‘Forrest Gump’ & 5 Other Movies That Didn’t Get Sequels

Forrest Gump was one of the most popular movies of the ’90s, solidifying Tom Hanks’ career as an Oscar-worthy actor — and making Winston Groom, the author of the book on which the movie was loosely based, a household name. And even though Groom wrote a sequel to the Forrest Gump book (Gump & Co.), a planned movie sequel — one which would have been even less true to the source material — never made it to the screen.

As it turns out, lots of movies scream for a sequel, but those sequels never make it to theaters.

Here are six movies that deserved a sequel, but never got one.

Forrest Gump

As Buzzfeed News reports, screenwriter Eric Roth put together a rough draft of the sequel to the hit 1994 film. This draft which would have seen the titular character interacting with O.J. Simpson, Princess Diana, and other historical figures of the time period.

He submitted his draft on September 10, 2001.

As most know, the world changed forever the next day. Director Robert Zemeckis and star Tom Hanks got together to talk things over, and they collectively decided that the planned movie “has no meaning anymore.”

E.T.

It was one of the high water marks of early ’80s filmmaking, and it made its director, Steven Spielberg, and its backers tons of money. It practically begged for a sequel, if for no other reason than marketing tie-ins. And Spielberg did, indeed, have a sequel in mind, according to Mental Floss.

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E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears would have seen evil, carnivorous aliens kidnap Elliott — and it would have been up to E.T. to save him. However, Spielberg later decided that he wouldn’t be true to his vision if he sent the franchise to a dark place. He scrapped his plans.

The Adventures of Tintin

Another Spielberg property, this was to be the first of a planned trilogy based on the Belgian comic book series. A second entry, The Adventures Of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun, was to be directed by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. However, Jackson instead found himself without a director for his Hobbit trilogy of films, so he ended up directing those himself, stalling production of Tintin II. He has since moved into other directing projects, and as Den of Geek reports, the Tintin franchise has been in so-called “development hell” since then.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

To fans of the original John Hughes classic, it only made sense that Ferris and Cameron should reunite as adults for another day of shenanigans at some point in their later lives. And in fact, a script even made it to the table. The planned sequel, Ferris Bueller 2: Another Day Off, has the title character as a motivational speaker facing a midlife crisis as he approaches his 40th birthday. He and Cameron team up to “party like it’s 1986,” as Mental Floss describes it.

Unfortunately, the movie wouldn’t be the same without Matthew Broderick, who does not seem to be interested. And even with Broderick on board, the actor is pushing 60, perhaps too advanced in years to be cast as a 40-year-old.

Elf

It should come as no surprise that New Line Cinema desperately wanted a sequel to the 2003 blockbuster holiday comedy. After all, it made rafts of money — for both the studio and for star Will Ferrell. And indeed, producers practically begged Ferrell to take their money, a reported $29 million.

Ferrell wouldn’t have it. Wanting to be taken seriously as an actor, he felt like he would have been taking too big of a personal and professional risk in case the movie was a dud. He turned them down, and of course, and the franchise wouldn’t be the same without Ferrell in the title role.

Galaxy Quest

The 1999 sci-fi comedy was a modest box-office success and a critical darling, and has since gone on to become a cult classic. And by 2014, producers had realized that a sequel made sense. Star Tim Allen even admitted that a screenplay had been written. And indeed, in 2016, star Sam Rockwell said that talks were taking place with Amazon to possibly start filming that year.

Unfortunately, star Alan Rickman died, thwarting plans for a sequel in their tracks.