The successes of the 80s that NEVER had a follow-up! But we still dream

Today, the Hollywood industry works mainly on pre-established brands. The public wants familiarity. Because of this, year after year we’ve won countless sequels, remakes, and reboots. Past successes continue to captivate viewers, many research and studies point out. With this, it is notorious that creativity is fading, as original products are increasingly scarce. Note that I said rare, because thank goodness they’re still not rare. Yes, there is still originality, you just need to know how to look for it.

Going back in time a bit, for another nostalgic article, we travel back in time to the beloved 80s. As you all know, this is where the so-called blockbusters came into being. And for all intents and purposes, it is also in her that a wave of “recycling” has gripped Hollywood, discouraging the most alarmists. Great director Quentin Tarantino, for example, cites the 1980s as the worst decade for cinema. What the filmmaker means by that is that it was a time when franchises and sequels reigned like never before. However, some productions bravely resisted, even though they were breakout entertainment films, they refused to become a franchise.

Well, better explain calmly. It turns out that for a movie to truly generate a sequel, it has to have been a financial success. The ones that didn’t get a sequel, despite the biggest clamor fans have made, are solely due to not hitting the expected amount in return at the box office. Today, anything that succeeds is sure to breed continuity, even if history does not call for it. In the 1980s, there was still some resistance. And that’s the point of this article: to remember with you the movies that were hugely successful in the 80s, but for some reason didn’t get a sequel. Check and comment.

ET – The Alien (1982)

When it comes to blockbuster 1980s movies that didn’t have a sequel, one of the first that comes to mind is the timeless Steven Spielberg classic. One of the first blockbusters in history, the film about a very original little space creature who gets lost on Earth and is taken away by a group of children is certainly one of the most famous films in cinema history. . The most curious thing, however, is that ET hardly had a sequel. Creator Spielberg actually thought about giving the little necked alien a new adventure. However, this second movie wouldn’t be as cute as the original, and it would have a more horrifying feel! It’s true! Have you thought? The plot would show ET returning to Earth and enlisting the help of his human friends to fight off a threat from other very frightening space creatures. Would this idea have worked?

Enjoy watching:

Perhaps even more thirsty for a sequel than ET, fans of the teenage adventure directed by Richard Donner and produced by the same Steve Spielberg, have fantasized about a Goonies sequel for decades. The difference is that while ET didn’t necessarily ask for a sequel, in The Goonies it suited the new adventures of the group of friends specializing in trouble, defeating the bandits, and escaping traps in the underground tunnels perfectly. At the time of its release, many critics likened the adventure to a childish version of Indiana Jones – which had two sequels in the 1980s. The Goonies didn’t just ask for a sequel, the movie “screamed” in. a. But somehow it never happened. This promise remains in everyone’s imagination, but nothing concrete really exists. Even more now that director Richard Donner recently passed away …

Perhaps alongside the Goonies, this John Hughes film about a very naughty teenager and school killer is one of the most beloved and adored youthful films of the 1980s. Unlike the article above , however, Ferris Bueller isn’t necessarily asking for a sequel. But the point is, the film was a huge success, which would give it all the green light to deserve a sequel. Being a John Hughes movie that never continued its stories, this is the explanation of why life didn’t continue to be crazy for Ferris, his girlfriend and his best friend. The trio could have gone on vacation in the suite, for example. What it spawned was a spin-off TV series, which failed and was canceled with 13 episodes of its first season in 1990. Most memorable is the presence of Jennifer Aniston before starring in Friends. It would be nice to see the elder Ferris, still in the form of Matthew Broderick, now working as a high school principal and having to deal with the new smartass.

A real milestone in animation and visual effects, mixing real actors and imaginary characters, this production by Steven Spielberg and directed by Robert Zemeckis is a textbook case. This is because what the film managed to achieve is something new and one that may never be repeated again. The responsible studio (a subsidiary of Disney Touchstone) secured the rights to Warner and Universal-owned characters (like Looney Tunes and Woodpecker), as well as other classic properties, to bring them all together in one movie. Today it would be a bit like having all these Hollywood giants (Universal, Warner and Disney) working together to make a movie. In any case, there are still rumors, however distant, about a sequel.

Known as Os Fantasmas Amusement in Brazil, it is the first success in the career of director Tim Burton, then animator at Disney studios. The movie, with supernatural elements and faux horror, is the perfect choice for Halloween, also mixing in a lot of comedy elements. Although he was successful and extremely revered to this day, having even spawned an animated series a few years later, Beetlejuice served to open doors in Burton’s career, which would continue to his landmark project and more. ambitious at the time: commissioning an astronomical blockbuster and one of Warner’s biggest bets of all time: Batman (1989). So Burton climbed higher and higher in his filmography, and this little film about eccentric hauntings went deeper and deeper into his past. In recent years, the intention for a sequel has grown more and more, and with the opening of a Broadway play celebrating the story, the efforts to pull that sequel out of the role have become more and more real.

In the 1980s, many films with musical proposals and dances were a great success, thus marking not only the decade, but also the history of Hollywood. Of course, this reflected the musical genre, which in the golden age of the industry was the type of film most produced, sparking viewers’ passions in real shows on the big screen. These are the blockbusters of the time. With a more real-life narrative style, musicals had to adapt to new times, and so did works such as Saturday Night Fever and Grease – In the Times of Brilliance, both from the late 1970s and starring John Travolta, appeared. Over the next decade, it was time for films like Flashdance, Footloose, and Dirty Dancing to make some noise, with their unforgettable soundtracks. Travolta’s films cited have had their after-effects, although they have become obscure. But in this way, the success of Flashdance, for example, which revealed the beautiful Jennifer Beals, and spoke of a night dancer, working by day as a welder, owner of a discourse of female emancipation well ahead of its time , this might as well have given another film – with the protagonist now professionally well established.

Footloose is an indispensable Flashdance companion when it comes to “modern musicals” from the 80s, the soundtracks of which rocked every night of the time. Unlike Flashdance, which has an even more dramatic twist, about a struggling woman trying to win in a sexist world, Footloose is more relaxed and younger. The plot features rebellious Ren (Kevin Bacon), who moves with his mother to a new town. Released the same year as the Karate Kid, this film has similarities in its plot, but instead of the protagonist being harassed and in search of a combat academy, his duels will be through dance (in addition, of course, a possible dispute over tractors). The problem is, the city has banned dancing and music after a tragedy claimed the lives of neighborhood youth in a car crash. Okay, nothing in Footloose calls for a sequel, but even the Karate Kid didn’t, and even so, due to his success, he would win at least two in the 1980s. Well, Footloose did. also successful. On the contrary, the film would get a remake – which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2021.

Yes, this is the movie with Tom Hanks and a drooling dog. We have to take into account that in 1989 star Tom Hanks did not have the status he has today – as a renowned dramatic artist. At this time, Hanks was best known for the light comedy movies he starred in. Okay, it’s true that here he was even nominated for an Oscar, but it was for Quero Ser Grande (1988), a juvenile and unpretentious comedy. In the same year 1989, another popular film starring a police dog was released. It’s Universal Pictures’ K-9: A Good Cop for a Dog, starring James Belushi – who at the time was an actor equivalent to Hanks. Disney’s A Near Perfect Duo also featured Hanks as a cop, but unlike K-9, this feature would never have a sequel. That is, until it was made into a TV series on Disney +, now starring Josh Peck as the eternal Forrest Gump.

Make sure you watch: