The Sequel Graveyard · 2010–2026 18 worst follow-ups of the era, ranked by the critics who sat through them Every film below is a true sequel (not a reboot or remake) released between 2010 and September 2026, ranked by its Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer — the share of critics who liked it. Most were also franchise-killers, money incinerators, or both. 18sequels ranked 3scored a perfect 0% 18%median Tomatometer 11came from 2013–2019 The bottom of the barrel, worst first Sorted by critic score, lowest (most rotten) on top. The colored bar is the critic score on a 0–35% scale; “Aud” is the audience Popcornmeter where Rotten Tomatoes reports one. A film this far down rarely pleases anyone. Sequel · franchiseYearCriticsAud The Gallows Act IIThe Gallows20190%— 365 Days: This Day365 Days20220%— The Next 365 Days365 Days20220%— Fifty Shades FreedFifty Shades20184%— Scary Movie VScary Movie20134%— Grown Ups 2Grown Ups20137%— RingsThe Ring20178%— Fifty Shades DarkerFifty Shades20179%— Expend4blesThe Expendables202314%— Dark PhoenixX-Men201922%55% Zoolander 2Zoolander201623%— Men in Black: InternationalMen in Black201923%— Meg 2: The TrenchThe Meg202327%72% Jurassic World DominionJurassic Park202228%77% Independence Day: ResurgenceIndependence Day201629%— Scream 7Scream202630%73% Joker: Folie à DeuxJoker202431%31% Dumb and Dumber ToDumb & Dumber201431%35% Scores as of September 2026 (Rotten Tomatoes). Films scraping 31–32% like Dumb and Dumber To and Joker 2 made the cut by franchise damage and box-office cratering; popular-but-panned follow-ups in the high 30s+ (e.g. Matrix Resurrections, 63%) did not. Why these eight are legendarily bad Not every stinker fails the same way. Some were incoherent, some were cash grabs a decade late, some were so catastrophic they buried the franchise that made them. 2022 · Poland 365 Days: This Day & The Next 365 Days 0% · 0% With both sequels at zero, the erotic 365 Days trilogy became the first in Rotten Tomatoes history where every installment scores 0% — dethroning the Atlas Shrugged films as the worst-reviewed trilogy ever. 2018 · Franchise closer Fifty Shades Freed 4% Critics crowned the trilogy “the worst of all time” as it closed; the Razzie committee agreed. A glossy, shallow checklist of clichés with stiff dialogue and zero tension. 2019 · X-Men Dark Phoenix 22% · 55% RT’s consensus: it “ends an era of the X-Men franchise… with deeply disappointing results.” Rock bottom for the saga — director Simon Kinberg publicly took the blame after it flopped with a $65.8M US gross. 2023 · The Expendables Expend4bles 14% Lowest-rated entry of the franchise: “lackluster action and cheap-looking effects.” Grossed $51M worldwide against a $100M budget, won two Razzie awards and killed the series. 2024 · Joker Joker: Folie à Deux 31% · 31% The rare case where critics and audiences perfectly agreed — both at 31%, a 37-point collapse from the original’s 68%. A $58.2M domestic haul on a reported ~$190M budget made it the era’s most infamous money-loser. 2026 · Scream Scream 7 30% · 73% The critics’ franchise-low pick, yet it opened to a franchise-best $64.1M and scored 73% with audiences — proof that “worst-reviewed” and “what fans want” can be totally different things. 2016 · Zoolander Zoolander 2 23% Fifteen years after a cult classic, this late, loud sequel landed with a thud — the cautionary tale for the 2010s “legacy sequel” boom. 2019 · The Gallows The Gallows Act II 0% Found-footage sequel to a film nobody asked for a sequel to. Not one critic liked it — the rare 0% that still got a wide-enough release to count. Critics hated it — did anyone else? Where Rotten Tomatoes reports an audience score, a clear pattern emerges: these bombs split into two very different camps. Everyone agreed it stank 31% vs 31% 31Joker: Folie à Deux — critics and audience identical 35Dumb and Dumber To — fans of the original stayed home 55Dark Phoenix — even forgiving X-Men fans bailed Critics sneered, audiences cheered 77% vs 28% 77Jurassic World Dominion — $376M US gross anyway 72Meg 2: The Trench — dumb fun defended by fans 73Scream 7 — franchise-best opening weekend When were the worst sequels concentrated? 2013–2019 · 11 2020–2026 · 7 11 of the 18 worst arrived in a seven-year stretch from 2013–2019 — the era of resurrected comedies (Zoolander 2, Dumb and Dumber To) and studio-mandated franchise enders (Dark Phoenix, Fifty Shades Freed). The 2020s so far are driven by streamer-bait erotic sequels and mega-budget misfires (365 Days, Expend4bles, Joker 2). Box-office bombs that critics didn’t hate Failing at the box office isn’t the same as being dreadful. These four sequels were commercial disasters on a historic scale, yet scored fresh enough with critics to stay off the list above. 2023 · Marvel The Marvels 63% · 79% A breezy, well-reviewed MCU entry that still became Marvel’s worst theatrical run — $84.5M domestic and a studio-shaking loss. 2021 · The Matrix The Matrix Resurrections 63% Critics found it thoughtful and self-aware; the $160M worldwide gross against a $190M budget called it something else. 2025 · M3GAN M3GAN 2.0 57% · 81% Audiences liked it (81%) — but it grossed ~$39M worldwide versus the original’s $180M. Nobody asked for the sequel, apparently. 2025 · Tron Tron: Ares 52% · 83% Respectable reviews, big fan support — and a $60.5M global take on a $180M budget. The rare flop that critics mostly defended. Method & sources Inclusion rule: theatrical sequels released 2010 – Sep 2026 (remakes, reboots, spin-offs-of-IP-without-a-preceding-film, and TV movies excluded), ranked by Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer as of Sep 2026. Rotten Tomatoes — 56 Worst Sequels of All Time (Gallows Act II, 365 Days sequels, Scary Movie V, Rings) and individual film pages for Tomatometer/Popcornmeter figures (Dark Phoenix, Dumb & Dumber To, Meg 2, Jurassic World Dominion, Joker 2, The Marvels, M3GAN 2.0, Tron: Ares, Scream 7). Mental Floss — 50 Worst Sequels of All Time; Looper — 10 Worst Movie Sequels of the 2010s. Box-office figures: Wikipedia (Expend4bles: $51M WW / $100M budget, 7 Razzie noms), Rotten Tomatoes film pages (grosses), The Independent (Joker 2), Yahoo Movies/Box Office Mojo (2025 flops: Tron: Ares, M3GAN 2.0), ScreenRant (Matrix Resurrections), Rotten Tomatoes box-office report (Scream 7 opening). Worst Movie Sequels 2010–2026 · critic & audience scores from Rotten Tomatoes, September 2026 · “Worst” = critics’ consensus, with franchise damage and box-office cratering as tie-breakers
