fwiw I heard the same rumor by someone who was on the fringe of that industry. (Writer who did some smaller projects but left LA and became an attorney). Rumor is these guys found or got possession of the script/story somehow (I can't recall that detail) but only the first film, which is why the sequels, your personal opinions about them aside, were not really as great. And not just that, almost like completely different films in a lot of ways. It's bc they had to continue the story themselves they only had first movie.