The film industry has been in quite the unpredictable spot in recent years, as Hollywood shifts to adjust to both the new streaming era and how audience habits have changed since the pandemic.
And while it’s always nice to be surprised by an unexpectedly successful movie, there are many more films that just seem blatantly doomed long before they’re ever actually released.
And that’s certainly true of these 10 upcoming films, each of which have been circling the drain for a good while and seem unlikely to curry both critical and commercial success.
Perhaps they’re a sequel or spin-off that just waited too damn long to come out, maybe they’re cursed with a terrible release date, or the departure of a key crew member has left the production in flux ever since.
Whatever the reason, it’s tough to see these films succeeding in the way that they need to, but as ever, we can only hope that they end up surpassing our informed low expectations.
If you’re a betting person, you’d certainly be smart to bet against these films succeeding…
Though there’s no denying the popularity of the Fast and Furious franchise, it’s also tough to ignore the series’ decline since the critical and commercial highs of 2015’s Furious 7.
Each subsequent sequel has basically been less-warmly received by critics and fans alike, with 2023’s Fast X grossing less than the series’ five previous films, suggesting all but the most die-hard fans had basically lost interest.
Though Fast 11 – as it was then known – was announced before Fast X was even released, it was left in a tricky spot following that film’s commercial underperformance.
This led to reports that Universal intended to make Fast 11 a franchise-capping entry at a considerably lower budget than the more recent installments, and if the budget couldn’t be kept under $200 million, it might not be made at all.
Back in January, however, Fast Forever was confirmed for a March 17, 2028 release, almost three years later than its originally announced April 4, 2025 bow.
Even ignoring that this five-year gap will be by far the longest time between Fast sequels, there are other pressing issues.
For one, Fast X ended on an utterly ridiculous cliffhanger that, frankly, nobody cares about, the cast has become too huge to support a more modestly-budgeted blockbuster, and Vin Diesel has claimed that Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner will appear in the finale, presumably through ghoulish VFX chicanery.
None of this suggests that Fast 11 is going to deliver a satisfying coda to a franchise that, in the opinion of many, found a perfect leaping-off point with Furious 7.