Hollywood has been running out of original ideas, so we get to see more sequels, prequels, franchises, remakes, obscure comic book characters and TV shows adaptations. Some are good, most are pretty bad. Here are 9 ideas for films that should be remade of get Prequels/Sequels that would definitely work, if done right.
Harry Potter Prequel
J.K Rowling released an 800 word short story about Sirius Black and James Potter confronting some policeman and three apparent death eaters, if they were called that at the time. The public, although slowly moving away from Harry Potter, would gobble up a prequel book, which I’m pretty sure Rowling has a shaped idea of in her head.
The movie would soon follow. A continuation of the Harry Potter story doesn’t seem that interesting, but the past does. My favorite parts in the sixth installment were the Pensieve memory scenes.
Dune Remake
Dune by Frank Herbert is probably the greatest science fiction novel of all time, and probably the best selling one to. Forget about the rest of the books, which weren’t nearly as good or interesting. The Paul Muad’Dib story should have stopped at I. The only time a movie was made was back in 1984 by David Lynch, which made it kind of weird.
The film suffers from severe editing problems and too many tinkering over the years. This great story deserves a cinematic re-do, and by cutting the story in to two movies the audiences would greatly benefit.
The Towering Inferno Remake
This was the ultimate disaster movie in the 1970’s, with an All-Star cast and Paul Newman above everyone else. Although modern day disaster movies tend to be of larger scale (2012 and others), the potential is there. Like with Titanic, making people care about the characters and creating one or two relatable relationships and this movie will be a hit.
Sphere Remake
A great novel and premise, but too much of an All-Star cast made Sphere a terrible movie that bombed in the box office. Sharon Stone? Come on! Michael Crichton’s books have a great affinity to cinematic success, it just needs the right treatment. Trying to create a more claustrophobic and grim movie with a grittier director might work.
A Sound of Thunder
This movie wasn’t just a box office flop. It was a disaster in every which way. From Ben Kingsley’s hair to the cheap special effects. This movie cost $80 million! It brought home, worldwide, just over $11 million. The whole past effecting the future is always an intriguing subject, but this movie was just a B-Rate catastrophe. Any remake will be better, and the Ray Bradbury story deserves a better film edition.
Robin Hood Remake/Sequel/Prequel
I love Russell Crowe, but the 2010 version was, lacking. It started out well, but slowly fizzled, ending with a mega disappointing battle scene. They tried to go with too many directions in this one, and it pretty much failed in my opinion. The movie did bring the cash home, but a %43 on rotten tomatoes kind of tells the story.
The original idea was to call it Nottingham and make it much more grittier with more focus on the Sheriff. Eventually, we hardly got to see the Sheriff, with the king and the usually fantastic Mark Strong providing to be rather dull and uninspiring villains.
The Goonies
People have been dying to see a sequel, or anything close to that, for years. Richard Donner’s classic came out in 1985 and although ideas have been thrown around for years, nothing has come out of them, yet. There have been plenty of denials from several of the actors, but in the last couple of years we’ve been hearing different voices, even from Donner himself who has said the sequel will happen eventually. Right now, he’s working on the Broadway version.
The Incredibles Sequel
In my opinion, the best Pixar movie ever. Even a crappy movie like Cars got a sequel, so a great movie, with much better characters and story should get one right? The potential is there. Brad Bird, the 2004 film director said he was open to the idea of The Incredibles 2 only if he had an idea superior to the first film. Right now, it’s all bits and pieces.
Inception – Prequel/Sequel
Inception should have won the Oscar last year, but Christopher Nolan’s Heist movie with the science fiction motif doesn’t need awards to be great and one of the best movies in recent years. Sequel? Cobb getting sucked into something again? Realizing he’s still in a dream? Works for me. Prequel? Some old capers of the gang? Seeing why Eames and Arthur don’t really like each other? More Marion Cotillard? Sounds great also.
