Remakes, sequels, prequels, board games and anything with any sort of name recognition have become common place for movie adaptations these days, they are frequently the favorite cookie jars Hollywood likes to jam its hand into when it comes to plundering new ideas. However, none of these opportunities seem to be as favoured as the reboot.
This could mean scrapping the entire original pallet of work (like Len Wiseman’s Mummy reboot) or simply taking the fictional universe used before to jump-start new stories for a new generation (such as Prometheus.) Some struggle – either due to a lack of quality, or because audiences are too familiar with the originals, but some rebooted franchises deserve more time with audiences, and almost certainly deserve the opportunity for a sequel.
Here are five such franchises…
5. Terminator Salvation
Many Terminator fans were skeptical to say the least when McG was announced as the man who was going to reboot the Terminator franchise, after all he was the guy that had already rebooted Charlie’s Angels. But, McG worked hard for the endorsement of fans and seemed to have a true love for the franchise and some pretty neat ideas, and it was all good news after that. Linda Hamilton was hired to do voicework, Christian Bale was signed up to play a now grown John Connor living in the future and top writers like Jonathan Nolan and Paul Haggis did polishes on the script. McG even met with Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron before filming.
However, what ended up on the screen was a guilty pleasure at best and a stunning disappointment at worst. Besides a brilliant opening and the star-making performance by Sam Worthington, Salvation suffered from a weak performance from Bale, an unnecessary digital “cameo” by the Governator and a need to too-often remind the audience that this was in fact a Terminator film.
McG later revealed his dark ending for the film and how studio interference prevented it, but the director still expressed love for the franchise after Salvation’s failure at the box office and with critics and even revealed some cool ideas for a next installment that would include bringing Robert Patrick back into the fold.
Salvation may have disappointed, but there is clearly potential for the franchise and for McG to do something really cool especially with an unretired Schwarzenegger looking for work. Salvation deserves a sequel because there is still an incredible amount of potential in McG’s new Terminator future for some great stories.
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20 Comments
Strongly disagree, Terminator Salvation and should have ended at 2, now they’re just beating a dead horse.
Predator was a brilliant film, 2 and Predators were poor and if they make another they’re just milking a dead cow.
And they’ve announced a sequel to Prometheus to come in 2014
Sorry to hear you disagree. I like Predators and Terminator, I think, still has some life. I know about the Prometheus sequel, I just have a feeling it’ll end up in limbo much like Predators 2
Regarding The Incredible Hulk I agree with you thoroughly that it needs a sequel. However Marvel has already confirmed that Edward Norton won’t be reprising the role, having already had Mark Ruffalo replacing Norton in the Avengers.
Plus Marvel has already confirmed that they are going to produce a sequel with Mark Ruffalo after Avengers 2. So unfortunately Norton will not be returning to the role. But I don’t see that as a bad thing since I think Ruffalo embodies the science aspect of Bruce Banner better than Edward Norton did.
I know. It’s too bad we will most definitely never see Norton as Hulk again. Doesn’t mean I still don’t want to. I liked Ruffalo, just wish they stuck to their guns with Norton
I know im in a minority on this but, I love the ang lee hulk better than the 2008 one. I don’t know it just seems like the better film to me. the incredible hulk was boring, too much like the tv show and was too edgy for its own good. the only thing I liked in it was the fight with the abomination. because it felt like something from the comics. I admit the avengers’ interpretation of the hulk was better than both films combined and I would like to see more stuff with rufalo and whedon. but only those 2. they got it down.
Glad to hear someone liked the Ang Lee movie! I thought it had some cool aspects like Nick Nolte
great article, totally agree on all fronts….i’m still waiting for that predators sequel, and prometheus was brilliant, but there’s this fanboy fog that is keeping people from seeing that….in 10 years people will come around, hopefully we get a sequel well before then….it’s good to see someone with original thought in a medium that is getting more & more closeminded & just plain wrong
Thank you sir
I would agree with Terminator: Salvation getting a sequel if McG wasn’t the director. He is a hack director and a franchise like Terminator needs someone who can actually bring it back to it’s original glory
I like McG. I feel like he just hasn’t reached his potential yet. We Are Marshall was good
“Prometheus ended up being a highly original and highly entertaining film.” Really? I am a big fan of Alien(s), Terminator, and other movies
of that type, but what I will remember most about “Prometheus” is my
wife nudging be every 5 or 10 minutes, admonishing me to “Wake up!”
And that was at an 11 AM showing! It was one of the very few movies
I’ve seen in my life that I feel the makers of the movie would’ve
been more subtle if they robbed me of my money at gunpoint! So go
ahead . . . make a sequel . . . hell, make 2 or 3 . . . I’ve sure
there are enough idiots out there who will pay to see them, but my
wife & I won’t be among them. I’ll get my sleep at home next time.
I agree with what someone else posted about this movie . . . if
you have to explain your movie in a Youtube video or on a website,
you haven’t done your job. The movie should speak for itself, and
this one clearly didn’t.
Sorry to hear you didn’t like it. Good point about the explaining thing
Totally agree with you on sequels for Predator and The Incredible Hulk, I enjoyed both of them more than I expected to.
Glad to hear it
Good job sir. I feel i’m on a similar wavelength to you on this and agree with most aspects. Terminator Salvation was a bit of mess but as you said
but at times some of the action was great, for me the last 30 mins really picked it up. Predators was great. It didn’t exactly revamp anything but it was an enjoyable homage to the original with an interesting protangonist in Brodie. 21 Jump street – bang on! Really enjoyed that movie and I was suprised how well written and funny it was. Norton’s Hulk though, While I enjoyed the movie, the thing that still annoys me is when he changes into the Hulk, he looks NOTHING like Norton (Hardly his fault like)but Ang Lee’s version and Avengers looks like the actor. That for me was its biggest flaw.
Good points. Thanks for reading!
The Incredible Hulk deserves a sequel. Norton was a great Hulk, but I think Ruffalo pulled off a perfect Bruce Banner. Hopefully they will get a Hulk movie going in Marvel’s Phase Three
That’d be great. I just wish Norton kept the role
I agree with norton being awesome. There were many deleted scenes that would’ve helped the movie even more such as the deleted suicide attempt. But marvel cut it out.