Mad Max And 9 Other Franchises That Returned Decades Later
Whether it’s because the story was never wrapped up, retconned a disappointing end to a franchise, or it was simply a complete cash grab, there are many different reasons why franchises return from the dead after a decade or more.
Though it isn’t always monetarily related, that’s a big reason, and many of these movies made hundreds of millions of dollars, with some even kick-starting billion-dollar franchises. And that’s why audiences so often see dormant series all of a sudden making a return to the big screen. Of all the series that returned decades later, these are the most interesting of the lot.
10 The Planet Of the Apes
The Planet of the Apes series basically came back from the dead. After Tim Burton's remake in 2001 failed to impress, it took another decade for the writers and director to get it right.
Similar to Nolan's Batman trilogy, the movie was seen to be a lot more realistic. The material was taken seriously and everything was fully grounded in logic and reality. Not counting the Burton remake, Rise of the Planet of the Apes arrived on the screens 38 years after the last proper movie in the series.
9 Mad Max
The Mad Max series had laid dormant for a long time, but it wasn’t from lack of trying to get it off the ground. Creator George Miller had been trying to direct Mad Max: Fury Road for decades before it was finally released 30 years later, as he encountered so many problems from budget constraints to thunderstorms in Australia.
But when it did finally return, it was a huge success, with it becoming one of the most groundbreaking action movies of the 2010s. However, though there are already a lot of things confirmed about a follow-up, it could still be a long time before the audiences see it.
8 Jurassic Park
Though Jurassic Park II had, at least, tried by having a T-Rex storm a metropolitan city, the sequels to Jurassic Park had never taken the series to the next level - especially the third movie. However, there had been talks about a fourth movie in which there are dinosaur/human hybrids, and thank god that never happened.
But when a concept for a sequel was finally settled, the results 14 years later were phenomenal, and it was one of the most exciting summer events of the decade. It might tread familiar story beats as the original, but by having the park being open to the public, it made for much higher stakes.
7 Indiana Jones
Though many wish it hadn’t have been brought back, as the original three movies mare up as close to a perfect trilogy as it gets, Steven Spielberg brought back the fedora donning archaeologist for one more adventure. 19 years after he rode off into the sunset in The Last Crusade, the results were not that good.
Since the fourth movie sees characters swinging from vines with monkeys, and features aliens visiting earth, a lot of fans felt like Spielberg was getting his franchises mixed up. However, with Mangold set to direct the fifth installment, could he be able to take the franchise in a different direction?
6 Bridget Jones
With the first two Bridget Jones movies being released in fairly quick succession, the more that time passed, the more it looked unlikely that a third movie was ever going to surface. However, one did come 12 years later.
The reason why all the Bridget Jones movies are so successful and consistent is because of the similarities to the original, such as Christmas and the internal monologues. However, they still manage to do something new with the character. And though Bridget Jones isn’t exactly a franchise that’s held in high contention cinematically, Bridget Jones’ Baby is a perfect conclusion to the titular character’s arc, which is something that fans thought they never get.
5 Star Wars
The Star Wars franchise didn’t take a decade long break once, but twice, as there was at first 16 years between Episode VI - Return of the Jedi and Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Though George Lucas had promised the prequels for a long time, nobody truly believed they were coming. But they finally arrived to huge fanfare, as polarising as they were.
Then, when the world believed Star Wars movies were done, Disney bought the rights and followed up with The Force Awakens ten years after Return of the Jedi. And though there are a lot of things that make no sense about the movie, it’s considered a huge return to form for the saga.
4 Blade Runner
In the 2010s, Harrison Ford did exactly what nobody expected him to do, which was reprising not just one of his iconic roles, but two. On top of playing Han Solo in The Force Awakens, the actor was dragged back on to the film set for Blade Runner 2049 - which came 35 years after the original.
Though the movie underperformed at the box office, the sequel improves on everything the original had going for it, whether it’s the mystery, the visual effects, or the acting, and that’s one of the reasons it’s Ryan Gosling’s best movie.
3 Oceans
When it was announced that Ocean’s 8 would have an all-female cast, it was met with mixed opinions. While there were some who were quite happy with the new changes and were willing to give it a chance, there were some who felt like they would not be able to replicate the same success as the originals.
The result is somewhere in the middle, as all the female actors in the movie had just as great chemistry as the men in the original three movies. And even though the heist was lacking the cleverness of the first three, it was great just to see another fun heist movie in this format. However, being released 11 years after Ocean’s Thirteen, there was a significant lack of returning characters.
2 The Shining
Stephen King notoriously hated Stanley Kubrick’s take on The Shining as it’s almost completely unrelated to the source material. But the film is one of the most iconic and beloved horror movies ever made.
So when it came to adapting the Stephen King’s sequel, Doctor Sleep, the writers had the impossible task of being faithful to the new novel and, at the same time, be a sequel to the original movie. Nevertheless, coming 39 years after The Shining, Doctor Sleep delivered in every way - even if it is much more linear than the haunting and ambiguous first movie.
1 The Godfather
The Godfather is arguably the greatest movie series in history, as the first one completely changed the way gangster movies were made, and the second one changed the way films, in general, were made ( as it was both a prequel and a sequel at the same time). Though The Godfather Part II never concluded Michael Corleone’s story, it very much felt that the full story Francis Ford Coppola wanted to tell had been told.
However, 17 years after Part II’s release came a third entry into the series, and it’s the worst kept secret that most people involved in the movie were in it for the money, including Coppola. Part III pails in comparison to its predecessors, but it’s still fantastic, and it recently just got a newly re-edited release.
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