Despite a successful first film, every sequel to 2003's home video formats. Directed by Rob Schmidt and written by Alan B. McElroy, the first Wrong Turn effectively started a resurgence in the amount of horror films starring backwoods cannibal killers. While nothing really revolutionary, Wrong Turn did what it set out to do quite well, offering horror fans a fast-paced good time full of excellent gory kills and menacing villains.
Wrong Turn also had a better than average cast, sporting genre regulars Eliza Dushku, Desmond Harrington, Jeremy Sisto, and Lindy Booth among its main characters. While mainstream critics weren't big fans of Wrong Turn, the movie went on to find a devoted cult audience, and has been followed by a whopping five sequels. A reboot of the franchise is currently in the works as well. Clearly, a segment of the horror fanbase just can't enough of these particular mountain folk slaughtering unfortunate interlopers.
The Wrong Turn franchise has now spanned six films to date, and been active for more than a decade. While some of the sequels are more connected to each other than others, the one constant presence is the character Three Finger, originated by Julian Richings in the original Wrong Turn. However, only the first film got to experience the pride of playing for audiences on the big screen, with every sequel going straight to disc.
Why Wrong Turn Sequels Went Straight To Home Video
It's a bit of a mystery why the Wrong Turn franchise was so quickly shunted to the world of home video. While the first Wrong Turn wasn't a box office smash, it performed decently, hauling in $28.7 million on a budget of $12.6 million. One possibility is that Wrong Turn made more money on DVD than it did in theaters, making Fox see sequels going straight to video as a better financial bet. Even then though, it's a bit surprising that not even one sequel saw a theatrical release, especially since Wrong Turn 2 got better reviews than the first did.
It's also possible that Fox grew sick of dealing with the subtitled The Foundation, will see the franchise head back to theaters, or be yet another direct to video adventure.
