So a couple of months back Gen X was all aroar about the 2027 release of Spaceballs 2, a good 40 years after the classic Mel Brooks Star Wars parody was released.
Some of the original cast would return, including Rick Moranis coming out of retirement, and John Candy’s son would takeover the role of Barf. The fact that Spaceballs really poked at the overmarketing of the Star Wars franchise made sense as it now pokes fun at the overabundance of sequels of the same franchise. I wish I could be more excited, but seeing Josh Gad as one of the writers is a bit of a put off for me. I hope I’m wrong.
This is only one of the Gen X films getting a sequel after several years of hibernation. In a time when original films are a thing of the past, I have mixed feelings about these films. I don’t want to see the “modern audiences” Hollywood vibe infused into any of these, but I feel that may be unavoidable.
Here’s two in the spotlight right now:
Gremlins 3
The Mgmt. talked about the good call Warner Bros made announcing Gremlins 3 coming in November of 2027, but again, I’m a little reluctant.
Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus being involved is a good thing, but without Joe Dante we might lose that edge. I was a huge fan of the original Gremlins as a teen, and even still have my original Gismo plushie, but wanted it to stop there. I had a good mix of humor and scares, with a little sweetness in the middle.
I didn’t want a Gremlins 2, but they made that one and turned a pretty dark Christmastime horror into a dorky comedy sequel. Now, is the movie covers the original style and not the Gremlins 2 style is might work. If it heads down the path of the goofball, then it might not.
The Mummy 4
The Mummy eked in at the end of the 90s, but the Gen X audience love it, especially with Brenden Fraser in the lead. Fraser, Rachel Weisz and Oded Fehr are just three of the original cast names possibly returning for a Mummy 4. A recent image of Fehr in his Ardeth Bay makeup got fans even more excited. Even thought the 1999 film was, of course, a reboot of the 1930s classic, it has its own fun action adventure vibe everyone loved.
The first two Mummy films in this franchise were so much fun. The third one I felt was unnecessary. The bad CGI of The Rock’s Scoripion King character, as well as spinoff no one remembers, was also not needed. Yet, here we are at Mummy 4, and people are getting excited once again. I want to be, but once again I’m hesitent.
The ferver for the Gen x returns was so rampant for a bit, there were rumors of a sequel to Goonies recently, as well as hopes Keifer Sutherland was returning for a new Lost Boys when showed a photo of him in his David vibe. Neither of those is happening.
Recently we’ve seen the long-awaited sequel to Beetlejuice that was okayish. There was also yet another sequel to Karate Kid, and even a crappy reboot of The Crow. I have been reading there may even be a new Labyrinth, but I don’t want it without David Bowie.
Moviemakers are definitely digging into to Blockbuster Video era of movie favorites.
Honestly, I love that new generations are recognizing how cool the films of the 80s and 90s were, but I also think that some things just need to be left as is.
Time will tell if these films are worth the wait or not.
Hi Lisa! It seems like this generation is more than ready to raid the 80’s and 90’s movie classics because Hollywood has no one with a viable thought or sense of humor.
I’m waiting myself with a bit of intrepidation over the Spaceballs sequel. I understand your concern with Josh Gad’s involvement. I hope Mel Brooks will be keeping a eye on this production. Even though he’s up there,he’s still sharp as a tack.
It will be interesting to see how the Gremlins and The Mummy sequels do moneywise and how they are received. It’s tough to recapture the magic of the original and I think some classics just need to be left alone. Thank you for heads up about Godzilla Day (Both Michael and I learned something new on that one) How cool is that! We loved the movies as kids,even the bad ones. Thanks for this great article.