From Beetlejuice to Gladiator, Mission: Impossible, and Happy Gilmore, Hollywood is giving audiences the sequels they’ve been yearning for.
From decades-later revivals to quick-turn follow-ups and saga-ending blockbusters, studios are banking on audience loyalty and nostalgia to deliver box office hits. But the sequel game is trickier than it looks. After all, Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives 16 years after the original film and just three years after its long-awaited sequel, The Way of Water, proving that fan patience can stretch over decades, but so can the pressure to deliver.
Sequels are a balancing act between honoring the original and pushing the story into new territory. For every crowd-pleasing continuation, there’s one that stumbles under the weight of fan expectations. Whether it’s the continuation of a cultural juggernaut like Wicked: For Good, a genre-defining return like 28 Years Later, or a left-field comedy revival with Happy Gilmore 2, this year’s biggest sequels balance nostalgia, fan service, and the daunting challenge of topping what came before.
