Quite a few eighties movies have gotten the sequel treatment in the last decade. One of the more exciting ones in recent news is Top Gun: Maverick, which was released in May and has already grossed $557.2 million worldwide – it’s now the fourth highest-grossing film of the year so far. This comes as no surprise since eighties movies have a special place in fans’ hearts. With excessive synth in every song (we love it, don’t worry!) and glorious comedic timing, even in serious action movies, they have become a key part of pop culture as originals as well as through sequels.
Movies like the Indiana Jones series and Terminator have set themselves up as successes throughout the years. Unfortunately, some eighties movies did not get a sequel, as Top Gun hadn’t until recently. In fact, Top Gun’s success could also be applied to some other iconic eighties movies long due a reboot.
Let’s take a look at some of the movies that could greatly benefit from a modern-day sequel.
The Shining
This 1980 movie based on Stephen King’s book of the same name did in fact get a sequel in 2019: Doctor Sleep, again based on King’s book of the same name. However, it didn’t perform well at the box office, and it left The Shining fans empty-handed. While it covered many questions the fans of both the book and the movie had, most of the movie’s criticism includes the fact that Doctor Sleep’s cast doesn’t have the same energy as The Shining’s cast of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. All in all, the sequel could use a remake that mirrors the original movie’s success.
The Goonies
The Goonies is a classic movie that has left a legacy – it has inspired all types of merchandise and games. When it was released, gamers were able to pick up The Goonies video game on 8-bit machines, and a sequel for the Famicom version, the Goonies II, saw great success. More modern games have come out over the years as well. Aside from gaming, the Goonies also references pop culture, including giving the popular band The Fratellis their name. The popularity of the title and branding means The Goonies remain very much a part of pop culture. All this proves that a sequel is a very real possibility for the title. In fact, director Richard Donner had it planned up until his death in 2021, so the idea of another director and studio picking up the title is perfectly feasible.
Ghostbusters
Yes. Ghostbusters had a sequel in 2016 known as “Ghostbusters: Answer The Call”. No, we aren’t going to talk about it. No one does. With a 60% rating on Metacritic, it’s somewhat a surprise to see a new movie, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). Revamped with a new cast including Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace, fans expected perfection from the new movie. Unfortunately, that one didn’t do well either as explained by NY Times. The Ghostbusters franchise deserves better, and we can do nothing except cross our fingers and wait patiently for now.
RoboCop
The original movie came out in 1987 and had kids lining up for the arcade game of the same name in the following year. As movies came out over the next few years so did a slew of video games, mainly for the NES, in relatively rapid succession, but fans were disappointed. The franchise went cold for the next couple of decades, up until 2014 with the reboot and remake of the original movie, but again; it fell flat. That leaves us with one final hope: a sequel, under the name RoboCop Returns, was announced by RoboCop’s original writer, Ed Neumeier. As far as we know, Abe Forsythe is currently set to direct the movie. Again, we have our fingers crossed.
There are a plethora of movies that could benefit from a (good) sequel. Many of them have been cult classics for the last 20 years and fans of all ages are ready for a sequel or two of their favorite movies.
