10 Amazing Movies With Cliffhangers That Never Got Sequels, Ranked

Some of the best movies ever made have ended on massive cliffhangers. The first two Back to the Future films ended with iconic cliffhangers, but both movies had sequels that explained the previous endings. Many other iconic film franchises, like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, also had cliffhangers within the series.

Many films have unexplained endings because the directors have decided to let the fans interpret them for themselves. Other times, the directors intended to work on a sequel, but due to bad reception, they weren’t able to go through with the next film in the franchise.

10 Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Alita: Battle Angel is an action sci-fi movie following Alita, a cyborg who wishes to learn her true origins. At the end of the movie, Alita is gearing up for a race so that she could reach the floating city of Zalem and finally confront Nova, who has been trying to hunt her down. Naturally, the film ends just before the race begins.

This movie ended on a cliffhanger with expectations of a sequel being made, but due to the film underperforming at the box office, it now seems unlikely. According to Express, the filmmakers are still interested in making the sequel, but now that Fox has been bought by Disney, things are even more up in the air.

9 28 Weeks Later (2007)

28 Weeks Later was a sequel to the hit zombie film 28 Days Later. This film ended with two siblings boarding a helicopter to Europe and away from the infected United Kingdom. It then cuts to a scene of the abandoned helicopter in France, shortly revealing a horde of infected zombies leaving a train terminal in Paris.

There were rumors that a third film titled 28 Months Later would release, but the future of the franchise is now up in the air. Alex Garland, who wrote the film, stated that it most likely won’t ever be made, leaving fans to speculate the fate of its characters.

8 The Italian Job (1969)

The Italian Job is a classic heist movie with a cliffhanger that is still widely discussed until this day. This film left off with the characters on a bus that’s hanging off the side of a cliff; with the crew safely on one side, and all of the gold on the falling end. Before the credits roll, the crew leader says, “I’ve got a great idea.”

There was a remake of this movie in 2003, but it never received a sequel to reveal what the great idea was. While there was never an official answer, scientists have come up with a solution for themselves. According to Reuters, it would have been possible for one crew member to leave the bus and put rocks on their end so that another member can safely retrieve the gold.

7 Lost In Translation (2003)

Lost In Translation is a romantic drama about a man named Bob who meets a woman named Charlotte in Tokyo who’s been abandoned by her husband. At the end of the movie, as the two are saying goodbye to each other, Bob whispers something in Charlotte’s ear that is unheard by the viewer.

Many fans have tried to figure out Bob’s final words to her, and some have even enhanced the audio to make out the words. Even with their efforts, it’s still unclear as to what he said. Apparently, not even director Sofia Coppola knows what was said.

6 Prisoners (2013)

Prisoners follow Keller, a man who’s desperate to find his missing daughters, and Detective Loki, who is assigned to find them. At the end of the film, the daughters are safely rescued, but Keller finds himself kidnapped and trapped in a basement. In the final moments of the film, Keller blows a whistle that Loki manages to faintly hear from above him, but then the film ends.

Many fans have debated whether Loki was able to rescue Keller or not. According to BuzzFeed, writer Aaron Guzikowski has stated that they have filmed a scene that goes on longer what the film shows, in which Keller is in fact found and rescued.

5 The Wrestler (2008)

The Wrestler is about Randy, an older man who’s trying to make a comeback as a wrestler, without paying any regard to his health problems. He decided to push through and schedule one last wrestling match even though he knows he might die. Right as he jumps off the ring’s ropes to perform his signature move despite his chest pains, the credits roll.

It’s left up to the viewers to decide whether he managed to make it through the fight without dying. There were previously rumors of a possible sequel, but now a lot of time has passed without any talk. Many fans theorize that Randy does die during his final fight, but there’s no way to know for sure.

4 The Thing (1982)

The Thing follows a group of scientists in Antarctica that find themselves attacked by a mysterious creature that can take on the shape of any one of them. When each of them is picked off with just two of them left, it’s clear that one of them has become infected, but the movie ends before revealing which of the two it was.

Many fans have debated which of the two men is the impostor in the end. While the movie is based on a book titled Who Goes There? the ending is slightly different from the novel. In the book, everyone is killed off by The Thing, with no ambiguous ending.

3 Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl follows Nick Dunne as he finds himself bombarded by the media after his wife has gone missing and he’s a prime suspect. Over the course of the film, his wife is revealed to be plotting the whole situation. In the end, she is pregnant with his child, and he seemingly decides to stay with her, even though she could be planning to harm him.

Many fans were completely torn by this ending and left with plenty of questions. There’s the possibility that the child doesn’t even belong to him. Not only that but fans are left to wonder what will happen with the toxic relationship that the two will seemingly continue. Even though this film is based on a book, it turns out the book also ends on a cliffhanger, so there will maybe never be a real answer.

2 Us (2019)

When a family on vacation finds themselves being attacked by identical clones, they end up in a fight for survival against their “tethered” selves. Towards the end of the movie, there’s a shocking revelation that the mother who viewers thought was real was actually a tethered clone that swapped places with her human twin as a child. The film ends with the son sharing a glance with his mother, which makes it seem as if he knows the truth.

This ending certainly leaves things up in the air, as there’s no clear confirmation that the son knows his mother is tethered. The finale of the movie has one of the best movie endings of 2019, which shows all of the clones holding hands, leaving the viewer to wonder what’s going to happen next.

1 Inception (2010)

Inception has one of the biggest cliffhangers to date. This movie goes back and forth between dream and reality, with Cobb, the main character, relying on a spinning top falling to let him know he’s awake. At the end of the film when Cobb succeeds in his mission and finally reunites with his family, he spins the top one last time, but the credits roll before it falls.

Many fans have debated whether Cobb was dreaming in the end. According to Digital Spy, Michael Caine, who portrayed Cobb’s father in law, stated that director Christopher Nolan told him any scene he appears in is reality. Considering he’s in the final scene, it might be safe to assume Cobb is awake. Given that Nolan refuses to confirm this, it still remains a mystery.

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