Does Hollywood need more sequels? In 2026 alone, we’ve already had Scream 7, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie dominate multiplexes worldwide, and The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Mortal Kombat II just conquered the May box office.
There’s still room for more follow-ups, but only in the event that they make sense.
Watch With Us has curated an inventory of long-overdue sequels to ‘80s classics which have never gone out of fashion.
From the icy horrors of The Thing to the highschool antics of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, these seminal Nineteen Eighties movies appeal to multiple generations and deserve one other chapter so as to add to their already impressive legacies.
‘The Thing’ (1982)
Kurt Russell in The Thing. Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
The Thing has one of the crucial perfect endings in all of cinema, so why smash it with a sequel? Here’s one good reason — the movie’s concept is nice enough that it will be a criminal offense to not. Any follow-up to John Carpenter’s 1982 sci-fi classic isn’t obligated to reply one in every of the film’s endearing mysteries — is MacReady (Kurt Russell) or Childs (Keith David) who they are saying they’re, or is one in every of them really The Thing from One other World?
As an alternative, the sequel could concentrate on a brand new set of characters with no ties to the unique movie. With each the Norwegian and American bases decimated by The Thing, it is sensible that a rescue crew would come on the lookout for survivors and a proof for his or her disappearance. What they find is, in fact, a creature that may mimic any organic lifeform, with a vague goal to take over the world.
The follow-up can offer more insight into the creature’s origins, why it selected Earth as its recent home and the way deadlier it becomes because it keeps evolving. While it’s tempting to make use of CGI to bring the creature to life, the sequel should keep on with what made the unique work so well — practical effects that feel so real, it would make you would like to hurl. And it’s not a requirement, but it surely could be cool to have Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt, within the forged to hold on his father’s legacy of portraying badass heroes.
‘Back to the Future’ (1985)
After Back to the Future III in 1990, Robert Zemeckis’ beloved sci-fi franchise lay dormant on purpose. The Forrest Gump director long refused offers to make one other sequel or a reboot, but he’s recently suggested he’s open to revisiting the film. The 1985 sci-fi classic hasn’t lost any of its charm, and the central time-travel conceit is ripe for a 2026 update.
But how? Original series stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover are still with us, so there’s potential for a sequel to incorporate them while also adding recent actors like Jack Quaid as Marty McFly Jr. and Bryan Cranston as one in every of Dr. Emmett Brown’s scientist disciples to appeal to a brand new generation. Time travel itself is a hot subject straight away, due to popular movies and shows like Netflix’s Dark and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, so a follow-up could appeal to all 4 quadrants.
‘The Goonies’ (1985)
Ke Huy Quan, Sean Astin and Corey Feldman in The Goonies. Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection
No ‘80s movie has had more talk of a sequel happening than The Goonies, with nothing to indicate for it. That may change soon, as a press release last 12 months announced a brand new script was being written and Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus are on board as producers.
A movie is rarely too old to warrant a sequel. For instance, The Devil Wears Prada 2 will soon sashay its way into theaters 20 years after the unique. The Meryl Streep–Anne Hathaway comedy is already one of the crucial highly anticipated movies of the summer. Going back further in time, the 1995 crime classic […]
That’s sign that we may finally see The Goonies 2 with the 1985 forged coming back to reprise their roles. Some, like Josh Brolin (Brand) and Ke Huy Quan (Data), have gone on to achieve more fame and even an Oscar, while others, like Jeff Cohen (Chunk) and Kerri Green (Andy), have left acting to pursue other careers. It could be awesome to see the OG Goonies reunite, perhaps to assist a brand new generation of treasure-hunting teens find the journey they’re on the lookout for.
Throw in Joe Pantoliano because the last surviving Fratelli member of the family, a return to the rocky, windswept coast of Astoria, Oregon, the situation that made the primary film so memorable and a zippy Michael Giacchino rating, and you’ve a surefire, nostalgia-baiting box office hit.
‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986)
Mia Sara, Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.’ Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
It’s not hyperbole to say that a whole lot of people have wanted a sequel to John Hughes’ massively popular 1986 teen comedy since — well, since 1986. For whatever reason, it hasn’t happened, but when humanity can revisit the moon in 2026, then Hollywood can surely make Ferris Bueller’s Next Day Off.
The apparent route is to concentrate on a brand new trio of bored teens escaping their highschool cages, but I feel it will be more interesting and poignant if we followed the unique threesome — Ferris (Matthew Broderick), Sloane (Mia Sara) and Cameron (Alan Ruck) — as they take a break from adulting and reunite. In my version, Cam made hundreds of thousands as a tech entrepreneur, Sloane became a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and Ferris sold out and took a desk job at his father’s company.
Throw in some callbacks to the unique (joyriding down the highway and one other visit to a Cubs game are must-haves), plus some recent Chicago hotspots we’ve never visited before, like Millennium Park and a walk down the Navy Pier, and also you’ve got a sequel that entertains Millennials and causes most Gen-Xers to cry at being seen onscreen.
‘‘Heathers’ (1988)
L-R: Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker and Winona Ryder on set of the film ‘Heathers’, 1988. Recent World Pictures/Getty Images
You can argue that Heathers has already had several sequels by now, with spiritual successors Clueless, Jawbreaker and each versions of Mean Girls carrying on the “highschool is brutal” torch. But nothing compares with the unique, and we’re long overdue for an update from Wisterburg High’s finest. (It’s best to forget the awful 2018 streaming TV reboot.)
The most important difference between the ’80s and the movies that come out now’s that there have been greater than just blockbusters playing in theaters back then. In the course of the ’80s, even unheralded adult dramas or unexpected genre flicks could go on to change into cult classics on cable even in the event that they didn’t connect in theaters. Now, it’s […]
At the tip of Heathers, only Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) and Heather Duke (Doherty) survived J.D.’s (Christian Slater) try and punish his peers for his or her vacuous, spiritually empty lives. Doherty is unfortunately not with us, but Ryder is more popular than ever due to Stranger Things, and it will be fun to see where she takes an older and hopefully wiser version of her iconic character. Slater could return, too, but since J.D. blew himself up in the unique’s explosive climax, the sequel’s author would have to seek out an inventive option to bring him back. An evil twin, possibly? AI? Scream 7 showed it’s possible to bring back fan-favorite characters who’ve been dead for many years.