Sequels missing original heroines

Batman Begins- renewing the franchise, Katie Holmes as leading Lady. Sequel, no Katie, Maggie Gyllenhal appears.

Mummy I and II have Rachel Weisz but she's not in number III. Maria Bello is in number III, and introduced in a tongue in cheek way as a result.

Latest Underworld movie is missing Kate Beckinsale, Rhona Mitra takes over.

Not exactly earth shattering, but something I just noticed.

I wonder if all three original actoresses chose not to appear and why.

Hows this for a sequill
Donny Darko part 2
coming out soon to a theater near U

will the same characters play, who knows
Im hoping it rules and is not just a movie to draw the block buster like all the popular hollywood directors do now adays

Terminator salvation coming out soon
Christian Bale is the John Conner character
Its about when the terminators first start to take over

the one that iv wanted to see since I first saw the original Terminator

Crap, maybe. Films that cost, and rake in, hundreds of millions of dollars- yes. Millions in salary for the female actors as well.

I supose the root of my query was are they giving up a huge paycheck on their own to take up other roles, or did studio bosses sack them thinking that a different actress would earn the film even more money? They can also pay a less high profile actress less money too.

Yes they chose not to appear.

It has been nine years since Rachel Weisz appeared in the first The Mummy. She has made quite a name for herself, and has a family to take care of on top of that. She wasn't the only one not to return for the third movie. It had a new director as well. When they finally got rolling on #III, Ms. Weisz was already committed to a half-dozen other projects in various stages of production.

As for The Dark Knight, every batman movie has had a different heroine, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that Holmes didn't return, especially given the terrible reception she received in her first performance. The producers did offer it to her though, and she turned it down due to other production commitments.

Underworld 3 was actually a prequel that mostly predated Selene's existence, so Beckinsale's role would have been limited in any manner, but she still declined to do more than a voice recording. Considering her husband was the director, turning it down must have been a bit awkward.