10 Rather Sensible Reasons Actors Walked Away from Movie Sequels

The modern movie business is built on sequels. Rarely, if ever, does a box office smash get to remain just one film, and even some middling flicks from every genre get expanded into whole franchises. And it’s not difficult to see why—name recognition gets paying audiences into the cinema.

However, while financiers and producers are always keen for a sequel, the same can’t be said for actors. Some stars have evaded their grasp and walked away at the height of their powers, from minor parts and lead roles, forcing the studio to recast, rewrite, or ditch the character altogether. Whatever the actor’s reason for departing, these 10 make total sense.

Related: 10 Sequels That Simply Repeat the First Film

10 Neve Campbell—Scream VI (2023)

Wes Craven’s meta-horror franchise Scream has thrived beyond the director’s passing in 2015. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett helmed the 2022 soft reboot, bringing back the original tetralogy’s central trio—Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale (Courteney Cox), and Dewey (David Arquette)—while introducing new young stars to help carry the torch.

The series’ iconic killer Ghostface has been alive and stabbing in various guises for nearly three decades, with each version of the knife-wielding maniac meeting his or her end by the conclusion of their respective films. Thus, it makes sense to maintain the same protagonists to deliver continuity for the fans.

Unfortunately, Campbell—the face of the franchise—ended up walking away from the film’s sequel, Scream VI. The directors had envisioned a new series in which she shared the limelight with Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera (as Tara and Sam Carpenter). Still, this dilution of focus also entailed a dilution of funds. Campbell felt the offer the studio made her “did not equate to the value [she had] brought to the franchise” and left film number six to the young ones.^[1]

9 David Hyde Pierce—Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Hellboy: The Crooked Man delivered the third big-screen iteration of the comic book anti-hero in 2024—and, by all accounts, the third time is not the charm. But when the benchmark was set by Mexican auteur Guillermo del Toro, what hope was there?

Back when the franchise was getting started in 2004, comic book movies were still in their fledgling days and far from a sure thing. Thus, to hedge their bets, the studio wanted as much star power as possible in del Toro’s Hellboy and insisted on shoehorning Frasier’s David Hyde Pierce as a celebrity voiceover. This meant that Pierce’s voice was the one audiences heard, although contortionist actor Doug Jones was putting in the time on set playing amphibious supporting character Abe Sapien.

However, while recording his voiceover, Pierce witnessed Jones play and voice the character and felt that his presence was wholly unnecessary. As a result, he refused to take a credit on the film and didn’t participate in the press tours. And when it came time for the sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Pierce politely declined, allowing Jones to play the role in its entirety.^[2]

8 Richard Dreyfuss—Jaws 2 (1978)

Jaws was the first real blockbuster, raking in hundreds of millions at the box office, permanently shifting the Hollywood business model, and making a star of director Steven Spielberg. And given the film’s antagonist—a people-hungry shark that stalks the coast of Amity Island—is only on screen for four of the film’s 124-minute runtime, it’s the actors who deserve the recognition.

Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw’s performances underpin the movie, as police chief Martin Brody, marine biologist Matt Hooper, and professional shark hunter Quint banding together to take down the sinister great white. Despite Universal Pictures recognizing that the actors made the film a success, they had a hard time getting anyone but Scheider to return for the sequel.

Dreyfuss was particularly barbarous in his response, levying the accusation against producer David Brown that he had not paid him enough for the first film. He also reckoned that Spielberg was the essential talent behind Jaws. Thus, when the studio approached him with a sequel helmed by Jeannot Szwarc and a pay packet similar to the first film, Dreyfuss walked away from the franchise.^[3]

7 Val Kilmer—Batman & Robin (1997)

The mid-1990s saw a multitude of cultural shifts, but few as stark as the handover of the Batman movies from Tim Burton to Joel Schumacher. Burton’s Gotham was deeply gothic, drawing visual references to Universal monster movies and finding a down-to-earth Bruce Wayne in Michael Keaton. On the other hand, Schumacher lit his palette neon, emphasized the cartoony elements of the source material, and slipped the bat suit on Top Gun actor Val Kilmer.

Schumacher’s first film, Batman Forever (1995), was a box office success but fared poorly with critics. Despite the critical consensus being that Kilmer’s middling performance as the dark knight was the film’s greatest weakness, Warner Bros. still invited the actor back for the sequel—Batman & Robin.

While the studio wanted a consistent face behind the cowl to keep audiences engaged, Kilmer saw things differently. Recognizing the archetypal nature of the character, he reasoned that it didn’t make sense for Batman to be just one person. Add this to the fact that he clashed with Schumacher, hated wearing the bat suit, and didn’t enjoy his time in the role, and it was a no-brainer to exit the series.^[4]

6 Keanu Reeves—Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)

Long before John Wick, the 1990s established Keanu Reeves as an action star, with films like Point Break, The Matrix, and Speed. High-concept action thrillers were all the rage, and Speed was built around the elevator pitch of the decade: a city bus is rigged to explode if its speed drops below 50 mph.

Reeves plays Officer Jack Traven, who must save the passengers of the bus and thwart the terrorist behind it all. Every ’90s actioner needs a love interest, and Sandra Bullock stars opposite him as Annie Porter, a passenger who finds herself at the center of the chaos.

Reeves loved his time on the movie, but although a sequel was green-lit on the back of the first film’s overwhelming financial success, the monosyllabic star wasn’t game. He was sent the script for Speed 2: Cruise Control but couldn’t get over one key detail—it was set on an out-of-control luxury ocean liner! He walked away from the sequel, claiming it “just didn’t feel right,” and the critical and commercial failure of Cruise Control has proven him right.^[5]

5 Robin Williams—The Return of Jafar (1994)

Aladdin arrived during the heyday of Disney’s 2D animation period when the studio seemed to be turning out a timeless classic every year. The film took the Middle-Eastern folk tale of the same name and Americanized it, toning down the violence, making it family-friendly, and using Tom Cruise as inspiration for the eponymous character.

But the big, headline-grabbing decision was to have Robin Williams voice the magical Genie. This went down a storm, with Williams bringing his unique fast-talking, tongue-in-cheek wit to the role. Thus, getting him back for the sequel, The Return of Jafar, was a no-brainer. However, between the release of the first film and the planning of the second, Williams had entered a dispute with Disney.

The actor originally signed on to voice the character on the provision that he didn’t have to sell anything—no fast food, toys, or merchandise of any kind. Studio executives agreed to his conditions, but then he caught an advertisement using his voice to sell stuff. As a result, Williams didn’t just say no to the sequel but to ever working for Disney again.^[6]

4 Sean Connery—Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’s Indiana Jones series has had a rocky ride since its original trilogy concluded in the 1980s, ending on a strong note and failing to recapture the magic ever since. There have been a multitude of small reasons for this, including Spielberg’s failure to get Sean Connery back for another movie.

Connery played Indiana’s father, Henry Jones Sr., in The Last Crusade (1989), and by all accounts, stole the show, acting as the inept foil to Harrison Ford’s all-action professor. And the film, which had Senior on the edge of death before pulling him back with a sip from the Holy Grail, left the door open for the character to return.

A fourth film—Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—took years to come to fruition. However, by the time Spielberg had it in development, Connery was retired. That didn’t stop the director from preparing a part for the veteran actor, but it was too little too late. Connery felt the role was not substantial enough to come out of retirement and parted with the franchise forever.^[7]

3 Zoe Saldana—Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

Another film series that opened on a strong trilogy and floundered in the aftermath is Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Based on the theme park ride, the films feature Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate scoundrel who often finds himself in hot water but manages to come out on top.

In Gore Verbinski’s The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Jack teams up with a rag-tag crew of half-bit pirates to save the governor’s daughter from the clutches of the Black Pearl’s captain and free himself from a ghostly curse. Among this crew is Zoe Saldana’s Anamaria, a rare female pirate whose ship Jack stole.

And Saldana played the part to perfection, with producers wanting her for the sequel. Despite this being one of her first big movie roles, with potentially the rest of her career riding on it, the actress declined to return. She almost quit acting altogether, citing a toxic and elitist work culture behind the scenes. As a result, her character was dropped from the sequel rather than being recast.^[8]

2 Robert Duvall—The Godfather Part III (1990)

Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy contains two of the greatest films of all time, and The Godfather: Part III. The third film was made a decade and a half after its predecessor. It suffered from several missteps, including casting Sofia Coppola as Michael Corleone’s (Al Pacino) daughter, Mary, and the conspicuous absence of Robert Duvall.

Duvall played Corleone consigliere Tom Hagen in the first two films and is an essential part of the crime family and the film series. Unfortunately, when the film was being put into production, and Coppola sat down with Duvall, the actor felt like he was being disrespected and low-balled by the director.

Coppola and his producers wouldn’t pay Duvall what he asked for and offered him a slim fraction of what Pacino—his co-star since the first movie—was receiving. During talks, Coppola seemed more interested in the actor’s crab cake recipe than in having him in the film. Duvall walked away from the third film on the point of principle, although his absence was a sore point for viewers and the actor alike.^[9]

1 Edward Norton—The Avengers (2012)

At the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some things looked somewhat different from how they do now—especially Bruce Banner. The Incredible Hulk (2008) served as the series’ second film and starred Edward Norton as Banner/The Hulk, charting the character’s origins as a scientist who runs afoul of some gamma radiation, and slotting him into the broader MCU via a mid-credits scene featuring Iron Man.

Despite Norton performing well as the character and being initially keen to continue in the role, the actor was nowhere to be seen by the time all-star team-up The Avengers rolled around four years later. And there are several explanations for why.

Kevin Feige’s statement on the matter suggested Norton was seeking more creative control than he was being offered, citing the “need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.” However, the actor has since stated his decision to leave was because he didn’t want to be typecast or tied into a years-long obligation—something other MCU stars have struggled with since.^[10]