In recent years, it seems like every major movie release is either a sequel, prequel, remake or spin-off. Sometimes that can be a bad thing, sometimes it can be a good thing. It all depends on what the fans want; that's no secret. Moviemaking is a business — people tend to forget that — and Hollywood studios benefit from listening to the fans. Take Deadpool for example, a movie which 20th Century Fox was hesitant about making, but when the test footage leaked in 2014, fan reception convinced the studio to move forward with the project. It's now the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all-time.
With a plethora of superhero movies — by both Marvel and DC Comics — and the increasing popularity of franchises, some moviegoers have grown tired of Hollywood's unoriginality. But occasionally, those same moviegoers advocate for sequels and prequels to certain movies. And Hollywood studios can profit from listening to those fans. So, in no particular order, here are 12 Movie Sequels Fans Are Still Waiting For.
12. District 10
Neill Blomkamp burst onto the scene in 2009 with the hit sci-fi film District 9, which was set in his home country of South Africa, about an extraterrestrial race living in a ghetto. There are many twists and turns throughout the story, but the film ends with a major cliffhanger and (spoiler!) District 9 being demolished, the government then moving the aliens to a much larger District 10 (the obvious title for a potential sequel).
Fans have been asking for a District 9 sequel ever since the movie released, so it's a wonder why District 10 hasn't happened yet. The film was a tremendous success, both critically (earning a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes and four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture) and financially (grossing $210.8 million on an estimated $30 million budget). Blomkamp has previously said he has every intention of making District 10, though he has to find the right time to do it. His last movie, Chappie, released in 2015; he is now working on developing the long-awaited Alien 5. Perhaps after his Alien sequel releases, he'll consider making District 10.
11. Dredd 2
Pete Travis' Dredd — based on the character of the same name by John Wagner — is the classic example of a movie doing average at the box office but becoming a cult hit on home video. Starring Karl Urban as the eponymous character, Dredd grossed a measly $41.5 million on an estimated $30 million budget when it released in 2012. $41 million is no joke, but it hardly screams success. In fact, the majority of that money came from international markets; it only grossed $13.4 million domestically — a far cry from the $60+ million needed for a sequel to be greenlit. However, since it released on home video in January 2013, Dredd has garnered over $18 million in Blu-ray/DVD sales — almost half of what it made during its theatrical run.
Screenwriter Alex Garland (who's blown up a bit since Dredd debuted) originally had plans for a trilogy, but when asked about it last year, he seemed doubtful a sequel would ever happen. Karl Urban, on the other hand, is more optimistic. He has repeatedly been on the side of the fans, asking Lionsgate, and now Netflix and Amazon Prime, for a worthy sequel. He's even willing to star in a TV series! With thousands of people signing petitions and launching Facebook pages, it's clear there is still strong interest in Dredd 2.
10. TRON 3
Does Flynn live? It may be another 28 years until we find out. Prior to TRON: Legacy releasing in December 2010, producer and original TRON director Steven Lisberger said he was working with screenwriters Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis on ideas for a third installment. Franchise star Bruce Boxleitner, who plays Alan Bradley and the eponymous TRON, later said the sequel would begin where TRON: Legacy left off — with Sam (Garrett Hedlund) and Quorra (Olivia Wilde) entering the real world, and Sam telling Alan they're going to take his father's company, ENCOM, back.
Despite grossing $400 million on an estimated $170 million budget, Disney wasn't confident enough to greenlight a sequel. It has been six years since TRON: Legacy released, and in those years, director Joseph Kosinski has gone to helm other movies; writers Horowitz and Kitsis are now running their own series on ABC, Once Upon A Time; Hedlund and Wilde have moved on to other projects. But last year, things started to look up, as Disney was reported to be moving forward with TRON 3. Hedlund, Wilde, and Kosinski were rumored to be returning, with filming scheduled to begin in the fall. Unfortunately, plans fell through, and Disney decided to not move forward with the movie. Still, fans are anxiously awaiting TRON 3; it just might take 30 years to make.
9. Spaceballs 2
George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy inspired hundreds of films and filmmakers. It also inspired Mel Brooks to create the cult classic parody movie, Spaceballs, in 1987. Turning Darth Vader into Lord Helmet, Princess Leia into Princess Vespa, Chewbacca into Barf, the Force into the Schwartz, and so forth, Brooks created the most widely cherished Star Wars parody ever. And with Lucasfilm's new Star Wars trilogy currently well underway, fans are wondering, where is Spaceballs 2?
In February 2015, Brooks revealed his interest in making a sequel, though he said he would prefer to wait until after J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens released — which it did, five months ago. He also said the sequel would likely be titled Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money. Unfortunately, several of the original movie's cast have since passed away — namely John Candy (Barf), Joan Rivers (Dot Matrix), and Dick Van Patten (King Roland) -- but Brooks said he still has Daphne Zuniga and Rick Moranis, if they're both up for it. Moranis has recently expressed interest in returning to acting, which means there's hope!
8. Beetlejuice 2
Tim Burton is known for a lot — Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman — but his prototypical movie which set him down a darker path, perhaps the one that he is most well-known for, is Beetlejuice. After making his directorial debut in 1985 with Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Burton moved on to direct Beetlejuice — his first gothic horror-ish movie. Focusing on a ghost who helps out a couple (who themselves are ghosts) get rid of their house's new inhabitants, Beetlejuice became a hit, grossing over $75 million on an estimated $15 million budget.
In the years since its release, Beetlejuice has developed a cult following, many of whom support the idea of a sequel. There have been rumors of a Beetlejuice sequel pretty much since the movie released in 1988. Recently, things started to move forward, with Seth Grahame-Smith (who recently vacated the director's chair on The Flash) confirming a script had been completed and Winona Ryder stating she would be reprising her role. But earlier this month, Burton said nothing was set in stone, that the circumstances would have to be right for a sequel to happen. While there may very well be a Beetlejuice 2 in the future, we don't know when it will release.
7. Kill Bill Vol. 3
Quentin Tarantino is a director who likes to take his time with making films and typically doesn't make sequels — that is, except for Kill Bill. However, since Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 were shot back-to-back and released just six months apart, they feel more like two parts to the same story rather than two separate films. But no matter, fans are still awaiting a third installment that would ultimately show Uma Thurman's Beatrix Kiddo taking on Vernita Green's daughter.
Tarantino has made a number of critically successful films that have gone on to be nominated for, and sometimes win, Academy Awards, such as Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained, but Kill Bill manages to remain his most commercially successful film(s). With a total budget of $30 million, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 have gone on to gross $180.9 million and $152.2 million, respectively. There is interest in a third installment, and if Tarantino were to ever make it, now's the time. The cast is the right age for a sequel and it will undoubtedly be successful at the box office, so could a third adventure for the badass movie mama be amongst Tarantino's final two films?
6. Constantine 2
Like Man of Steel, Francis Lawrence's Constantine — based on the DC Comics/Vertigo comic series Hellblazer — remains one of the most polarizing comic book movies of recent years. Despite the movie effectively bombing at the domestic box office, its international take made it a moderate success, grossing $230 million worldwide on an estimated $100 million budget. That wasn't nearly enough to convince Warner Bros. to move forward with a sequel, especially when Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (which released the same year) faired so much better.
Still, fans of the movie have been asking for a sequel, and so has Keanu Reeves, who played the titular John Constantine. He has previously expressed interest in reprising the role in a potential sequel, one that Lawrence believes should be a hard R-rated horror movie. While many Hellblazer fans were irked by the Americanizing of the character, the movie still managed to generate a cult following since its release. And with the studio taking chances on characters like Shazam and Cyborg, as well as R-rated movies like Deadpool doing so well at the box office, perhaps now's the time for a Constantine sequel.
5. Hocus Pocus 2
Kenny Ortega's cult hit Hocus Pocus released in 1993 and remains one of the most cherished Halloween movies of all time. Despite having middling results at the box office, it has generated a substantial following on home video, continually earning more than $1 million in Blu-ray/DVD sales each October. While the movie doesn't need a sequel, fans want one — and so do the Sanderson sisters.
Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker have all said they're willing to make Hocus Pocus 2, but admitted the decision is not up to them. Midler has been a vocal supporter of a sequel, sometimes boisterously: during her Divine Intervention tour in 2015, she exclaimed, "I'm ready for my sequel, Mr. Disney." Unfortunately, the following November, during a Facebook Q&A, Midler told fans Hocus Pocus 2 would likely never happen. Fans can still hope, though.
4. Pacific Rim 2
Unlike all the other movies on this list, Pacific Rim 2 is the one movie that's actually happening; the thing is, we don't know when it will release. So until cameras start rolling, we remain unconvinced. Prior to Pacific Rim hitting theaters in 2013, Guillermo del Toro revealed his plans for a sequel, which he said would be solely dependent on how well the first movie did at the box office. Unfortunately, it didn't do so well domestically, though it did become a hit internationally. In fact, it became the sixth-highest opening American movie ever in the Chinese market. With a $400 million take at the worldwide box office, people assumed a sequel was all but confirmed. Again — assumed.
In 2014, del Toro announced plans for Pacific Rim 2 as well as an animated series that would bridge the gap between the two movies. The road since, though, has been turbulent; the sequel has been given a release date, delayed and put on hold indefinitely. But things started moving again earlier this year when Universal announced Steven S. DeKnight would be directing the sequel, with del Toro remaining on as producer. Then, just a few days ago, it was announced that the studio has hired Jurassic World writer Derek Connolly to rewrite the script, thus giving fans hope for the long-awaited sequel. Fans want more mech on kaiju action, Universal!
3. Iron Man 4
It has been eight years since Jon Favreau's Iron Man released and changed the superhero landscape forever, subsequently launching the irrepressible Marvel Cinematic Universe — which now consists of 13 movies that have collectively grossed over $10 billion worldwide.
Despite the Iron Man trilogy concluding with Tony Stark initiating the Clean Slate Protocol, destroying all of his Iron Man suits, having all the shrapnel removed from his chest and throwing the arc reactor in the ocean, he is still Iron Man. In fact, Robert Downey Jr. has gone on to star in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War as Iron Man. So while the Iron Man trilogy concluded, Iron Man's story, to date, has not. And with so much having happened since Iron Man 3 released in 2013 (and the universe becoming significantly larger), fans are interested to see what a Iron Man 4 would bring.
While doing press for Civil War in April, Downey Jr. said he felt he could do one more Iron Man movie, which makes fans wonder if it were to happen, when would it release? Marvel's Phase 3 slate is seemingly full, but since Marvel recently pulled the Inhumans movie from their schedule, it's possible Iron Man 4 could take its spot and release in 2019.
2. Hellboy III
Hellboy fans have been clamoring for a third and final installment in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy series — based on the comic character created by Mike Mignola — for almost a decade. When Hellboy II: The Golden Army released in 2007, it grossed a mere $160 million on an estimated $85 million budget; therefore, Universal Pictures hasn't been keen on moving forward with a third installment. And usually, when a studio isn't confident enough in a property to greenlight a sequel, fans are ordinarily the ones who launch social media campaigns and petitions to get the studio to change its mind. But in the case of Hellboy III, Ron Perlman himself petitioned to get the movie made.
Last June, Perlman launched a Twitter campaign calling out fans to vocally support Hellboy III. The tweet caused a stir, generating tens of thousands of retweets and likes. Series stars Doug Jones and Selmar Blair joined in, voicing support for Hellboy III. Like many petitions, though, nothing came of it. Del Toro previously stated that if Pacific Rim 2 does well at the box office, Legendary might consider funding Hellboy III. That gave hope to longtime fans; but, unfortunately, those hopes were shot down when Perlman said in March that he doesn't believe a third installment will ever happen.
1. The Girl Who Played With Fire
Making a sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is difficult, considering there is already a Swedish adaptation of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy. Though when David Fincher's English version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (the first novel in the trilogy) released in 2011, it received overwhelming critical acclaim and was a box office success. Yet for some reason, Sony didn't commission the sequel that many presumed was an inevitability.
Fincher has openly stated he wants to adapt the remaining two novels in the trilogy — The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest — and film them back-to-back; however, due to the release of a fourth novel in the Millennium series, The Girl in the Spider's Web (written by David Lagercrantz), Sony has reportedly reevaluated their plan. Since Fire and Hornets' Nest are essentially two halves of the same story, Sony is considering combining both novels into one film and concluding the trilogy with Spider's Web — without Fincher, although Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara would likely reprise their roles. But they're not getting any younger -- and neither are we.
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Which sequel have you been waiting forever for? Let us know in the comments.