7 iconic 80s films that deserve a legacy sequel after Beetlejuice-Rebecca Sayce-Entertainment – Metro

Caption: The Neverending Story, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Picture: Warner Bros./Paramount/Touchstone)

Beetlejuice 2 is in cinemas and there are rumours of a new The Goonies film – the 80s are well and truly back.

Tim Burton’s eagerly-anticipated sequel sees the juice on the loose once more as a now-adult Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) calls on his help to save daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) from the underworld.

Other returning cast members include Catherine O’Hara as the hilarious Delia Deetz as well as Michael Keaton in the black and white striped suit as our titular anti-hero.

But Beetlejuice isn’t the first iconic 80s film to get a legacy sequel decades on, with movies like Top Gun: Maverick dominating the box office in 2022.

As we turn back time and our favourite nostalgic flicks hit the big screen for a second time, many much-loved films have never received the sequel treatment – but really should as they have so much more to offer.

Yes, we know, you don’t need to mess with the classics! But here are 7 films we think have the potential to make a great legacy sequel.

The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story has, in fact, somewhat ended as we have not had a film since the 1985 original.

Yet there’s so much magic in the story that a legacy sequel could expand on the original, thrilling modern audiences all over again.

The beloved film tells the story of Bastian (Barret Oliver) who hides in a bookstore to avoid his bullies, sneaking away with a book, The Neverending Story.

As he reads all about the land of Fantasia and the darkness that threatens to destroy it all, Bastian begins to wonder if he is the human child that could help Fantasia survive.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Ferris Bueller has had enough time off, don’t you think?

While we are getting a spin-off movie, Sam and Victor’s Day Off, it would be great to see what happened in the decades that have followed John Hughes’ 1986 comedy classic.

Matthew Broderick stars in the original film as Ferris, who has a unique skill at being able to cut classes and take risks and somehow always get away with it.

As graduation looms, Ferris ducks out again to explore Chicago, but high school principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) is determined to finally catch him in the act.

The Breakfast Club

Another John Hughes hit that should have received a sequel by now is The Breakfast Club.

Hughes even reportedly considered the idea of a follow-up film but never got the project off the ground before his death in 2009.

The teen flick follows five very different high school students – John (Judd Nelson), Claire (Molly Ringwald), Allison (Ally Sheedy), Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), and Andrew (Emilio Estevez) – as they endure detention under the watchful eyes of principal Vernon (Paul Gleason).

As the day goes on, each gets the chance to tell their story and the group realises they have more in common than initially thought.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

There have long been rumours that a second Who Framed Roger Rabbit film is on the way, but we’re yet to see any more adventures from the animated bunny.

Several short films followed its 1988 release as well as comic books and a video game, but we’re yet to dive back into a fictionalised Los Angeles for another death-defying adventure.

The first film saw down-on-his-luck private eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) hired by cartoon producer R.K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern) to investigate a scandal involving Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner) the wife of Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer), the producer’s biggest star.

But things become more complicated when Jessica’s alleged secret lover Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye) is found murdered and Roger becomes the target of Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), a man with a vendetta against toons.

Flash Gordon

Despite its success in the UK at the time of its release and eventually achieving cult classic status worldwide, Flash Gordon has never received the sequel treatment.

John Walsh, the author of Flash Gordon: The Official Story, previously told Den of Geek that there were two sequels for the iconic 1980 film planned, but neither have materialised just yet.

The space opera follows football quarterback Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones) and travel agent Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) as they accompany Dr. Hans Zarkov (Chaim Topol) to investigate a mysterious eclipse and ‘hot hail’ that NASA assures them is nothing to worry about.

Once they arrive at the planet Mongo, they find themselves uniting the warring factions of the planet to overthrow the oppressive Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow)

Big Trouble in Little China

Big Trouble in Little China has been the subject of sequel rumours for some time, with star Kurt Russell previously opening up on the hurdles it could face.

He told ComicBook.com: ‘You never say never. I mean, if somebody were to write a great script, that was better than the first one, [and] it had something new to say, I don’t know, we can slap John Carpenter around a little bit and say, “Come on, John! Let’s go do this.’

Russell plays truck driver Jack Burton in the 1986 film who accompanies his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) to save his green-eyed fiancée from bandits in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

As they venture into the town’s mysterious underworld, they meet an ancient sorcerer named David Lo Pan (James Hong), who requires a woman with green eyes to marry him in order to be released from a centuries-old curse

Spaceballs

Spaceballs fans are in luck, as it was announced in June a sequel is now in development.

Josh Greenbaum will direct the film with Pixels and Frozen actor Joshua Gad set to star.

The 1987 parody film mainly sends up the hit sci-fi franchise Star Wars and follows Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his alien sidekick Barf (John Candy) as they rescue Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) and her droid Dot Matrix (Lorene Yarnell, voiced by Joan Rivers), from being captured by the Spaceballs, led by President Skroob (Mel Brooks).

However, the group find themselves stranded on the desert moon and meets Yogurt (also Brooks), who teaches Starr the power of ‘the Schwartz’ – sound familiar?

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