6 Long-Running Franchises That Should Have Ended

There's no question that franchises currently dominate Hollywood. Every year sequels, spin-offs, and reboots manage to dominate the box office and bring out audiences in droves. However, there are some franchises that should have ended for good.

1. The Terminator Saga

Primarily created by James Cameron, the franchise mainly centers around the battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race. One could make an easy case that the series has potential to live on in a TV environment, but it's becoming harder and harder to justify the existence of this franchise in the silver screen landscape.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean is a Disney film franchise based on a theme park ride of the same name, centering around the adventures of pirate Captain Jack Sparrow on his quest for immortality and rum. Captain Jack Sparrow had his moment, but (like the pirates themselves) his time may have simply come and gone like a tide.

3. Indiana Jones

The stories mainly concern the (quite adventurous) life and discoveries of archaeologist and professor Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Junior, better known as Indiana "Indy" Jones. According to the so-far released canon, the Jones character met and interacted with many historical personalities of the 20th century during his youth, while later he made discoveries concerning religious relics, legendary artifacts, places and topics, often having to do with the supernatural. However, after so many years in the field, Dr. Jones may finally belong in a museum.

4. Transformers

Transformers is the story of an eons-old battle between two factions of a race of Transforming Mecha, usually called the Autobots and Decepticons, whose battles frequently take them to Earth. Traditionally the Autobots transform into civilian automobiles, while the Decepticons transform into military hardware, though this distinction has grown less obvious over time. The Transformers franchise peaked (at least financially) with its second installment, and the series has slowly but steadily seen reduced earnings with each new film.

5. Friday the 13th

The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, as either the killer or the motivation for the killings. We're currently holding out hope that the genre's newfound renaissance will save a significant number of classic horror franchises, but Friday the 13th and Jason Voorhees belong at the bottom of Crystal Lake.

6. Die Hard

The series follows the adventures of John McClane (portrayed by Bruce Willis), a New York City and Los Angeles police detective who continually finds himself in the middle of violent crises and intrigues where he is the only hope against disaster. John McClane is no longer the everyman hero that we once knew and loved, his movies are no longer entertaining action spectacles, and the Die Hard series has lost its ability to entertain.