What do you do when a lead actor quits a movie franchise?

In these examples, you carry on…

But it certainly used to be.

His character of Carey Mahoney was not recast.

Ad content continues below

Who replaced them?Matt McCoy.

He joined the series forPolice Academy 5in the role of Nick, Commandant Lassards nephew.

The characters, it would be fair to say, were not dramatically different.

Did it work?Well, it didnt stop the franchise.

SPEED

Who quit?Keanu Reeves.

Various factors caused him to turn the film down.

He didnt need the money.

He didnt like the script.

And hed just finished making a different shitty action film anyway, in the form ofChain Reaction.

Er…

Who replaced them?It must have been an odd boardroom meeting.

We have a potentially huge action franchise.

Lets call Jason Patric!

The idea of setting the film on a slow moving cruise ship was De Bonts.

Did it work?Like you dont know.

Along withBatman & Robin,Speed 2: Cruise Controlwas one of two notoriously bad blockbusters of summer 1997.

Theres been the occasional chat of a reboot, and perhaps luring Reeves back.

But its just rumour, and we suspect itll stay that way.

Who replaced them?When Diesel went, it was Walker.

When Walker went, it was Lucas Black.

It would prove a smart move.

$363m.Fast Fivewould then take $626m,Fast & Furious 6would grow that number again to $788m.

Next yearsFast & Furious 7may yet push $900m.

Universal pressed on, undeterred.

Who replaced them?Steve Carell.

Staggeringly,Evan Almightycost over $170m just to make.

This made it the most expensive comedy movie of all time, untilMen In Black 3popped along.

AndMen In Black 3had more expensive salaries to pay.

In truth,Bruce Almightyis no classic, but it did have Carrey playing to his manic comedy roots.

Once that was removed, the sequel was doomed.

No further films in the series have been made since.

You know whats coming.

Did it work?Ummm, it didnt go well.

Having being reluctant to return forYou Only Live Twice, Connery quit the role for the first time.

After which, he quit again.

Did it work?The first time Connery quit, Bond was in trouble.

Connery quit again though, and Roger Moore took onLive And Let Die.

So yes, eventually, the recasting of Sean Connery did work.

However, by then, Culkin had dropped out of acting, and thus would not return.

When that was abandoned,Home Alone 3was instead to feature a teenage version of Kevin McAllister.

Did it work?Nah.

It went as well as youd expect.

In particular, its likely to be the ending ofHannibalthat Foster had problems with.

With Ridley Scott on board to directHannibal, Hopkins suggested Moore for the role of Starling.

She took the part, and the film went ahead.

He opted to makeTerminator 2instead.

Glovers character was markedly different, a cop investigating drug cartels.

But ultimately, his job was to shoot at and try and avoid Kevin Peter Halls predator.

Meanwhile, Schwarzeneggers decision to makeTerminator 2would prove not to be a bad one.

BOURNE

Who quit?Firstly, director Paul Greengrass.

When Greengrass went, Jason Bourne himself Matt Damon followed suit.

Cross, somewhat inevitably, isnt a character too far removed from Bourne.

WhereasBourne 3took in $442m worldwide and some excellent reviews,Bourne 4grossed $276m and got panned.

Bringing humanity to the character of Alex Murphy, Weller portrayed the tin cop inRoboCopandRoboCop 2.

In the annals of wise decisions, Wellers deserves particular praise.

The more recent reboot wisely steered well clear of it.

JACK RYAN

Who quit?Firstly, Alec Baldwin.

Or at least that was the story at the time.

In a subsequent piece for The Huffington Post, Baldwin said the truth is the studio cut my throat.

However, he couldnt agree with director Phillip Noyce on which way to go with the project.

Both would end up departing the land of Jack Ryan.

Did it work?By most measures, yes.

Thats a little below the take forClear And Present Danger, but not bad for a reboot.