Sequels and reboots are all the rage in Hollywood right now. Ghostbusters and Top Gun recently experienced box office success. Willow is getting a sequel on Disney+ and Harrison Ford is returning for another adventure as Indiana Jones. Fans can't get enough of childhood favorites remade to meet today's cinematic standards.
Studios are releasing reimagined versions of older movies, and audiences are flocking to the theater for doses of nostalgia. A successful reboot depends on the filmmaker, cast, and what aspects of the story made it a hit in the first place. Some movies should be left alone, but these 1980s classics deserve a second chance at success.
10 Time For More Maximum Overdrive
Stephen King boasts one of the most comprehensive writing portfolios for screen and print. The master of horror possesses only one director credit with Maximum Overdrive, released in 1986. Stephen King says the uncut version made fellow monster movie storyteller George A. Romero sick, so he edited the film to prevent an X-rating.
Even though the filmmaker admits to being heavily medicated throughout filming, and even refers to Maximum Overdrive as a "moron movie" (with agreement from most critics), it still developed a cult following. Rebooting the movie with modern CGI with or without King at the helm is well-deserved.
9 Big Needs To Catch Up With Josh Baskin
Audiences adore Penny Marshall's coming-of-age tale about a teenage boy's wish to become bigger, as granted by a fortune-telling Zoltar machine. The performance by Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin in Big catapulted his career into the 1990s, where his movies grossed over $2 billion.
Just because an original movie gives a satisfying narrative story arc doesn't mean the studio should forget about a reboot. Tom Hanks could return as an older Josh Baskin who forgets what it's like to have child-like wonder. After a similar wish, Josh could return to his younger self, played by Tom's son Colin.
8 Sixteen Candles Deserves A Second Chance
Sixteen Candles centers around Sam, a girl whose family forgets her birthday as they scramble to plan her sister's wedding. The family is apologetic, and Sam ends up with Jake, the school beau hunk. A re-imagined Sixteen Candles could see Sam forgetting her daughter's sixteenth birthday or Jake not remembering their 16th wedding anniversary.
A lesson about not being the center of attention, and sometimes life happens, is what this franchise sorely needs. Fans probably won't experience rebooted John Hughes movies, but that doesn't mean we don't deserve them.
7 Howard The Duck Has Been Teased In The MCU
George Lucas brought Marvel Comics to life for the first time, executive producing the film Howard the Duck in 1986. It bombed at the box office and Marvel Studios ignored the character until Howard the Duck's return to the silver screen with James Gunn's critically-acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy.
Gunn teased Howard again in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 after his escape from The Collector's collection. The original is largely considered one of the worst movies of all time. However, the sentient duck deserves a second chance at a solo project, and it's time for Marvel Studios to green-light the reboot.
6 Short Circuit In A Modern Military World
Movies about robots and androids used for military purposes were huge in the 1980s, and some movies, like The Terminator, took the genre seriously. However, Short Circuit and its beloved sequel introduced movie fans to Johnny 5 – a robot given sentience by a lightning strike.
Even without Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, or Ally Sheedy, a Short Circuit reboot deserves a breath of life. The original Short Circuit robots are laughable by today's military standards for drones and mechanics. The reboot should follow Johnny 5 and its hijinks as it navigates the world of modern technology.
5 Ferris Bueller Jr's Day Off
A reboot of Ferris Bueller's Day Off is another decision that will receive pushback from fans. Matthew Broderick went on to have a distinguished acting career, receiving multiple awards for his work on the stage and screen, but the reboot should center around his son.
Surprisingly, Ferris Bueller graduated from high school, after which he and Sloan Peterson raised Ferris Bueller Jr. Ferris still believes he's the wittiest guy in the room but hasn't kept up with modern technology. So, a film about the son running intellectual circles around his father is everything this franchise needs.
4 The Breakfast Club's Reunion Is Long Overdue
The Breakfast Club is one of the most iconic films of the 1980s. The chemistry between the iconic cast of Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy is impossible to compare. The film was re-released in theaters for its 30th anniversary and selected for the National Film Registry in 2017.
Promoted to Principal Richard Vernon, Paul Gleason could return to Saturday detention to oversee the offspring of the Brat Pack, and remain just as authoritarian and angry as ever. However, reuniting the original cast should be the priority of the reboot.
3 Movies Need More Gremlins
Do not expose to water or feed them after midnight. However, no rule says the studio needs to stop making sequels. The first Gremlins film was one of the best horror movies of the 1980s, while the sequel added some comedic range to the creatures. Now the time has come to reboot the franchise.
A Gremlins reboot will also give the studio an opportunity to sell Gizmo merchandise. The mischievous Mogwai and the practical effects would drive fans of the franchise back to theaters in droves. There are practically no limits to the new gremlins and the type of trouble they could bring.
2 Weird Science, But Weirder
Weird Science dove into the minds of adolescent geniuses and what would happen if they had the power to create artificial life. The movie featured early appearances by Robert Downey Jr. and Bill Paxton. Weird Science received a television series reboot that also received positive reviews from critics.
A quintessential '80s film, Weird Science needs re-invigorating for a modern world. Advances in artificial intelligence and robotics combined with the fantastical nature of the original give a Weird Science reboot so much potential, along with special cameos from the original cast.
1 Beetlejuice's Return From The Netherworld
The media and Warner Brothers have been talking about a Beetlejuice sequel for a long time. Director Tim Burton said the only way he'd direct the sequel was if Michael Keaton reprised his iconic role. Keaton said this is the only sequel he'd be interested in making.
A sequel script was written about Beetlejuice's return from the netherworld to find the Maitland house exploded due to a gas leak. There are no plans for production, but no matter the plot, Beetlejuice's reboot would do well to feature Michael Keaton and Winona Rider with a similar style to the successful animated series.