Warner Bros has faced some harsh realities at the box office and in the press in recent years, but after a few recent smash hits, the studio is full steam ahead once again. As A Minecraft Movie passes $500 million at the global box office, Warner Bros. Chiefs have confirmed they’ll be ramping up production on sequels to several beloved franchises.
The Goonies, Beetlejuice, The Matrix and Gremlins are all among the properties getting fresh installments in the years to come, Warner Bros Pictures co-chairs Pam Abdy and Mike Deluca have confirmed to Deadline. Also receiving new installments in some form are Practical Magic, the 1998 witch drama starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and the Whitney Houston-Kevin Costner romantic vehicle The Bodyguard.
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The Matrix 5
Following the White Rabbit
A new version of The Matrix shouldn’t be a surprise given the reputation and persisting popularity of the 1999 original, but Warner Bros’ fast-tracking of a sequel might surprise some after the tepid response to 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections, whose financial disappointment was largely attributed to pandemic restrictions and its day-in-date HBO Max streaming release.
This update is the first we've heard about a potential fifth Matrix film since word first got out a year ago, when The Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard was announced to be writing and directing the newest installment in April 2024.
Notable in The Matrix Resurrections was just one half of the original trilogy's directing team returning, Lana Wachowski, who will be on board the franchise's fifth installment only as executive producer, making this the first Matrix film not written or directed by one of the Wachowski siblings. The Matrix Resurrections is not shy about criticizing corporate entities using intellectual property without its creators' input or consent, and Lana said around its release that she only returned to direct the fourth film because Warner Bros threatened to do it without either sibling's input otherwise.
Given the ending of the most recent film, it’s unclear whether a new installment would ‘reboot’ the simulation or respect the Wachowski's timeline and follow on from the revamped version of the world introduced in Resurrections. Recently, Laurence Fishburne revealed he was not asked to return as Morpheus in the film, with many viewers confused by the insistence on keeping the character’s death in MMO game The Matrix Online canon.
Beetlejuice 3
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice?
Last year, Tim Burton’s sequel to his 1984 classic Beetlejuice landed to decent reviews, and its significant box office haul was evidently enough to inspire confidence from Warner Bros. That a third film in the trilogy was a sound investment.
It’s probably safe to assume Michael Keaton will don the crumpled suit and face paint once again for the titular character, but it’s not yet known if Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Catherine O’Hara or any of the rest of Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’s juicy cast will be joining him.
It’s also unknown whether Burton will return to the directors chair, though his only confirmed upcoming project is Wednesday season 2 with Jenna Ortega, which recently wrapped filming.
We can only hope that the film's title follows through on the set up of t he last two films in the series.
Goonies 2 & Gremlins 3
Legacy sequels to two '80s hits
In the continued revival of eighties properties, two Steven Spielberg-produced films are among theslate receiving updated incarnations. The Goonies has been long-rumored for a reboot or legacy sequel, with calls to re-visit the classic only increasing since Ke-Huy Quan’s Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2023. Cast members including Quan and Corey Feldman have been enthusiastic about the possibility of a second film, and Spielberg is expected to produce alongside Chris Columbus, writer of the 1985 original.
Joe Dante’s off-beat Christmas classic Gremlins is no stranger to follow-ups, receiving not only a massive unhinged sequel in 1990, as well as an animated prequel series Gremlins: The Wild Batch on HBO Max, with a second season releasing just last year.
While Dante served as consulting producer on the animated series, he's not so sure that he'd return for a potential third film. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter last year, he said “That’s up to the audience. The fact is that it’s too big a property for somebody not to make something... But it’s been difficult for people to wrap their heads around, ‘Exactly how are we going to do this?’".
A third Gremlins film has also attracted attention from a surprising actor, with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star Jenna Ortega saying she'd love to get on board a reboot of the beloved franchise. Warner Bros. Discovery have faced scrutiny since David Zaslav took the reins of the newly-merged corporation in 2022, immediately moving to cut costs by shelving several completed films such as Coyote Vs. Acme and DC’s Batgirl.
With recent successes like A Minecraft Movie and incoming anticipated hits like Sinners and Final Destination: Bloodlines however, Warner Bros isn’t just expanding on its existing properties but also revising some of its cuts- Coyote V. Acme will release in theatres after all this year, and if it's successful it may not be the last of WB's shelved films to make a return.
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