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Some Hollywood executives can't seem to quite understand that star power trumps all. In the majority of film franchises, audiences won't stand for stand-ins taking the hand-me-down roles left by actors who made the roles famous. Below are the seven most egregious examples of bait-and-switch casting, and the franchises ruined by it.

7- Son of the Mask

The original: Jim Carrey
The replacement: Jamie Kennedy

One of Jim Carrey's earliest successes was The Mask. Like his first star vehicle, Ace Ventura, The Mask was a success largely powered by Carrey's uncanny ability to ham it up--be honest, how much of that movie do you actually remember?. Moving onto bigger and better things, Carrey never again donned the green facepaint and zoot suit that shot him into the stratosphere. Instead, Jamie Kennedy suited up and did what he does best; completely ruin movies with his lack of ability to do anything positive.

6- Teen Wolf Too

The original: Michael J. Fox
The replacement: Jason Bateman

Before he redeemed himself with Arrested Development, Jason Bateman seemed to make a career out of being the poor-man's Michael J. Fox, playing "Alex Keaton lite" in The Hogan Family, as well as Fox's cousin who also underwent a feral transformation in Teen Wolf Too, this time using his powers to excel at boxing. Here's a good rule of thumb for comedy sequels; if the number 2 is spelled out "Too", that's probably the height of the movie's wit. If you've ever had a werewolf punch you in the neck, that's a fair approximation of the feeling you'll have after watching this movie.

5- Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

The originals: Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze
The replacements: Romola Garai and Diego Luna

As anyone's younger sister will tell you, Dirty Dancing was the ultimate 80's romance movie. Featuring Swayze and Grey at their simultaneous, short-lived peak, Dirty Dancing gave hope to a generation of girls who thought Tom Cruise was out of their reach. Nearly two decades later, Havana Nights dawned on the moviegoing public. While the two stars of the original may not be the spry, horny youngsters of old, surely they were willing and available to reprise their roles? While Swayze did make a cameo, Grey abstained. The fact that Jennifer Grey turned down an appearance says more than I ever could about this embarrassment.

4- Home Alone 3 & 4

The original: Macauly Culkin
The replacement: Alex D. Linz and Mike Weinberg

Home Alone 2 managed to be a big hit, despite being one of the most carbon-copy movie sequels of all time. With that in mind, why not churn out more mad-lib sequels? All you need is a kid, criminals, clever traps, and increasingly neglectful parents. With Culkin thrust deep into the throes of puberty, reprising his role as smart-aleck Kevin McCallister was out of the question, so the role fell into the laps of two comparitively unknown child actors in the third and fourth iterations. The only hope of retaining any ties to the original would have been in casting Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as the bumbling criminals. With annoying sidekick and bland narrator roles to be filled elsewhere, both men passed on the future sequels, passing the mantle onto esteemed actors like and French Stewart. The last film had the audacity to ruin the sanctity of the original by reprising the roles left from the first. We didn't even know the original had sanctity, but the fourth film flushed it down the crapper.

Note: Please excuse the syncing problems in the trailer below, but take solace in the fact that even an esteemed actress like Scarlett Johansson has a shitty sequel buried on her resume.

3- Romy and Michelle: In the Beginning

The originals: Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow
The replacements: Alexandra Breckenridge and Katherine Heigel

Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion was an overlooked comedic gem that succeeded on the basis of a solid script and amazing chemistry between two great characters. So of course, it was begging for a made-for-TV sequel on a family cable channel, featuring two then-unknown actresses in the roles of Romy and Michelle. While Heigel may have moved on to semi-success in Knocked Up and Grey's Anatomy, the fetid stench of this sequel still haunts most of the cast who worked on this film. But hey, at least we got to learn about how Romy and Michelle became friends and how they met Paula Abdul! We all wanted to know about that, right?

2- Major League: Back to the Minors

The originals: The Major Leagues
The replacements: The Minor Leagues

While Wesley Snipes may have bowed out, thrusting Omar Epps into the role of Willie Mays Hayes, it was quite remarkable at how much of the cast of the original Major League reprised their roles in a sequel that served to take the Indians one round further in the playoffs one season later. While we'll never know if a spec script was sent around finally depicting the tribe winning the World Series, Major League 3 destroyed the ability for the story to come full circle, instead focusing on a equally incompetent Minor League team, because, of course, fans were clamoring their favorite characters to get demoted. This time around, only a scant few players made the cut, including future fake-president Dennis Haysbert's voodoo-practicing priest Pedro Cerrano and Eric Bruskotter's Rube Baker, who would also enter the 24 universe, as a random redneck racist neighbor. Rounding out the returnees was Corbin Bernsen, who took part in both iterations of Celebrity Mole. Anchoring this depressing dirge of check-cashers was newcomer Scott Bakula as the team's manager. Much like Dracula does to human flesh, Bakula sucked any remaining interest the series had among audiences.

1- Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd

The originals: Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels
The replacements: Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson

Featuring Jim Carrey and Farrelly brothers at their finest, and Jeff Daniels playing the funniest straight man to ever grace the screen, Dumb and Dumber was one of this era's greatest comedies, mixing puerile humor and clever quips. For quite awhile, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park's creators and one of the few creative teams that could mix and match high and lowbrow comedy like the Farrellys were rumored to have been working on a sequel that may have been the only opportunity to do any justice to the original. Instead, a prequel was put together, thrusting the characters Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne back into their high school days, before they attained any comedic personality, apparently. Featuring both Eugene "I'll star in anything" Levy, and Luis "I'll star in the shitty movies Eugene Levy has to pass up when he does Christopher Guest pictures" Guzman, Dumb and Dumberer almost sullied everything Carrey and co. worked so hard to build.

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