History Main / FollowUpFailure

* Following up from the critically acclaimed and $2 billion grossing, ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', the next film Creator/JJAbrams did for Star Wars, "Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker", was very divisive in gaining mixed reviews from critics and fans, and lower scores on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

* Following up from the critically acclaimed and $2 billion grossing, ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', the next film Creator/JJAbrams did for Star Wars, "Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker", was very divisive in gaining mixed reviews from critics and fans, and it's gross of $1 billion, while nice, was still far from the $2 billion earned by "Film/TheForceAwakens".

* After ''Series/TheMandalorian'''s strongly-praised first two seasons, the first spin-off, ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'', suffered from a lack of a compelling central story. Creator/DisneyPlus put it in limbo after the first season, which boasted fewer chapters than a ''Mandalorian'' season to boot.

* Homura Kawamoto's ''Manga/{{Kakegurui}}'' was a big enough hit to warrant an anime adaptation and numerous {{Spin Off}}s. Kawamoto's next project, ''Manga/CheatSlayer'', on the other hand, [[ShortRunners lasted a single chapter]] on account of its [[ShallowParody bad faith mockery of other works]] and [[TooBleakStoppedCaring upsettingly graphic content]], causing enough uproar for Kawamoto to [[CreatorBacklash apologize for writing it]].

* Short-lived 1990s UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh shareware company Storm Impact had two hit programs right out of the gate, both video games: the RPG ''VideoGame/TaskMaker'' and the skiing sim ''VideoGame/MacSki''. Both were fairly successful games met with positive reviews. Their next two products were a ShootEmUp called ''Asterbamm'' and a technical support utility called ''Technical Snapshot'', both of which bombed.\\

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* There have been two visual novels developed entirely by different cliques of Website/FourChan users. The first was Four Leaf Studios' ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'', which opened the floodgates for indie visual novels and drew attention for its respectful portrayal of people with disabilities. The second was Cavemanon's ''Snoot Game'', which was primarily made as a TakeThat against ''VideoGame/GoodbyeVolcanoHigh'' and received a rather divisive response, eventually [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes being taken down]] from itch.io after attention was drawn towards its unauthorized use of assets from ''Goodbye Volcano High'' and much more mean-spirited treatment of LGBTQ+ characters.
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* ''Film/LordsOfDogtown was Creator/CatherineHardwicke's second film after her successful and acclaimed debut with ''Film/Thirteen2003'', but didn't do nearly as well; it received mixed critic reviews and was a box office flop, though it has since become a cult classic. Her next film, ''Film/The NativityStory'', also received mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office. Then Hardwicke directed ''[[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Twilight]]'' as her next film project, which was a smash hit at the box office and helped make the ''Twilight'' franchise a worldwide phenomenon.

* A minor example happened with Wrestling/TheShield's initial run on the WWE main roster. They only actually wrestled twice in the first four months, both times in ''very'' highly regarded 6-man tag matches. So fans eagerly awaited seeing what they'd be doing at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 29'' and sure enough they were booked in another 6-man tag, though enthusiasm started to wane when it was announced the opponents were Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}, Wrestling/BigShow, and Wrestling/RandyOrton. To top it off they ended up jerking the curtain and were only given 10 minutes, and the match got a resounding "[[SoOkayItsAverage meh]]" from everyone that saw it. It obviously did no damage to any of 3 guys from The Shield (Wrestling/RomanReigns hasn't been pinned in '''three and a half years''' as of this writing, Wrestling/SethRollins currently holds [=WWE's=] other world title, and the former Wrestling/DeanAmbrose is arguably Wrestling/{{AEW}}'s biggest star), but it was a pretty unmemorable start to a show that a decade later has almost been completely forgotten about, and rightly so.[[note]]Really the only thing from ''[=WrestleMania=] 29'' that received any praise was the match between Wrestling/TheUndertaker and Wrestling/CMPunk, but after Punk's major and very public falling out with the company the following year and his swift UnPerson-ing you'll never hear WWE mention it.[[/note]]

* Norah Jones burst onto the scene in 2002 with her debut album ''Come Away with Me'', which became a SleeperHit, topping the ''Billboard'' 200 almost a year after it's release, spawned a Top 40 hit in the form of "Don't Know Why" (which was also a Sleeper Hit), saw her beating out established artists at the Grammys by winning in four of the major categories, and became one of the best-selling albums of all time. She followed it up with the one-two punch of the similarly successful ''Feels Like Home'' and ''Not Too Late'' (both of which also topped the ''Billboard'' 200), but it was at her fourth album ''The Fall'' that her success began to show signs of wane. ''The Fall'', while still going platinum like her prior three albums, didn't make the top spot, only making it to #3 on the ''Billboard'' 200. She followed ''The Fall'' up with two albums that only went gold (2012's ''Little Broken Hearts'' and 2016's ''Day Breaks''; the latter of which only sold 44,000 copies), then took 4 years off between albums, which resulted in her 2020 album ''Pick Me Up Off the Floor'' becoming a complete dud, peaking at only #87, and her next album, the 2021 Christmas album ''I Dream of Christmas'', did even worse, peaking at only ''#100''.

* Bruce Hornsby and the Range followed up the triple-platinum ''The Way It Is'', it's #1 smash hit title track and two Top 20 follow-up singles with ''Scenes from the Southside'' (#5) and ''A Night on the Town'' (#20), which, while still somewhat successful (with ''Southside'' even going platinum) and harboring Top 40 hits, weren't as popular outside rock and adult contemporary audiences compared to their debut (compare ''Southside'' track "The Valley Road"'s three-week #1 peak on the mainstream rock charts to it spending a solitary week at #5 on the Hot 100). Hornsby had better luck solo, with a resume that includes being a touring member of Music/TheGratefulDead (along with working with the surviving members' other bands after the Dead dissolved), writing songs for Creator/SpikeLee films, collaborations with Ricky Skaggs, and a series of acclaimed solo albums (with or without his current backing band the Noise Makers).

* While Music/FleetwoodMac's ''Music/{{Tusk}}'' sold over four million copies worldwide, a level of success most artists would kill for, it was still considered one to ''Music/{{Rumours}}'' because that album sold over ''40 million'' copies worldwide. A combination of the high price of the double LP set during the height of the petroleum crisis, Lindsey Buckingham's experimental tendencies confusing fans, and RKO airing the entire album over the radio-- giving plenty of room for home taping that invalidated the need to actually ''buy'' a copy-- were blamed for the relative failure of the album, which [[TrendKiller scared record companies off of double albums]] for the rest of vinyl's popular lifespan until the Vinyl Revival of the 2000s.

* A minor example happened with Wrestling/TheShield's initial run on the WWE main roster. They only actually wrestled twice in the first four months, both times in ''very'' highly regarded 6-man tag matches. So fans eagerly awaited seeing what they'd be doing at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 29'' and sure enough they were booked in another 6-man tag, though enthusiasm started to wane when it was announced the opponents were Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}, Wrestling/BigShow, and Wrestling/RandyOrton. To top it off they ended up jerking the curtain and were only given 10 minutes, and the match got a resounding "[[SoOkayItsAverage meh]]" from everyone that saw it. It obviously did no damage to any of 3 guys from The Shield (Wrestling/RomanReigns hasn't been pinned in '''three and a half years''' as of this writing, Wrestling/SethRollins currently holds [=WWE's=] other world title, and the former Wrestling/DeanAmbrose is arguably Wrestling/{{AEW}}'s biggest star), but it was a pretty unmemorable start to a show that a decade later has almost been completely forgotten about, and rightly so.

* After the success of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', the series' then-editor C.B. Cebulski conceived of a spin-off series featuring Excelsior, the group of former teen superheroes who appeared in the "True Believers" arc. Problems came up almost immediately. Creator/StanLee held the trademark to the word "Excelsior", which forced Cebulski to change the mini-series title to ''ComicBook/TheLoners''. A long delay between conception and publication didn't help, since by the time the first issue came out in 2007, the landscape of the Marvel universe had been altered by ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', which required Cebulski to explain why none of the characters had decided to simply register so that they could legally keep being superheroes rather than sitting around and complaining about their lost superhero careers. Ultimately, the series lasted only six issues.

* After 3 successful seasons of ''WesternAnimation/ChinaIl'', Brad Neely was right back at it with ''Brad Neely's Harg Nallin' Sclopio Peepio''. An animated SketchComedy show filled with his usual oddball humor. Unlike ''China Il.'' however, the show was very unpopular. And after dismal ratings and unkind reviews, was done after one 10 episode season.

* During the height of the the "Hampster Dance" meme, a novelty song by Music/HamptonTheHamster, "The Hampster Dance", was released. The song exploded in popularity and spawned a CashCowFranchise in the form of a virtual band. Although "The Hampster Dance" was near-unavoidable in the second half of 2000, no other single from the debut album found success outside of Australia. Any further attempt to replicate its success fell flat. Later singles, such as "Sing a Simple Song", only got meager airplay on Radio/RadioDisney and didn't chart anywhere.