12 Actors Who Refused To Return For Their Movie Sequels

Movies By TooFab Staff | 11/4/2021 1:37 PM PT

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When a film is a huge hit at the box office, there’s always a massive demand for more, but if you ask the stars, a sequel isn’t always the best move. Even though fans may want the story to continue, there’s a lot to consider when signing on for a follow up. From the script to salary to co-stars, actors like Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig weighed their options when it came time to make a sequel — and they ended up saying “no thanks.” Even though they could have made millions while reprising a beloved role, they thought it was better to simply move on. Unfortunately for fans, they’re not the only stars to do so but for these celebs, they knew one was enough. Find out why these actors turned down sequels...

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Since being released in 2003, “Elf” has become a holiday favorite. Fans loved the flick so much, there was massive demand for a second film — and a script for a sequel actually got written. Star Will Ferrell was offered $29 million to channel Buddy the Elf once more but he turned down the opportunity because he thought the plot was a cheap rehashing of the original film. He explained that he wouldn’t have been able to promote the film from an honest place and had to turn down the movie. “I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money.’ And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie,'” Will told THR.

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The original “Speed” may have been a huge hit but star Keanu Reeves didn’t have any desire to come back for a sequel. The movie moved forward anyway and ended up bombing at the box office. Years later, Keanu explained that he turned down the film because he didn’t like the script. “I didn’t get to be in that. Well I decided not to be in that. I read the script and I was like, 'Ugggghhh.' It was about a cruise ship and I was thinking, 'A cruise ship is even slower than a bus,' and I was like, 'I love you guys, but I just can't do it,’” Keanu said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

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Katie Holmes decided against reprising her role as Rachel Dawes in “Batman Begins” because she felt that working on “Mad Money” was a better move for her at the time. "Not at all,” she told MTV News when asked if she regretted the choice, adding, “I had a great experience working with Chris Nolan [and] I'm sure it's going to be a great movie. [But] I chose to do this movie ['Mad Money'], and I'm really proud of it.”

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Two decades after Will Smith starred in “Independence Day,” he was asked to sign on for the film’s 2016 sequel, “Independence Day: Resurgence.” Unfortunately, Will had to choose between doing the film or taking part in “Suicide Squad” and he says he chose to move forward with his career instead of looking back. "I had the two screenplays in front of me. I had to choose between the two of those. Even the choice of going to ‘Suicide Squad’ — nothing about the qualities of the movie — but the choice of trying to go forward versus clinging and clawing backwards. I do want to aggressively go forward and do new things and create and hopefully be able to stumble upon a new heyday,” Will said during a Facebook Live interview.

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Jim Carrey’s flick “Bruce Almighty” was a massive box office hit and after its release, producers immediately approached him about doing a sequel. Jim turned down the opportunity and the studio was forced to pivot the plot, recruiting Steve Carrell to star in “Evan Almighty.” While Jim has never explained just why he didn't want to do the follow-up, he’s previously said he doesn’t enjoy making sequels. “I find sequels are a function of commerce for the most part. At least the two I've done, they were characters I enjoyed doing, but I did find myself almost parroting myself at that point. When you put 10 years between you and the last time you did it, suddenly you're going, 'How did I do that again?'...So, you're imitating your original inspiration...I'm not a crazy sequel guy,” Jim told THR.

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After the massive success of “Bridesmaids,” a second film was pitched to the cast but Kristen Wiig immediately turned it down. She says she knew from the start that she didn’t want to make a sequel. "It wasn't a hard decision. We knew during the first one, this was it. We would have made a lot of money if there was a second one, but that's not my goal in my creative life,” Kristen told Harper’s Bazaar.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked to appear in “Predator” sequels on two separate occasions but turned them both down. At first, there was reportedly a salary dispute but when he was asked to return in for a small role in the 2018 reboot, he didn’t like the script. “They asked me, and I read it, and I didn't like it – whatever they offered,” Arnold told Yahoo!

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Linda Hamilton appeared in the first two “Terminator” movies but declined to return for any further sequels. The actress reportedly didn’t like the script, which she said lacked character evolution as she was killed off halfway through the film. The movies moved on without her, killing off her character anyway. Years later, Linda finally decided to make a return to the franchise, appearing in “Terminator: Dark Fate.” “You start something and you’re invested in the franchise, but somehow the characters that you care about weren’t there. Too many people, too many story points. So I think we’ve done a good job of narrowing down the focus again so it will echo the first two films,” Linda shared of her return to the film.

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Despite movie fans falling in love with Tom Hanks’ character in “Forrest Gump,” he turned down the opportunity for a sequel. Tom said he just didn’t see the movie as a franchise — and had kind of grown sick of all of Forrest’s catchphrases. “I’ll be saying ‘box of chocolates’ again about the same time that Sean Connery says, ‘I’m Bond. James Bond.” I have to confess I don’t see this as a franchise. A sequel would ruin what we had done. It would be like ‘Jaws 2,’” Tom told EW.

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By the time “Indiana Jones 4” was in production, Sean Connery had retired from acting. Director Steven Spielberg attempted to lure him out of retirement but Sean didn’t think the project was worth it. “I spoke with Spielberg, but it didn't work out. It was not that generous a part, worth getting back into the harness and go for. And they had taken the story in a different line anyway, so the father of Indy was kind of really not that important. I had suggested they kill him in the movie, it would have taken care of it better,” Sean said.

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Bill Murray appeared in the first two “Ghostbusters” films but decided against returning for the third. Director Ivan Reitman said it was hard enough getting Bill to do the second film, so it was not surprising he turned down the movie. Although a part was written for him in the script, he declined and the film never ended up getting made. “I never begrudged him not being in the third movie, though I wrote a nice part for him in ‘Hellbent,’ where the ‘Ghostbusters’ go to hell. He’s got very high standards and a high bulls**t detector,” Dan Aykroyd told EW. Murray will, however, appear in the 2021 "Ghostbusters: Afterlife."

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“Jaws” was a massive hit but Richard Dreyfuss opted not to come back for the sequel once he found out Steven Spielberg wouldn’t be returning. He also took issue with how much he was being paid, which he once called “embarrassing.” “I knew what made ‘Jaws’ good, and we weren’t talking about Steven directing it [the sequel],” Richard said of his decision not to return.