The fact that we’ve gotten sequels to movies that absolutely did not need them, but we’re still waiting to see the continuation of the following stories is unfathomable. Who in their right mind thought that audiences wanted Jaws 4 but that fans are happy with just one Salt or Dredd movie? There are definitely a lot of movies out there that deserve a sequel or some sort of new installment, but we’ve narrowed it down to 9 that seems to be the most called for by fans and moviegoers. Here are 9 movies that should’ve gotten a sequel years ago.
District 9
Come on, it’s been way more than three years, and Wikus (Sharlto Copley) is still stuck as a ‘Prawn.’ Neil Blompkamp’s 2009 epic sci-fi District 9 is a favorite for many, but the fact that there hasn’t been a follow-up film is incredibly frustrating for some. A District 9 sequel could easily focus on the aliens returning and humanity dealing with the consequences of their atrocities toward the extraterrestrials. Wikus has been forced to make metal roses for his wife for the last 14 years as we all await the return of Christopher and his magical healing spaceship. Luckily, there are a few movies out there like District 9 that can hold you over.
Salt
Angelina Jolie’s character, Evelyn Salt, was primed for a sequel at the end of her titular movie. We watch her be a badass for one hundred and four minutes. She kills the main bad guy and tells Darryl Peabody (who’s been hunting her this whole time thinking she’s the bad guy) that she’s going to find the rest of the KA agents, especially Matveyev, who was left alive in an earlier seen, only to jump from a helicopter to be never seen again. Why haven’t they released a Salt 2 to tie up that easy homerun they clearly set up?
The Goonies
Hollywood is in the era of remaking or releasing sequels to random titles from the old days, but somehow the cult classic The Goonies has escaped their crosshairs. It could easily be a classic adventure tale with a group of kids whose parents are the original Goonies. The fact that a lot of the main cast of the original are big-name actors could easily help boost the popularity of the movie, as we have Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, and Ke Huy Quan of Everything Everywhere All At Once fame.
Spaceballs
With the recent lackluster Star Wars trilogy reboot, a spoof making fun of Star Wars might just be the thing we need. Spaceballs is comedy gold through and through, and Rick Moranis absolutely kills it as Dark Helmet. Spoof movies, on the whole, haven’t really been a thing since Hollywood was churning them out in the 2000s with Meet the Spartans, Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, and all the other bad ones, but a well-done Spaceballs 2 might just do well in theaters today.
Dredd
Marvel has basically worn out their welcome after they finished the storyline with Thanos, and it seems that people are starting to get overwhelmed with all the different storylines, superheroes, TV shows, and films they have to watch to understand the universe they’re trying to set up. It might be time to switch gears and head back to the smaller-scale comic book hero movies, and a great one to go back to would be Judge Dredd.
Dredd was released in 2012 and wasn’t exactly a smash hit, but has found a cult following and slowly increased in popularity since then. With Karl Urban’s success as the lead role in Amazon’s The Boys, more fans might be willing to see a Dredd 2, should it be released.
Office Space
The world of corporate offices hasn’t changed much. HR is still a pain in the ass and totally not on your side, your six bosses will micromanage you beyond belief, and you still have about three hours of actual work while the other thirty-seven are spent looking busy. An Office Space sequel set in the modern day could continue to address these problems, along with the advent of new technology. They could even offer some perspective on work-from-home as officer managers with no discernible benefit try desperately to hold on to their non-existent power over remote workers.
Edge of Tomorrow
Okay, this one doesn’t really need a sequel, but a prequel would do well. Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen this Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt action flick, but they win and beat back the alien invasion, which is why a sequel wouldn’t work and feel forced if they tried. A prequel, however, that follows Emily Blunt’s character as the Angle of Verdun would be fantastic, though.
She wouldn’t have the help of others to guide her through what she’s experiencing, like Tom Cruise’s character did, and it could offer some more backstory on the aliens since we’re pretty much thrust into the thick of it in Edge of Tomorrow right away with no time for a larger explanation. They could also do a much better job of advertising the film this time around, as there was a ton of confusion over Edge of Tomorrow (or Live Die Repeat as a lot of people thought it was called thanks to the posters.)
National Treasure
It’s such a huge surprise that National Treasure isn’t on their 5th movie by now, especially given the fact that the second film in the series did even better than the first at the box office. Nowadays, Nicholas Cage is making a comeback, thanks to his role in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Renfield, and, potentially, the upcoming A24 film Dream Scenario.
So, it would make sense to finally tie up that ending that hints at a third film, but whatever Hollywood, go make the 40th superhero film of the year and pretend to be shocked when it doesn’t do as well as you’d hoped. There was a TV show released at the end of 2022, National Treasure: Edge of History, but they obviously missed the mark by not starring Nicholas Cage because it was canceled after just one season.
The Nice Guys
Buddy-cop movies are nothing new, but the synergy between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling is something rarely seen. Upon release, it got positive reviews but failed to succeed at the box office, making a measly $62 million against its budget of $50 million. That’s probably why we haven’t seen The Nice Guys 2, but the setup for a sequel was done so well at the end (with the two creating The Nice Guys detective agency) that you would’ve thought they’d be churning these out by now.
