A legacy sequel is a cinematic work which takes place decades after the original movie; often continuing the story and featuring original actors. New characters may be introduced, but will often be spiritual successors, or related to past characters.
In 2024 alone, we have seen Twisters and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hit cinemas – both legacy sequels to beloved films. Just a couple of years ago Top Gun Maverick was even nominated for Best Picture at the 2023 Oscars.
“What’s your favourite scary movie?”
Scream (2022) is a prime example of how this type of sequel can be done right – featuring plenty of callbacks to previous films, while introducing a new cast of characters to move the franchise on.
The film featured original trio; Gale (Courteney Cox), Dewey (David Arquette) and Sydney (Neve Campbell) returning to Woodsboro twenty five years just as a new Ghostface begins to terrorise another group of young people. But the film also drew connections between the new and old characters. Sam (Mellissa Barrera), one of the new characters, is the daughter of original Scream killer Billy Loomis. The film feels like a natural passing of the torch and great set up for a new trilogy.
Scream VI, while featuring Courteney Cox as Gale in a supporting role showed how the franchise successfully integrated these characters into its narrative for a new generation.
However, many legacy sequels are unsuccessful in their attempts to revive their franchise, often falling into the same traps.
“It just feels like a product built to play on nostalgia”
The Jurassic franchise is full of forced callbacks and uninteresting new characters. 2015’s Jurassic World feels more like a failed reboot than a traditional sequel, with no main original characters returning and a host of new ones navigating a stale retread of the 1993 classic’s plot. While Spielberg directed the original with a passion for filmmaking, World feels like it took all of those good ideas and ran them through a corporate board multiple times. It just feels like a product built to play on nostalgia rather than introducing something of worth.
Original cast members Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum did reunite in 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion but their presence felt unnecessary and didn’t serve the plot, unlike Scream which sees the originals passing on their knowledge from previous encounters with Ghostface.
“Move on to something new”
Both film critics and fans have criticised the chain of legacy sequels Hollywood has pumped out in recent years, with some demanding more creative endeavours and original ideas over reusing the same old stories.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire didn’t perform very well at the box office. Despite a strong $45 million debut, it suffered a 65% drop in only its second week.
Halloween Ends, the third Halloween legacy sequel, was also underwhelming at the box office. The film only made $105.4 million on a $33 million budget, a huge difference from the $259.9 million that Halloween (2018) brought in on a $10 million budget.
Ends was also criticised for it’s short focus on the heavily marketed “final showdown” between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. Instead, the film focused on a new storyline only introduced in the same film. Ends is a film that demonstrates so precisely the balance producer’s now have to manage between legacy and original ideas or characters.
These numbers suggest that general audiences are also getting bored with sequels and that Hollywood may need to move on to something new.
Featured Image Credit: Blumhouse Productions
He/Him
Arts Editor 24/25
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