Posted on 02/12/2023 5:10:41 PM PST by nickcarraway
Despite their popularity, these franchises have yet to hit the reset button for one reason or another.
The '80s was a decade when major Hollywood studios began to realize they could bank a lot more by franchising successful movies into sequels and merchandise. Jaws and The Godfather had already begun to parlay box office smashes into sequels in the '70s, and by the mid-80s every blockbuster movie had us wondering when, not if, we would see at least a second installment. Still, many franchises suffered from diminishing returns in each successive sequel, with some reaching a fifth or sixth movie that didn't even warrant a theatrical release.
By the 2000s, rather than dragging aging casts through sequel after sequel, the art of the reboot began to take hold, often with movies refashioned as streaming series. Everything from RoboCop to Footloose got a reset, often with shiny new cast members and a new tone that fit the zeitgeist. A business that was already rife with adapted screenplays began to see the value in simply restarting franchises that already had built-in name recognition and could be more easily marketed than scripts that started from scratch. Nowadays, you often hear the phrase, "Everything is a remake these days." There remains an insatiable appetite for nostalgia in film, particularly for the 80s heyday of the mega franchise. Curiously, some of the biggest '80s franchises have fallen through the cracks —leaving us wondering why and speculating how they could be refashioned for contemporary audiences. Here are 10 of the most notable '80s franchises that haven't (yet) been granted a rebirth.
10 Gremlins
Despite the massive success of the original movie, Gremlins reboots haven't advanced beyond years of rumors. While the franchise has seen an animated version go into development, the commercial failure of Gremlins 2: The New Batch may have scared Warner Brothers away from ever making a third film, much less rebooting the franchise altogether without the steadying presence of Executive Producer Steven Spielberg. The sequel remains incredibly re-watchable for its cringe-worthy attempts at making the dark comedy more marketable, even inspiring one of the funniest Key and Peele sketches ever, but it created a dead end for re-development. Still, the brand name recognition and merchandise-ready characters lead us to believe it will only be a matter of time before Mogwai finds his way to a streaming platform in a live-action reboot.
9 Porky's porkys-120th Century Fox While nostalgic interest in the '80s has laid the groundwork for some major reboots recently, certain franchises like Porky's, simply don't fit into today's social climate. The raunchy sex comedies were a big success, spawning a trilogy of films before the close of the decade, but by today's standards may have been deemed too misogynistic to warrant a reboot. The '80s was the heyday of the politically incorrect comedy, but today even the name Porky's might elicit a reaction deemed too risky for development. At one point Howard Stern was reported to have purchased the rights to Porky's, but Kim Cattrall, the only cast member to achieve a high profile, has disowned the movie, and the likelihood of a contemporary reboot seems less likely with every passing year.
8 Airplane! airplaneParamount Pictures While some '80s franchises haven't catered well to today's wokeism, others have been deemed inappropriate because of interceding events. Indeed, it's hard to see how Airplane! could get a reboot after the September 11th attacks in 2001, with jokes about the dangers of air travel considered out of bounds — even decades later. Frankly, the Zucker Brothers' entire '80s catalog hasn't aged well since the #metoo movement has reset standards for sensitivity in Hollywood. That being said, there are some ways a reboot could maneuver around those constraints, so we wouldn't consider an Airplane! reboot completely off the table, and the hilarity of the original franchise suggests that it may be worth salvaging with a new cast and approach to lampooning the ever-present pitfalls of air travel.
7 Crocodile Dundee Rimfire Films, Crocodile Dundee_cropped Some film franchises have had a combination of factors preventing them from getting another kickstart, as is the case with Crocodile Dundee. First and foremost, the original star Paul Hogan may have aged out of playing the role himself. In addition, the ill-advised third film Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles proved that no matter how successful a franchise's original movie might be, it can suffer from significantly diminished returns in subsequent sequels. Still, despite the hoax of Danny McBride's hilarious Australian tourism ad, we can easily see the film getting a tongue-in-cheek reboot in the near future, and we wouldn't bet against it.
6 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Hollywood lost one of its greatest funnymen in the late '90s when Rick Moranis took a step back from acting after the death of his wife to focus on parenting. Rumors of a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids reboot began to rumble in 2019, with Josh Gad linked to the successful family comedy franchise. It's hard to say whether the timing of the pandemic may have put the project on the back burner, or whether the now camera-shy Moranis may have gotten cold feet about his involvement, despite re-voicing his Dark Helmet character from Spaceballs in a somewhat recent episode of The Goldbergs. Still, it's easy to imagine how suitable this franchise would be for a reboot, given today's developments in CGI and the large target audience for family films of this nature. If Honey I Shrunk the Kids does make it back to the screen, we can only hope Moranis is involved and can bring back some of his '80s magic.
RELATED: Why Rick Moranis Gave Up Acting For So Long
5 The Naked Gun Leslie Nielsen Remembered by Fans on What Would've Been His 95th Birthday Paramount Pictures Despite the recent death of Leslie Nielsen, The Naked Gun reboot appears to have legs, with a Liam Neeson-helmed version reported to be in the works. While it's hard to see action-star Neeson being able to fill the comedic loafers of the hilarious Leslie Nielsen, the involvement of Lonely Island writer Akiva Schaffer gives us hope for the franchise. Still, Naked Gun fans shouldn't hold their breath, given how often long-rumored reboots get scuttled before coming to full fruition. Naked Gun remains one of the funniest film franchises to come out of the 80s, and as long as OJ Simpson isn't involved, we look forward to seeing a new version.
4 Police Academy Cops shout at each other with megaphones in Police AcademyWarner Bros. Despite the endless efforts of star Steve Guttenberg, there doesn't appear to be a Police Academy reboot forthcoming at this time. That said, of all the rumors that have circulated about new script drafts, the one we're most excited about is the involvement of Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael-Key. That could be a rare case where the reboot is actually better than the original films, which by the sixth installment had us heading for the aisles before intermission. Regardless, Police Academy drums up nostalgia like few 80s franchises can, and an ensemble of old cast members like Guttenberg and David Spade with some new faces could produce comedy gold.
3 Major League Major League 3 Is Ready to Go, It Just Needs Funding Another franchise that has had reboot rumors circulating for some time, Major League still has few obstacles that may prevent us from ever seeing it back on the screen. For one thing, baseball has waned in popularity since the '80s, with most pro sports movies these days revolving around football and basketball because of those sports' marketability. Add to that the fact that the Cleveland MLB team's recent name and logo change to the Guardians might raise a topic that studios would rather not address. Still, refashioning the franchise around another team is a distinct possibility, and with Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes and Tom Berenger still actively working, it shouldn't be long before someone at least attempts to redevelop the franchise.
2 Revenge of the Nerds Revenge Of The Nerds Remake20th Century Fox Another reboot that may have been put on the shelf due to the pandemic, it seems only a matter of time before Revenge of the Nerds makes it back into living rooms across the world. A reported Seth MacFarlane/Lucas Brothers reboot would be a dream scenario, although the rumors have died down since initial reports back in 2020. The sheer number of potential scenarios, from a high school prequel to a present-day re-telling have us frothing at the mouth in hopes that Nerds again sees the light of day. You can see the DNA of this franchise in everything from Freaks and Geeks to Stranger Things, and it wouldn't be a stretch to see it adapted into a long-form streaming series.
1 Back to the Future Back to-the Future 1985Universal Pictures Sometimes, it's the franchise's creators, themselves, who prevent a rebooting. So far this appears to be the case for Back to the Future, which Director Robert Zemeckis feels has run its course as a trilogy. In fact, Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale have contracts preventing a reboot from ever happening...while they are still alive. It is definitely hard to imagine the franchise without Michael J. Fox as its star, although the actor has been able to continue acting since his Parkinson's diagnosis, but only time will tell whether kids will again be yelling "Great Scott!" in the hallways at school again.
That is one of the best quirky movies made. I hope they never remake it.
Look at how many of these were comedies. We’re not allowed to have comedy anymore. That might hurt somebody’s pwecious widdle feewings so its been ruled strictly Verboten by the Neo Puritans.
0 Gremlins - mediocre
9 Porky’s - hilarious which is why we can’t have it now.
8 Airplane! - hilarious which is why we can’t have it now.
7 Crocodile Dundee - entertaining....loved the part about him coming to NY and not realizing the “girl” he’s doing well with at a bar is a tranny. I’m sure that’d go over really well in Hollywood now.
6 Honey I Shrunk the Kids - garbage
5 The Naked Gun - hilarious which is why we can’t have it now.
4 Police Academy - funny....if you’re a kid.
3 Major League - semi funny. Watchable at least.
2 Revenge of the Nerds - Pretty funny but of course, a lot of the jokes wouldn’t fly in the current environment.
1 Back to the Future Back - mediocre....at best
Couldn’t happen. The jokes would never be allowed today. They were only allowed back in 1974 because Mel ignored the head of Warner Brothers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv7L6Hrlj58
A reboot of Back to the Future could be good. Imagine a distant nephew of of Dr. Emmett Brown’s, who is an engineer, cleaning out his hoarding deceased uncle’s lab and finding enough information and drawings to recreate his work, only this time on a Tesla. An aging Marty McFly warns him of the dangers of time travel, etc….
Talk to Elon Musk about it. Tesla doesn’t pay for advertising, but they might love product placement and maybe a cameo by Musk, with a SpaceX tie in.
People who came of age in the last 20 years don’t have a capacity for humor. They were indoctrinated from birth that everything funny is offensive so they don’t have the ability to laugh at themselves or others, that’s why none of these movies could be remade. I feel sorry for today’s younger generation when I watch a group of them at a restaurant or bar, they’re so guarded that they can’t have fun. It’s the same with the many activities that are deemed too dangerous today that kids won’t ever get to experience. For example, having your dad drive a pickup across the family hayfield with a bunch of kids in the back bouncing all over the place and trying to hold on. The Karens would have a fit today and call the cops if they saw that. It was a heck of a lot of fun but fun seems to be outlawed today.
I’m just curious, since you find ALL of these listed films mediocre or garbage at best, can you list for us recent films that you consider at least GOOD?
The scene in Porky’s in the principle’s office with Miss Ballbricker is one of the funniest scenes ever shot, IMO…
RE: cameo by Musk, with a SpaceX tie in.
Ahhh, but how good an actor is Elon?
He had a cameo in Iron Man.. very brief.
Airplane was a riot. People of my generation still use the lines to this day.
I took a paper into my boss, with Airplane being the farthest thing from my mind. I handed her the paper and said “What do you make of this?” Without missing a beat, and with the right gestures, she responded “Well, I could make a hat, or a broach, or a pterodactyl.”
I thought I was going to die laughing.
Reboots are the first refuge of the incompetent.
“Back to the Future Back to-the Future”
Watching it right now.
I am glad that Flight of the Navigator won’t be remade, ever.
One of the movies that we can watch with the grandkids and not have to worry about language or inappropriate scenes.
Yeah, it was a one in a million movie. Just out there, yet so fun to watch.
When I get asked to do something at work, I always reply “We can do that, we don’t even need a reason.” That’s Carl from Caddyshack.
LOL
One of my frequent lines when something (or someone) is going too slowly, is “Let’s go, huh? While we’re young!”
Just have Buddy Bizarre yell “WROOOOONG!” at them with his megaphone....
I can identify that penis!
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