be his last, tying him and Moore for
the most appearances as 007. Ironically, Connery confessed to The Guardian that,
"I've always hated that damned James Bond."
That explains his periodic retirements.
But this isn't the only franchise Connery exited. In 2006,
Connery retired from acting and thus opted out of returning as Henry Jones,
Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He told The Hollywood Reporter,
"I spoke with Spielberg, but it didn't work out. It was not that generous a part,
worth getting back into the harness and go for."
Instead, Jones, Sr. was said to have died offscreen and
was honored with a passing cameo via a photograph.
While sometimes recasting is necessary and lives up to expectations, sometimes the exact opposite
is true. Though she played the role of Evelyn "Evy" O'Connor in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns,
Rachel Weisz decided against reprising the role for a third time. Weisz wasn't the only
one who didn't make it back for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Director Stephen
Sommers handed over the reins to Rob Cohen, though he remained onboard as a producer.
Rather than a casual scheduling conflict or retirement, Weisz simply didn't like
the script, which had been penned by Smallville creators Alfred Gough and
Miles Millar. According to Cohen, he got an angry phone call from Weisz's agent,
explaining that the then-37-year-old actress wasn't interested in her character having a
21-year-old son in the movie. Aside from not liking her character's direction,
Weisz had also just had a baby and wasn't available for a five-month trip to China.
Given Weisz's frustrations with the script and her inability to travel,
the filmmakers rewrote the Evy character entirely and recast, making her nearly unrecognizable.
"Honestly, I can say she's a completely different person."
Maria Bello didn't do a bad job, she just wasn't the Evy O'Connor we all knew and
loved. Whether it was the lack of Rachel Weisz, a poor script, or just poor timing,
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor crashed and burned, and The Mummy franchise has yet to fully recover.