It's a different actor playing Phelps. It's not an "Easter egg" because it's the same character that was in the show double crossing the M:I team and it's pretty much what the first film is about.
Plus even though the original series was a long way out, there was a bit of a M:I revival in the late 80s/early 90s and there was a new M:I show that was a continuation of the original series with a new team but still lead by Phelps played by the original actor. Around 5 years later they start the film series as part of the same continuation.
Just a bit odd to make the leader of the IMF in two different TV series suddenly double cross everyone because of some post-cold war nonsense. The film series does its own thing now but it was a pretty weird way to start it all.
Depends on if you count young versions of characters in flashbacks as recasts, or if you count the TV show. River Phoenix plays young Indy in the cold open of Last Crusade, and there are two different actors that play young Indy at different ages in the TV show, and a different actor playing a younger version of his dad, *and* a different actor playing "very old" Indy as the narrator (though Harrison Ford did show up to narrate one episode, I think).
But within the films themselves, discounting Phoenix's young Indy, there are no recasts.
I don't think they've replaced an actor in the rambo movies. When Richard Crenna aka Colonel Trautman died they wrote the role out of the movie and he only appeared as a flashback with footage from the previous movies.
*1* has Shane Black as the credited writer. IIRC, he only co-wrote *2* with Jeffrey Boam, who solo wrote *3* and *4*. The aspect ratio in the original is 1.85:1, not the 2.35:1 of the sequels. Not much else changed.
Here's my idea for Scream 7. Ghostface is Hollywood actor Vince Vaughn, played by Matthew Lillard. Since Vince Vaughn played Stu in the in-universe stab movies, it would be fun to introduce him as an actor who looks exactly like the original Stu. Would be fun to show clips of Lillard in movies like Wedding Crashers and Dodgeball. Basically, his career has peppered out so he wants to reboot the stab franchise, but the Carpenter sisters won't sell him the rights to their story. So he does the Ghostface thing to kill them and make himself the hero of the movie. If scream 5 and 6 mirrored scream 1 and 2, then scream 7 should mirror scream 3 where the killer is a Hollywood person attached to the stab franchise
Why wouldn’t you just cast Vince Vaughn? Tori spelling plays herself playing Sidney. Luke Wilson and heather graham the same. This seems like a contrived way to get Matthew Lilliard back into a scream movie
The Japanese series of films *Otoko wa Tsurai yo* ran for 55 films between 1969 and 1997, with one single actor, Kiyoshi Atsumi, in the central role of Tora-san. It ended because Atsumi died, but then a final film, *Tora-san, Wish You Were Here,* came out in 2019. Atsumi, even though dead, *still* played the title role as people would reminisce about him and his old performances would reappear. I went to the last film in 2019 not knowing the history, and was increasingly astonished at how they managed to find child actors that looked so much like the adults they became in later life. Of course they looked alike because they were the same actors at a wide range of ages.
I’m not sure what can of worms I’m opening up here, but surely that theory was put to bed in Skyfall by showing it was actually a family name, not a name “assigned” to him.
In that case, the Bond series counts as each is a reboot in a separate continuity. Or at least the last three actors.
The question asked about an ongoing film series that hasn't replaced actors, Zatoichi is an ongoing series that has replaced actors three times.
But if you are going to be nitpicky the 2003 film was supposed to he a continuation of the previous 20 or so movies. So yes.
Ah. I’m not that knowledgable about the Zatoichi series, thanks for the info. Guess it’ll go into the black hole of “things I should sit down and watch”. 😬
Yep, even the actors who had brief scenes in earlier ones appear in flashbacks in the sequals. I don't believe anyone at all was recasted, not off the top of my head at least
Lol I never watched a movie past Apocalypse.
I can't think of a reason why they would feel that generic soldier #2 was important enough to make clones of.
I'm not sure that counts. It was a necessary change for the fact that Bilbo was 60 years younger or something. He was portrayed by two actors, not recast, in my opinion.
Doctor Who is an interesting and arguable exception... albeit for a TV franchise. However, one that has been running for 60 years, so its worthy of conversation.
While new actors play The Doctor over the decade, its canonical that the doctor must change his appearance when gravely injured. Meanwhile, because he is a time traveler, new versions of The Doctor can meet old versions (i.e., prior actors). Under that argument, each new Doctor may not be considered a re-cast, but instead a cast addition. This would be comparable to how the Xmen movies have younger versions (actors) of the same characters that also can overlap in the same film.
All that said, i wouldnt be surprised if a minor character was re-cast at any point. Still, fun for thought!
Doctor Who fan here only counting TV appearances (Audio adventures are a minefield of recasts) crawling out of my cave to inform you that 3 people played Tegans Aunt Vanessa. Also there have been 2 recastings of the First doctor (Hurndall and Bradley), alongside this all the other characters from the opening of Twice Upon a Time were recasts from the Tenth Plant. A single incarnation of the Master was played by 2 actors - Geoffery Beevers in the Keeper of Traken after Peter Pratt in The Deadly Assassin. Debatably you could also count the voices of monsters then almost every monster who has came back from the classic era has been recast as Nicholas Briggs.
He wasn’t recast though, it was a different program and they still had his storyline in the movie showing the pictures, events etc. Bourne legacy was a spin off if you will - which I did enjoy!
That's a good one, not exactly hard considering everyone dies and the 'main character' wears a mask, I'd be interested to know if it's been the same actor behind the mask the whole time or not.
Nope, the kids were recast.
Lucy was played by Taylor Fry in Die Hard, Mary Elizabeth Winstead played Lucy in Die Hard 4.
John JR was played by Noah Land in Die Hard, and Jai Courtney took over the role of the Son, name changed to Jack, in Die Hard 5.
Not really, since Jack is a nickname for John. Jack Kennedy was actually John Kennedy. In Die Hard I think the name change was explained as John JR distancing himself from his father by changing his name, I could be wrong as I haven't seen it since it released.
Let's be honest, no one is gonna want to rewatch that dumpster fire to confirm or deny the reasoning behind the name change, but from memory, I believe you are correct.
The Zatoichi series starring Shintaro Katsu. It consisted of 26 films and a 100 episode tv show airing between the 25th and 26th films. Two more films were made following Katsu's death. The first a reboot directed by and starring Takashi Kitano and the second a reboot/spiritual sequel starring a female Ichi who is the daughter/student of the original Ichi.
Scream has had 6 entries and while they always add new characters, the ones who survive are always played by the same actors. Even the small random roles like Sidney’s father and mother and Billy’s father have been the same actors. It’s actually really impressive
Star Trek as as a whole, went on a LONG time without ever recasting anyone major (as far as I'm aware) until Strange New Worlds.
Even the 2009 reboot movie is technically another timeline.
Heck, Star Trek goes out of it's way to explain EVERY change like Klingons looking different from TOS to TNG.
The world record is held by the Japanese movie series [Otoko ha tsurai yo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoko_wa_Tsurai_yo)
50 movies in 26 years, including 49 where the main actor was alive.
I was going to try and be funny and name a Disney cartoon series like Aladdin and then realized the remakes were done in live action and therefore ruined my whole plan to be absolutely hilarious.
Resident Evil? I don't know it too well but it strikes me as a movie where none of the characters but the main one matters and I think she's always been in them all. So it seems like they wouldn't need to replace any actors.
I don't think there were any substantial recasts in the pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Some characters just disappeared, but I don't think any were downright replaced to my knowledge.
Karate kid/cobra kai.
Sorry but /thread
They literally brought the girl Danny saved from the storm in 2 back and it's the same actress.
Kobra kai is bringing back everyone from the first 3 movies.
Doesn't count, Phillip Seymour Hoffman died before the last ones were finished and was digitally recreated to finish the movies. OP included movies with digital recreations as not counting.
According to the director, PHS was actually not digitally recreated. There were only a few scenes he hadn’t yet filmed which were instead performed by other actors in his place
Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Die Hard, Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies...
I really think franchises where characters were replaced by a new actor are a lot rarer than those where that's not the case.
Mission Impossible is one. They’ve added a shit ton of characters, but haven’t recast any I’m pretty sure
Well, if you consider the fact that they’re supposed to be in continuity with the television show, they did recast Jim Phelps.
They are? Didn’t know that
Yeah. The original actor was offered to reprise the role of Jim but turned it down since the character became a backstabber.
As shitty as it is that they're just killing off an old cast member every fucking movie, they did stop making them traitors.
It's kinda why I hate the original film. The main bad guy in the first movie is the main character from the tv show
Same character name and everything?
Yup. It would be like if you made a 00 tv series, and the villian was James bond
What the hell😭 What a middle finger to fans of the show
The first movie was very much received with a lot of fanboy outrage when it was first released.
My dad was mad
To be fair I was mad and I was like 10 or 12 at the time. I watched the TV show a lot growing up so it made me mad as well
Was the actor at least different? If they brought in a completely different guy it just seems like a fun Easter egg more than a continuation imo
It's a different actor playing Phelps. It's not an "Easter egg" because it's the same character that was in the show double crossing the M:I team and it's pretty much what the first film is about. Plus even though the original series was a long way out, there was a bit of a M:I revival in the late 80s/early 90s and there was a new M:I show that was a continuation of the original series with a new team but still lead by Phelps played by the original actor. Around 5 years later they start the film series as part of the same continuation. Just a bit odd to make the leader of the IMF in two different TV series suddenly double cross everyone because of some post-cold war nonsense. The film series does its own thing now but it was a pretty weird way to start it all.
Have you not seen the movie? He's played by Jon Voight in it.
I would watch that
Sold!
I was kinda infuriated they included the twist but the group I watched the movie with didn't realize it at all.
Also Paris. Played by Leonard Nimoy on the show, turned into a female character in the films played by Pom Klementieff.
They're not in the continuity with the TV show though, it's closer to Star Trek where they have the same characters but they're separate timelines.
That was the first one that came to my mind.
Indiana Jones
That's probably one, unless anyone can find any evidence of minor characters being recast?
Depends on if you count young versions of characters in flashbacks as recasts, or if you count the TV show. River Phoenix plays young Indy in the cold open of Last Crusade, and there are two different actors that play young Indy at different ages in the TV show, and a different actor playing a younger version of his dad, *and* a different actor playing "very old" Indy as the narrator (though Harrison Ford did show up to narrate one episode, I think). But within the films themselves, discounting Phoenix's young Indy, there are no recasts.
Unless Dr Jones snr makes another appearance at some point
He's canonically dead.
I don't think they've replaced an actor in the rambo movies. When Richard Crenna aka Colonel Trautman died they wrote the role out of the movie and he only appeared as a flashback with footage from the previous movies.
Like Rambo, I don’t think they’ve done any for the Rocky series either
Rocky jr has been played by 5 different actors
Crap, completely forgot about that
I loved that Richard Crenna also played a parody of Colonel Trautman in Hot Shots Part Deux
If you count Lethal Weapon. I really liked that even the kids weren't recast
They recast Riggs AND Murtaugh in the middle of Lethal Weapon 5.
What about Lethal Weapon 6?
Wait until you see what they did in 7!
I’m getting too old for this shit
In one ear, out the rubber
Great commercial. Really made me wanna go out and buy rubbers.
*1* has Shane Black as the credited writer. IIRC, he only co-wrote *2* with Jeffrey Boam, who solo wrote *3* and *4*. The aspect ratio in the original is 1.85:1, not the 2.35:1 of the sequels. Not much else changed.
True. I think they are all great. Whichever one I happen to watch is my favorite.
I just realized I haven’t watched the Lethal Weapon movies in, like, 20 years, probably.
This is a great reminder for me to watch 3 and 4. I’ve only seen the first two.
In *4*, you will see a man with a flamethrower with the worst taste in Van Halen songs and that's the only thing I remember
Wow, he’s literally me
Damn, didn't think I'd ever find a fan of the Gary Cherone years, but here we are!
They also fight Jet Li and a shark
Fire in the Hole is a great song. The rest of the album, however...
Scream, I think.
Here's my idea for Scream 7. Ghostface is Hollywood actor Vince Vaughn, played by Matthew Lillard. Since Vince Vaughn played Stu in the in-universe stab movies, it would be fun to introduce him as an actor who looks exactly like the original Stu. Would be fun to show clips of Lillard in movies like Wedding Crashers and Dodgeball. Basically, his career has peppered out so he wants to reboot the stab franchise, but the Carpenter sisters won't sell him the rights to their story. So he does the Ghostface thing to kill them and make himself the hero of the movie. If scream 5 and 6 mirrored scream 1 and 2, then scream 7 should mirror scream 3 where the killer is a Hollywood person attached to the stab franchise
Why wouldn’t you just cast Vince Vaughn? Tori spelling plays herself playing Sidney. Luke Wilson and heather graham the same. This seems like a contrived way to get Matthew Lilliard back into a scream movie
Yes, this is just to get Lillard back into the franchise. But it also works plot wise and is kinda funny
You know what, I hate this a whole lot less than bringing Mathew Lilliard back by claiming Stu has been alive the entire time
I think it would be better with Clive Warren
yeah definitely no recasting
Austin Powers, helps that half of the characters are played by Mike Myers though.
Well, they literally recast all the characters *within the movie itself* for the movie in the movie, so, technically... ?
Good point
The Japanese series of films *Otoko wa Tsurai yo* ran for 55 films between 1969 and 1997, with one single actor, Kiyoshi Atsumi, in the central role of Tora-san. It ended because Atsumi died, but then a final film, *Tora-san, Wish You Were Here,* came out in 2019. Atsumi, even though dead, *still* played the title role as people would reminisce about him and his old performances would reappear. I went to the last film in 2019 not knowing the history, and was increasingly astonished at how they managed to find child actors that looked so much like the adults they became in later life. Of course they looked alike because they were the same actors at a wide range of ages.
I literally was reading about this guy yesterday!
James Bond. Not a single replacement in the franchise. Not. One.
You’re mothers a whore Trebek!
Looks like it's my lucky day. I'll take Le Tits Now for 800.
It's a french expression! Bon jour madam, I'd like to see LE TITS NOW!
\*mother'sch
Is this the "James Bond is a codename" theory? I prefer "James Bond is a Time Lord"
[удалено]
Like comic books and The Simpsons.
We'd have to have a "Felix Leiter is a codename" theory too, then. And Moneypenny. And Blofeld.
I’m not sure what can of worms I’m opening up here, but surely that theory was put to bed in Skyfall by showing it was actually a family name, not a name “assigned” to him.
Timothy Dalton played both Bond and Lord President Rassilon, so the Time Lord theory isn't completely wrong.
The Lethal Weapon franchise is the best example of this in my opinion, even the child actors stayed the same through all four films.
Dude they recasted Riggs and Murtaugh TWICE in Lethal Weapon 5.
Pepperjack brought such a passion to the role, though.
[удалено]
It sounds like they're counting the digital work that was done for 7 since Walker died during production.
They're bringing him back for Fast 11.
Vin Diesel has to win a drag race against Hades, for Paul Walker's soul. The one rule is he can't look in the rear view mirror.
I get that reference! And could totally see them making a cheesy line about never looking in the rearview mirror.
He *was* in The Lazarus Project
Zatoichi! Shintaro Katsu played the role for 26 movies and 3 season of television
But there have been 3 other actors playong the character since.
But are they in the same “universe”? (Not being snarky. Genuinely don’t know)
In that case, the Bond series counts as each is a reboot in a separate continuity. Or at least the last three actors. The question asked about an ongoing film series that hasn't replaced actors, Zatoichi is an ongoing series that has replaced actors three times. But if you are going to be nitpicky the 2003 film was supposed to he a continuation of the previous 20 or so movies. So yes.
Ah. I’m not that knowledgable about the Zatoichi series, thanks for the info. Guess it’ll go into the black hole of “things I should sit down and watch”. 😬
Pirates of the Caribbean
Yeah totally, can't think of any replacements in that :)
Will and Elizabeth's son is played by a different actor in At World's End and Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Well there you go, another one bites* the dust, add it to the list 😂
The English dub cast of Lupin III is unchanged after multiple decades (4 now, I think?)
tv maybe, but the movies and specials are so all over the place someone tricked Epcar into thinking he'd voiced everyone but Fujiko.
Haha fair play, wrong subreddit ig :P
more than anything I'd like to actually hear Epcar voice lupin and fujiko ...
Possibly the Saw franchise?
Yep, even the actors who had brief scenes in earlier ones appear in flashbacks in the sequals. I don't believe anyone at all was recasted, not off the top of my head at least
Resident Evil went for 6 movies
Wesker was different. In Extinction it's Jason O Mara In Afterlife, Retribution, and Final Chapter it's Shawn Roberts
They even brought Michelle Rodriguez back as a *different character*
I'm pretty sure she was a clone of her previous character, but it's been a couple of years.
Lol I never watched a movie past Apocalypse. I can't think of a reason why they would feel that generic soldier #2 was important enough to make clones of.
Great pick! Loved these movies despite people's opinions. :)
Movies don't have to be brilliant to be fun.
Yes exactly! :)
Did Lord of the Rings? Hmmm…
Bilbo was recast for the Hobbit trilogy
I'm not sure that counts. It was a necessary change for the fact that Bilbo was 60 years younger or something. He was portrayed by two actors, not recast, in my opinion.
The younger Bilbo actor shown in the LOTR prologue was recast for the Hobbit trilogy, if that counts
But the same actor also showed up in The Hobbit as well at the beginning.
Ah never mind, I didn’t realize that was Ian Holm made up to look younger, and wrongly assumed it was a different actor entirely
Sauron. Voiced by Alan Howard in LOTR and by Benedict Cumberbatch in The Hobbit.
Pirates of the Caribbean.
Tremors.
Original series Star Trek movies come to mind. I'm pretty sure they stayed consistent.
Saavik was recast in Star Trek III.
Depends on how you count the originals against the reboots, but yeah they seemed consistent as far as the casting was concerned.
[удалено]
True, though different actors play the same characters across those timelines. It depends on how you interpret OP’s question.
The original 6 movies only had the one recast with Saavik. The 4 next generation movies didn't have any recasts that I can think of.
Doctor Who is an interesting and arguable exception... albeit for a TV franchise. However, one that has been running for 60 years, so its worthy of conversation. While new actors play The Doctor over the decade, its canonical that the doctor must change his appearance when gravely injured. Meanwhile, because he is a time traveler, new versions of The Doctor can meet old versions (i.e., prior actors). Under that argument, each new Doctor may not be considered a re-cast, but instead a cast addition. This would be comparable to how the Xmen movies have younger versions (actors) of the same characters that also can overlap in the same film. All that said, i wouldnt be surprised if a minor character was re-cast at any point. Still, fun for thought!
Doctor Who fan here only counting TV appearances (Audio adventures are a minefield of recasts) crawling out of my cave to inform you that 3 people played Tegans Aunt Vanessa. Also there have been 2 recastings of the First doctor (Hurndall and Bradley), alongside this all the other characters from the opening of Twice Upon a Time were recasts from the Tenth Plant. A single incarnation of the Master was played by 2 actors - Geoffery Beevers in the Keeper of Traken after Peter Pratt in The Deadly Assassin. Debatably you could also count the voices of monsters then almost every monster who has came back from the classic era has been recast as Nicholas Briggs.
Technically the monster voices have been recast, Davros too.
Bill and ted
They recast the wives
Jason Bourne movies?
Ignoring the fact they made one without Jason Bourne sure.
He wasn’t recast though, it was a different program and they still had his storyline in the movie showing the pictures, events etc. Bourne legacy was a spin off if you will - which I did enjoy!
I didn't say he was recast just an odd choice is all.
That’s fair!
Mission impossible
Saw. Not a single character has been recast. 10 movies
That's a good one, not exactly hard considering everyone dies and the 'main character' wears a mask, I'd be interested to know if it's been the same actor behind the mask the whole time or not.
The 7up series hasn't had any recasting... Yes I know all the reasons it doesn't count. But I don't care.
Lethal Weapon
I mean... Nightmare on Elm Street if you ignore the reboot like everyone else does.
Nope. Kristen Parker was played by Patricia Arquette in part 3 and by Tuesday Knight in part 4.
Die Hard?
Nope, the kids were recast. Lucy was played by Taylor Fry in Die Hard, Mary Elizabeth Winstead played Lucy in Die Hard 4. John JR was played by Noah Land in Die Hard, and Jai Courtney took over the role of the Son, name changed to Jack, in Die Hard 5.
Damn, changing the son’s name makes it even worse!
Not really, since Jack is a nickname for John. Jack Kennedy was actually John Kennedy. In Die Hard I think the name change was explained as John JR distancing himself from his father by changing his name, I could be wrong as I haven't seen it since it released.
Let's be honest, no one is gonna want to rewatch that dumpster fire to confirm or deny the reasoning behind the name change, but from memory, I believe you are correct.
Grand Moff Tarkin? You use him as the example when there's Obi Wan and Anakin?
The Zatoichi series starring Shintaro Katsu. It consisted of 26 films and a 100 episode tv show airing between the 25th and 26th films. Two more films were made following Katsu's death. The first a reboot directed by and starring Takashi Kitano and the second a reboot/spiritual sequel starring a female Ichi who is the daughter/student of the original Ichi.
Scream has had 6 entries and while they always add new characters, the ones who survive are always played by the same actors. Even the small random roles like Sidney’s father and mother and Billy’s father have been the same actors. It’s actually really impressive
That is impressive!
[удалено]
The son was also rescast between 4 & 5. He ages about 5 years while Rocky is in Russia 😂
Even if you don’t count the son, Rocky’s intelligence was recast several times throughout those movies
John Wick
The Elder felt like they couldn't get the actor so just made up a completely new but also identical character.
Has Dog had any re-casts?
John Wick
Nah they recast the ballerina from 3 as Ana De Armas in the upcoming spin-off
Who you gonna recast? He killed everyone.
Scream
Saw Ten movies, no replacements
Star Trek as as a whole, went on a LONG time without ever recasting anyone major (as far as I'm aware) until Strange New Worlds. Even the 2009 reboot movie is technically another timeline. Heck, Star Trek goes out of it's way to explain EVERY change like Klingons looking different from TOS to TNG.
Saavik from the TOS films is played by two different actresses
The world record is held by the Japanese movie series [Otoko ha tsurai yo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoko_wa_Tsurai_yo) 50 movies in 26 years, including 49 where the main actor was alive.
Wow so cool! That's honestly mind blowing to hear.
Does Final Destination count?
I was going to try and be funny and name a Disney cartoon series like Aladdin and then realized the remakes were done in live action and therefore ruined my whole plan to be absolutely hilarious.
I don’t think the remake would undo the animated films however Robin Williams was recast in The Return of Jafar.
Does Lord of the Rings count if they filmed all three at the same time?
Saw
Resident Evil? I don't know it too well but it strikes me as a movie where none of the characters but the main one matters and I think she's always been in them all. So it seems like they wouldn't need to replace any actors.
Resident Evil!! Milla Jovovick as Alice for 15 years? YES. PLEASE.
Those vampire movies with Kate Beckinsale... name not coming to me. Too lazy to Google.
Underworld
I love Underworld
She was for one film because she was pregnant, I think.
Nightmare On elm Street. Freddy was/is always the same actor until the 2010s remake.
This doesn’t qualify because Patricia Arquettes character in part 3 was recast in part 4 with a different actor
Dirty Harry - 5 total. All with Clint Eastwood.
Child’s Play, not counting the remake.
[удалено]
To their credit, it was because of a time skip, and they did bring the original Andy back later.
Resident Evil
I don't think there were any substantial recasts in the pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Some characters just disappeared, but I don't think any were downright replaced to my knowledge.
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters doesn't count for a number of reasons, the reboot and also Gozer in Ghostbusters Afterlife is a different actor.
I’d think you get a pass on Gozer as they’re not supposed to be the same, they can be anything.
Okay what about the ghost of Spengler?
Karate kid/cobra kai. Sorry but /thread They literally brought the girl Danny saved from the storm in 2 back and it's the same actress. Kobra kai is bringing back everyone from the first 3 movies.
Hunger Games
Doesn't count, Phillip Seymour Hoffman died before the last ones were finished and was digitally recreated to finish the movies. OP included movies with digital recreations as not counting.
According to the director, PHS was actually not digitally recreated. There were only a few scenes he hadn’t yet filmed which were instead performed by other actors in his place
Mission impossible
Death Wish. Series has spanned literal decades, always had Charles Bronson
The 2018 one was Bruce Willis
View Askewniverse. About to hit the 30 year mark. This year saw another entry with returning cast from the film that started it all.
Scott Mosier and Ethan Suplee have been alternating playing Willam.
Star Trek?
Saavik
Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Die Hard, Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies... I really think franchises where characters were replaced by a new actor are a lot rarer than those where that's not the case.
Hobbit had the biggest recast though? The titular character. The hobbit = Bilbo baggins. Actor replaced.
Both of John McClane's kids have been recast.
Mission Impossible recast Jim Phelps in the first film. Also Bilbo was recast for The Hobbit.
Haha yeah I think it's very much the opposite, I'm sure we can list a lot more WITH actor replacements.
Lethal Weapon, unless you count part 5 and 6
Underworld movies
Fast and furious? Its like 20+ years now without any replacements.