Recently, there have been quite a few films from the 1990s that are receiving brand-new sequels — like Space Jam. As the 1980s fade out of the nostalgia vogue, and the 1990s come in, creators who were children at the time are reflecting on their favorite stories. Those without sequels seem perfect to continue, even if fans don’t really want more sequels right now.
While creators should ultimately be trying to tell their own original, completely new stories, there are still a few classic ‘90s movies that need sequels after Space Jam 2. They could do without them, but their endings did leave enough space to continue the story if someone talented enough did so choose.
10 Edward Scissorhands Could Be Immortal — And Maybe Even Recast
As the story goes in Edward Scissorhands, Kim, as an old woman, believes that Edward has never died. While she has never visited Edward, because she wants him to remember her as she was, she knows he’s still alive whenever it snows. Kim, personally, believes that not only is Edward still alive when she’s an old woman but that he can functionally never die.
If this is, indeed, the case, an Edward Scissorhands sequel could take place at any time after the events of the film. Not only that, but the recent commercial featuring Timothée Chalamet as Edward proved that the part could even be successfully recast for a sequel.
9 Clueless Is A Timeless Tale
Jane Austen’s 1815 novel Emma has seen a recent resurgence of popularity after the 2020 film Emma, directed by Autumn de Wilde and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, was released. This movie was not the first to adapt the story of Emma, however. Like other great movies of the 80s and 90s did, the film Clueless adapted an older story into a more modern narrative.
Whether the sequel’s story was about an adult Cher Horowitz, or a new character altogether, Clueless is a timeless story that could still be told today. In addition, Paul Rudd has essentially not aged since 1995, and he could still be great in the sequel.
8 Fargo Got A TV Show But Never Got A Sequel
The television show Fargo is excellent, but it is specifically not a sequel to the 1996 film Fargo. It was made very clear that the television show is not a sequel, nor is it a spin-off, but a story of its own. In fact, each season is really a story of its own, too.
The original movie, Fargo, may have never gotten a sequel, but it would still be great for one. The universal human concepts of the film, the incredibly compelling unwinding narrative, and the absolutely stellar characters (played by some of the best actors in Hollywood) are practically screaming for a sequel in today’s world.
7 Romy And Michele's High School Reunion Is Ready For Another Reunion
The basic plot of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion is exactly as it says on the tin: two friends, Romy and Michele, attend their ten-year high school reunion. Of course, this being a comedy film, the characters get themselves into a fair number of pickles and humorous situations.
However, that basic premise could easily be revisited with a number of successive high school reunions. A sequel could be made about a later reunion, about a reunion for a different school, about their children’s reunions, or about different characters altogether.
6 Princess Mononoke Was A Worldwide Phenomenon
Many people don’t think of Studio Ghibli as being ripe for sequels, but any one of them would be perfect to continue telling the story of. The 1997 film Princess Mononoke would perhaps be the best one to bring back.
It was this movie that really helped Studio Ghibli become famous worldwide and got a lot of people outside of Japan interested in Japanese animation, and Studio Ghibli in particular. Bringing Princess Mononoke back for a sequel could reinvent the genre and bring a whole new wave of global fans to Studio Ghibli and its films.
5 You’ve Got Mail Needs An Update For Modern Technology
When it comes to films that are due for an update, none are perhaps more obvious than You’ve Got Mail. The entire premise of this film was already a remake of The Shop Around the Corner, which itself was inspired by Parfumerie, a play by Miklós László, a Hungarian playwright, published in 1937.
Each retelling of the story updates the medium, with the most recent, You’ve Got Mail, taking place over email. As communication has now progressed even beyond emails, perhaps a sequel — or a new movie altogether — is needed to reinvent the story once again in this modern age.
4 The Truman Show Built A World Perfect For Sequels
The entire premise of The Truman Show has only gotten more and more upsetting — and relevant — as time has gone on. While the same characters cannot obviously be used for a sequel to The Truman Show, the concept in itself is compelling, and the world that The Truman Show builds is one that could easily support one or multiple sequels.
Even if the story wasn’t exactly like The Truman Show, or logically following it, any number of stories for a sequel set in that universe would be compelling enough to watch on their own. This sequel could even in and of itself be a warning about sequels if done correctly.
3 Office Space Is More Relatable Than Ever
Office Space came out at the very end of the 1990s, and it hit people like a freight train. Never before had viewers seen such an accurate portrayal of their own monotonous office lives, and they received special gratification out of seeing the events of the film.
While director Mike Judge’s 2009 film Extract is meant to be something of a companion piece to Office Space, it is specifically not a sequel. Fans would likely like to revisit the characters of Office Space over twenty years later and feel a little better watching them wreak havoc once again.
2 The Sixth Sense Has Ghosts And All Sorts Of Paranormal World-Building
The Sixth Sense was the first movie that really introduced the larger public to M. Night Shyamalan’s shocking twists. This may be a spoiler, but the character of Malcolm Crowe is dead throughout the entire film, but only comes to understand and accept this by the end of the story.
The world that The Sixth Sense builds is a world where ghosts exist and walk around on Earth until they complete some task they left behind. Also, there are people capable of seeing and interacting with said ghosts. While a sequel may not have Bruce Willis in it, it could have Haley Joel Osment as an adult, or even a different ghost-seeing character altogether.
1 Groundhog Day Is All About History Repeating Itself
There is potentially no better movie to create a sequel to than Groundhog Day. The concept of the film as a whole is that one day keeps repeating over and over until the main character, Phil Connors, learns his lesson and breaks the loop.
If creators really wanted to teach audiences a lesson about the dangers of too many sequels, they could simply create increasingly worse and worse sequels of Groundhog Day until audiences, themselves, are forced to break the loop and stop asking for sequels that simply spawn worse and worse movies.