Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)

Few sequels squander potential as thoroughly as Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), which replaced a high-stakes bus with a sluggish cruise ship—a concept that sank the franchise. Keanu Reeves declined to return after earning $12 million for the original, and the film’s $110 million budget recouped only $64 million globally, making it a box-office bomb that underperforms #5 on profitability. Critics panned its lethargic pacing, with a 4% Rotten Tomatoes score that is 30% worse than the average sequel in this list. It remains a textbook case of why certain films should never get a follow-up.