Summary
- Franchises can be revived with reboots or sequels, but not all recover from bad movies or commercial flops.
- Some franchises die early for a completed narrative arc, while others, like Dune and Mad Max, thrive with new installations.
- Villeneuve’s Dune and Miller’s Mad Max reboot redefined their franchises with critical acclaim, ensuring future success.
Science fiction movie franchises come and go, but reboots or long-awaited sequels have brought several back from the dead. Keeping any franchise fresh with new installments is a daunting task, as even the longest-running and highest-grossing franchises in movie history have had their share of duds. Unfortunately, not every series lasts long enough to where it can recover from a critical or commercial flop. Others, like The Invisible Man or Planet of the Apes, went on such awful movie streaks that they ended up dying out.
However, a sci-fi franchise dying isn’t always a bad thing, as some have elected to finish a saga early due to a completed narrative arc. In the case of Back to the Future, there shockingly hasn’t been a film reboot since the original trilogy, leaving Robert Zemeckis’ saga as is. Conversely, George Miller completed his original Mad Max saga and then returned to it decades later. Many of the best sci-fi movies of all time are part of more significant sagas; most have had their lulls at one point or another.
8 Dune (2021)
Denis Villeneuve transformed Frank Herbert’s novel into a multimedia franchise.
Dune
- Release Date
- October 22, 2021
- Studio(s)
- Legendary Pictures
- Runtime
- 155 minutes
As one of the most prolific sci-fi novels ever written, Frank Herbert’s Dune has been adapted to the big screen multiple times. The first came in 1984, directed by David Lynch, which was received poorly both critically and commercially. Despite being made by one of the best directors of all time, Lynch’s Dune left such a negative stain on the franchise that the book was considered unadaptable. In 2000, a television miniseries was made of Dune, which was an apt, fleshed-out adaptation of the novel, though it lacked the big-screen cinematic experience.
The next movie up is
Villeneuve’s
Dune Messiah
, which will adapt the second Frank Herbert novel, and the franchise has also spawned a prequel HBO series titled
Dune: Prophecy.
In 2021, director Denis Villeneuve directed his rendition of Dune, which was met with critical and commercial acclaim, spawning a multimedia franchise out of Herbert’s novels. Villeneuve split the book adaptation into two parts, with the second releasing on March 1, 2024, to mass critical acclaim and enormous box-office success. The next movie up is Villeneuve’s Dune Messiah, which will adapt the second Frank Herbert novel, and the franchise has also spawned a prequel HBO series titled Dune: Prophecy, which is executive produced by Villeneuve and scheduled to release in late 2024.
7 Jurassic Word (2015)
The Jurassic World reboot brought the franchise back to commercial prominence.
Jurassic World
- Director
- Colin Trevorrow
- Release Date
- June 12, 2015
- Runtime
- 124 minutes
As one of the best Steven Spielberg movies, the original Jurassic Park stands among the best blockbusters ever, which set the record as the highest-grossing movie ever until Titanic in 1997. The film had two direct sequels in 1997 and 2001, though neither compared to the original. Over a decade later, the franchise was revived with Jurassic World, beginning a new series with Chris Pratt in the leading role. Jurassic World has never had the critical acclaim or narrative excellence as the original, but the movies have succeeded commercially enough to keep making more.
Jurassic Park Movies Rotten Tomatoes Reception |
||
---|---|---|
Jurassic Park (1992) |
92% |
|
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) |
54% |
|
Jurassic Park III (2001) |
49% |
|
Jurassic World (2015) |
71% |
|
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) |
46% |
|
Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) |
29% |
6 Mad Max: Fury Road
George Miller’s Mad Max reboot redefined the franchise.
George Miller proved himself to be a sci-fi master with the Mad Max franchise, beginning in 1979. The original trilogy ran until 1985, with the third installment, Beyond Thunderdome, often considered the worst Mad Max movie. Decades later, Miller returned to the series with Mad Max: Fury Road, redefining the franchise with one of the most inventive, stylistic, thrilling action movies ever. Though it’s been almost a decade since Fury Road, Furiosia: A Mad Max Saga will be released on May 24, 2024, reviving the franchise again, and another Fury Road sequel will follow.
5 Rise of the Planet of the Apes
After Tim Burton’s 2001 flop, 2011’s Planet of the Apes movie brought the franchise back.
Like Jurassic Park, the original Planet of the Apes movie was lightning in a bottle, but the franchise continuously struggled for years afterward, even including a failed Tim Burton-directed reboot in 2001. In 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes revitalized the dead series with the first critically acclaimed installment in decades. However, the series really got going with Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in 2014 and War for the Planet of the Apes in 2018. Now, one of the most-anticipated movies of 2024 is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
4 Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049 spawned multiple TV series in the Blade Runner universe.
Blade Runner 2049
- Release Date
- October 6, 2017
- Studio(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Cast
- Ryan Gosling , Harrison Ford , Jared Leto , Ana De Armas , Robin Wright , Lennie James , Dave Bautista , Carla Juri , Hiam Abbass , Barkhad Abdi , David Dastmalchian , Mackenzie Davis , Sylvia Hoeks
The original Blade Runner is one of the most artistically crafted and thematically rich science fiction movies ever, making a serious claim as the best movie in the genre. Despite the star power of Harrison Ford, the 1982 classic wasn’t a commercial hit and underwent several re-cuts until Ridley Scott’s vision became apparent in 2007’s The Final Cut version. Even after that, it took another decade before the potential of Blade Runner as a franchise was realized.
Even though
Blade Runner 2049
flopped commercially, it created a future for the title as a franchise.
Denis Villeneuve is responsible for resurrecting two of the most iconic sci-fi stories of all time, with Blade Runner 2049 becoming an instant classic for its beautiful aesthetic and narrative genius that matched the original. Even though Blade Runner 2049 flopped commercially, it created a future for the title as a franchise. An animated series called Blade Runner: Black Lotus followed it up in 2021, and a Prime Video TV series titled Blade Runner 2099 has been in development for years.
3 Godzilla (2014)
2014’s Godzilla was the first successful American rendition.
Godzilla
- Director
- Ishirô Honda
- Release Date
- November 3, 1954
- Runtime
- 123 minutes
One of the longest-running movie franchises of all time, 1954’s Godzilla was a revolutionary film that inspired tons of sequels, spin-offs, and reboots. The Godzilla franchise has 33 movies made by Toho Co. in Japan and five American-made installments. While Roland Emmerich’s 1998 Godzilla reboot was a disaster, Gareth Edwards gave the Hollywood version a second chance in 2014. The Godzilla franchise has expanded in America in the past decade with multiple sequels and an Apple TV+ TV series. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is another of the most-anticipated 2024 movies.
2 The Invisible Man (2020)
2020’s Invisible Man reboot was a vast improvement over decades of awful renditions.
The Invisible Man
- Director
- Leigh Whannell
- Release Date
- February 28, 2020
- Runtime
- 124 minutes
In 1933, H. G. Wells’s novel The Invisible Man was adapted into a sci-fi/horror film for Universal Pictures’ monster franchise. The original was a hit, but it was followed by decades of mediocre to awful sequels until finally, in 2020, a modern reboot brought the franchise new life. 2020’s The Invisible Man was a hit on streaming during the early stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic, yet it hasn’t had a sequel announced so far. With the uptick in monster movies coming in 2024 and 2025, anything is possible.
1 Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
After a failed 2016 reboot, Ghostbusters: Afterlife brought the ’80s series back.
The original Ghostbusters is an iconic classic, mixing sci-fi with comedy for a delightful cinematic experience. Its 80s follow-up, Ghostbusters II, wasn’t as well-received, and the franchise largely died out for decades. In 2016, a failed reboot was released, flopping critically and commercially despite its talented cast. While the reboot failed, 2021 saw a new continuation to the original series titled Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a surprise hit being followed up with a sequel in 2024.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant