Developing sequels in Hollywood is popular among movie studios, especially if the properties have already got large, existing fanbases. However, every now and then, studios surprise cinephiles with a sequel to a movie that's decades old.
Whether it's because the actors or directors were hesitant to return or because the film wasn't successful until it became a cult hit years later, some sequels take their time to finally go into production. Between sci-fi epics, under-cooked comedy sequels, and follow-ups to iconic '80s horrors, these sequels came out decades after the original - for better or for worse.
The Color Of Money (1986)
Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest gangster movie directors in cinema history, if not the best. However, in the 1980s, he expanded his horizons. The Color of Money is a drama about two pool players who go from snooker club to snooker club, hustling other players.
Being the only sequel Martin Scorsese directed, the movie continues the story of Fast Eddie, who was first introduced in the just as cool pool-hustling movie The Hustler. The sequel came 25 years after The Hustler, and with the sequel starring Tom Cruise as Fast Eddie's protege, Vincent, there could be a thematically similar threequel following Vincent decades later too.
T2: Trainspotting (2017)
Trainspotting was director Danny Boyle's breakthrough film, and in the time since 1996, the filmmaker has made some extremely different movies. Boyle directed the horror movie 28 Days Later, the sci-fi thriller Sunshine, and even the schmalzy family movie named Millions.
But 21 years after the first movie, the director returned back to the Edinburgh-based setting that made him an in-demand Hollywood director with T2: Trainspotting. The movie isn't half as dark as the original movie, and relative to the 1996 film, T2 actually has somewhat of an uplifting ending.
Tron: Legacy (2010)
The original Tron is a cult sci-fi movie, as it wasn't successful when it was first released but it has since grown massively in popularity. Tron: Legacy followed, but it's vastly different from its predecessor because of how inferior the visuals in the original look.
That's because the original was released in 1982, 28 years before the sequel, so compared to the dated effects of the first movie, Legacy is far superior. However, Tron: Legacy is similarly dated now, as it was one of the first movies to use de-aging techniques. And as de-aging has developed so quickly over the years, Jeff Bridges' de-aged face looks a bit jarring.
Dumb And Dumber To (2014)
Dumb and Dumber might not be the most critically acclaimed movie in the world, but it's one of those films that critics and general audiences don't see eye to eye on. The film is full of grotesque and vulgar jokes that every '90s kid knows, so that might be why a sequel coming two decades later wasn't successful.
As hilarious as the name is, Dumb and Dumber To, which came exactly 20 years after the original, felt outdated because of those very jokes. Even the prequel, When Harry Met Lloyd, which is no longer canon, felt dated and inappropriate when it was released back in 2003.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
The third entry in the Mad Max series, Mad Max: Thunderdome, was released in 1985, a whole 30 years before Mad Max: Fury Road. What's more fascinating is that in the interim, director George Miller, who is mostly known for his violent movies, directed Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2 before he returned to the beloved series.
However, it wasn't as if Miller wasn't trying to get the movie off the ground, as it was in development for years before it went into production. There were so many disasters when Fury Road was in development, with the director struggling to find financing and filming locations, which ultimately led to the delay. But the trouble was worth it, as the fourth movie is one of the most impressive action movies that has been released in years.
Bill & Ted Face The Music (2020)
Ted wouldn't win the Hunger Games, but what the character lacks in combat, he more than makes up for in dimwitted comedy. The first two Bill & Ted movies were highly creative, with Excellent Adventure seeing the pair travel back in time and the sequel following them visiting hell.
The excitement for any kind of sequel dissipated in the time since Bogus Journey's release in 1991. But given the Keanu Reeves-renaissance that the movie industry is going through right now with the John Wick series, Orion Pictures quickly capitalized on that. Face The Music came out almost 30 years after the release of the second movie.
Doctor Sleep (2019)
The Shining is one of those movies that is so iconic and embedded in pop culture that it's almost impossible to follow up with a just as good sequel. However, though it doesn't touch on Stanley Kubrick's horror classic, Doctor Sleep is one of the best horror movies of the past few years.
The 2019 movie somehow manages to pull off being a sequel to the 1980 movie as well as being faithful to Stephen King's novel of the same name. It's a trip down memory lane, almost literally, as Doctor Sleep follows a now grown-up Danny walking through the haunted halls of The Overlook Hotel almost 40 years later.
Coming 2 America (2021)
Up until 2019, Eddie Murphy had been fairly quiet in the movie world, but the comeback movie Dolemite Is My Name reignited a fire in the comedian's belly. Following that, Murphy revisited one of the most beloved characters of his career, King Akeem.
Coming 2 America is another movie that follows its predecessor more than 30 years later, but that isn't the only iconic character from the comedian's career who will be making a return. It's seemingly the start of many sequels to Eddie Murphy classics, as Beverly Hills Cop 4 is currently in development.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
It was strange that the studio greenlit Blade Runner 2049, as, though the original sci-fi movie has found a huge cult following in the almost 35 years since it was released, it was a box office bomb. The sequel managed the impossible, as it was a brilliantly told follow-up to a movie that seemed perfect as the standalone film that it is.
However, just like its predecessor, Blade Runner 2049 was considered a box office flop. The movie had an outrageous budget of almost $150 million, and it didn't bring in enough money to cover the budget and the marketing costs, which unfortunately kills the chance of another sequel.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Of all the Tom Cruise movies outside of the Mission: Impossible series, Top Gun is the least surprising of them all to get a sequel. It's almost as if Cruise chooses his projects based on how death-defying the stunts are, as the plane stunts in Top Gun: Maverick made the stunt performers throw up.
Top Gun: Maverick should have been released by now, but the movie has been delayed several times over due to the COVID-19 pandemic (with it set to be released in 2022 now, according to The Independent). However, when it does see release next year, it will have been 34 years since the original movie was released, and Cruise is no less of a risk-taker than he was back then.