Weekly Discussions: Sequels or remakes that you actually want to see

As we're currently experiencing sequel/remake fatigue, I think this could be a fun topic to explore.

Are there any sequels or remakes that are not currently in development that you would like to see happen?

 

I would like to see how E.T. would look in the age of the internet social media and cellphones, I think that was kinda done with Earth To Echo

also with the gender-swapped reboots trend I'd love to see Stand By Me, Goonies, or another similar "male bonding/ coming of age" movie be told about young women

 

A handful of recent sequels/reboots, most notably Jurassic World, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Star Wars: the Force Awakens, have had so little to say beyond indulging in/remarking on their own franchise's histories and legacies that I'm less enthused about the concept of sequels and reboots than ever. However, Mad Max: Fury Road and Creed were two of my favorites last year, because they were able to reinvent themselves, Mad Max centralizing around a liberation and feminist thematic core and Creed by partially rectifying the Rocky franchise's often racist past. It's rare that these franchises have the talent of a George Miller or Ryan Coogler behind them though, instead turning to J.J. Abrams and Colin Treverrow types who certainly have talent but are not really interesting filmmakers, they can just make setpieces and films that feel like theme park rides: lots of action and momentum, but ultimately empty.

So I'm fine leaving most properties alone unless they have really interesting talent behind them (Rian Johnson for Star Wars VIII is hopeful) or are subverting their famous textures or really doing something unique and interesting (gender swaps are intriguing, I'm really into the cast of the female Ocean's reboot so far).

I'd like a Community movie.

 

I still want a Step Brothers sequel.

 

When I was a kid, I actually hoped for direct sequels to Super Mario Bros. (since the ending of the first left it open for a second film) and Ghostbusters II.

As a Tarantino fan, I would have loved to see the Vega Brothers movie come to fruition. I'm also still open to a Kill Bill Vol. 3 movie.

 

Not sure if it necessarily fits, but that's the first thing that came to my mind too!

I also want a moody, live action Shrek movie similar to what they're doing with all the Disney princess movies now.

 

I really liked what they did with Creed. If Hollywood could take a similar approach with some other longtime, beloved franchises with more grounded scripts/characters, I would be more into this reboot idea.

As a huge Back to the Future fan, I feel like with the idea of time travel on the table, and a great script/director, you could re-establish a similar dynamic with a new, young, enthusiastic actor/actress taking over Marty's shoes. They'd probably find a way to meddle and fuck it up, but the franchise itself offers up several possibilities considering the science behind it.

I'm typically someone who likes a one and done approach to movies. I like having my own interpretation of where the characters' futures lie. I don't need to follow them on every single adventure they ever have, whether by coincidence or their own meddling. Unless it's a massive universe filled with amazing characters and stories, sequels are rather unnecessary (mostly for comedy and drama, IMO).

 

Zemeckis and Gale have said they'll never be a BTTF sequel/reboot for as long as they're alive.

 

I was watching the breakfast club last night, and I think that a remake of that could be really really good

 

I know, I've read that too. But hey! Since we're speaking in hypotheticals, a boy can dream of some respectful artists doing a sequel justice down the line.

 

As long as you have a Hughes-like filmmaker behind it so it's not some studio-produced garbage that completely fails to "get" today's teenage generation and can still retain the gloom of the original. There's really dark shit in there! I'd hate them to ditch that element.

 

I hope we continue to follow Jesse and Celene every nine years for the rest of their lives.

 

The less, the better. The problem with sequels is that they tend to contradict the idea of a story arc as we traditionall understand them. Almost always you end of with several dead characters, lovers torn apart, or an emphatic resolution to the conflict in the plot. Since sequels usually come from big-budget films, it usually cheapens the large-scale events of the previous film. Think of Star Wars; the Empire is obviously defeated at the end of the film, the Death Star gone and Darth Vader flying out into space. The team even has an open celebration of their victory. However, for the purpose of stretching out the series, we are forced to see the Empire return. While The Empire Strikes Back is a better film (and probably the only "good" film in the series), it still lacks resolution because by that point a third film was planned so that the second film is not even a singular work, but a part of a serial. Look at the very personal battle in the Matrix, where the threat of Zion is discussed but we are more worried about this handful of characters. By the end of the third film, so many robots and humans are being destroyed that we cannot even care anymore. People make fun of the sequels to Jaws, but could those films be anything but ridiculous? The whole point of the original film was that this shark and its habits was rare and much more terrifying than anything they had ever seen. By the time Michael Caine's helicopter is being attacked in the fourth film, serial killer sharks have become more common than actual serial killers. This can go on and on; the first Back to the Future is about making his loser family into a successful one, but by the end of the trilogy his father was killed in an alternate timeline and his mother became an abused wife, all the while a duel in the 1800's was looming. After the absurd plane sequence at the end of the sixth Fast and Furious movie, someone quipped that next time they will have to take on a spaceship. They are not far off.

The greatest sequels in history work because they offer a criticism or re-evaluation of the things we saw previously. The Godfather II effectively makes the original film into the second part of a trilogy, both expanding our knowledge of the grace and silent menace of Vito Corleone while giving us evidence of the ways Michael is tearing apart what was built. Superficially, the movies are the same: the Corleone Family has a couple enemies to take down. However, the endings serve completely different purposes. When Michael kills Carlo at the end of the first film, he is killing a family member that is not related by blood and someone who was genuinely cancerous to the family. When Michael kills Fredo, he is killing his closest family member who did something egregious but was arguably duped and has been rendered harmless after several years. Everyone eliminated at the end of the first film is a direct threat to the family, while in the second film everyone eliminated is out of spite. Hyman Roth is near death and going to jail, but Michael sacrifices one of his top men just to kill him. Fredo is no longer a threat, and he is dispatched anyway. Pantangeli has already recanted his statements against Michael but is forced to kill himself anyway so Michael will not kill his family. There are three great "ending shots" in these two films; Michael alone at his father's birthday because he decided to go to war, Michael surrounded by an entourage because of his leadership, and Michael alone again because he turned against those closest to him. It is a rare feat that is not often achieved.

Other films, like the Before Trilogy or the Antoine Doinel five-film saga, work because they redefine our understanding of the characters at different points in their lives. Before Sunset would be awful if Celine and Jesse met again and promised to see each other in one year, like they did at the end of the original film. The film is a harsh dose of reality for people who thought the characters really would return and live happily ever after. We meet people with severe regret, not the optimists of the first film. The third film shows us that even if they are together, that magic of the first meeting cannot come back because that only existed due to the fact that they did not know each other. Jesse's success as a writer in the second film may have been the catalyst for them to re-unite, but Celine hates him for it now. She did then too, but it was masked due to the initial awkwardness of the return. In many ways it feels unfair to call them sequels, since they are using the same characters to tell vastly different stories.

Regarding remakes, Steven Soderbergh had an interesting idea. Instead of remaking classics, remake films that had promise but failed for a variety of reasons. The original True Grit was a successful film at the time, but very hammy for a modern audience. The Coen Brothers "remade" it by sticking to the text and adding their own sensibility to it.

 

so in the end...

what are some movies that you'd like to see be remade?

 

I think in terms of remakes, I like to see movies with good ideas that are executed poorly get remade. The movie Hancock always comes to mind. More include The Invisible, Sucker Punch, The Purge, In Time and The Box.

As far as sequels. I am all for sequels as long as they are part of an ongoing narrative rather than just "another one because the first one hit certain numbers". Like if you compare Captain America Civil War to X-Men Apocalypse, Civil War is made better by the 12 movies that came before it, while X-Men is just like "here is the one where we fight Apocalypse".

Most of the sequels that failed this summer were just "another one" movies. Like The Hunstman, Independence Day, and Now You See Me. Captain America, on the other hand, did really well.

 

The Wonder Years movie

 

My knowledge of bad old movies is not very vast. However, it would be great to see someone make a new version of The Magnificent Ambersons with Wells' original ending, which is lost now.

 

I would love to see Michael Dougherty (Trick 'r Treat, Krampus) do a Gremlins film.

 

Beavis and Butthead Do Europe

 

I support this

 

I would also like Netflix to reboot The Critic

 

I am shocked they never remade Gremlins. That is something James Gunn would have been good for pre-Guardians.

 

Seconded.

 

To go full meta for a second, I would love to see a new season of it where Jay just destroys all of the sequels and remakes that have plagued Hollywood during the past decade

 

Yes to The Critic.