Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | September 23, 2025
It’s the most obvious thing in the world to say that Hollywood loves sequels. They’re almost as old as the film industry itself and are, generally speaking, reliable money makers. As much as audiences grumble about getting the same thing over and over again, sequels get butts in seats. But sequels alone are not enough. Now, we have the rise of the legacy sequel.
Again, this isn’t a new concept. Following up one film many years later with another, to the point where it feels more like a Capital-E Event, has been around for a while. Yet it definitely feels more prominent nowadays, as the scramble for beloved IP to plunder repeatedly digs deeper into the vaults of history. Nostalgia rules all. Some legacy sequels are great — consider Blade Runner 2049, Creed, or Top Gun: Maverick — but they face the same problems as regular sequels. How do you recapture the magic without just directly copying the original? Frankly, most of the current crop of legacy sequels are just reboots by a different name. It’s a concept that allows for a ‘two birds, one stone’ approach.
And we’re getting so many of these in the coming months and years. Is there demand? There must be, but it doesn’t work for every movie. For every Freakier Friday, there’s a Spinal Tap II. Maybe they’ll be good, but we have lowered expectations for these films for a reason. Here are the upcoming and confirmed legacy sequels we have Thoughts on.
TRON: ARES
The annoying thing here is that this one actually looks pretty good. Tron has always been better as an idea than a produced film. The first movie had excellent effects but a flimsy story, and Tron: Legacy looked stunning and had that Daft Punk soundtrack, but never built a narrative worth caring about (also, its main female character was a creepy sexist male fantasy). The trailer for Tron: Ares is slick, bold, and certainly, at least visually, unlike anything else in blockbuster cinema right now. Plus, it has a soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails? What could go wrong? Oh yeah, Jared Leto…
SHREK 5
Gen Z-ers and young millennials, for some reason, love Shrek. We’ve seen this weird rise in semi-ironic swamp-posting and fandom expansion, which included raves, burlesque shows, and a whole lot of Smash Mouth. It’s been so omnipresent that you’d think there had never been a sequel to the original film. Certainly, a lot of people act like the third and fourth ones don’t exist (fair enough, they suck).
So, of course it’s time for DreamWorks Animation to revive the film that made them famous. The whole cast is back for part five, and they’re joined by Zendaya. The original release date was for this year, but it’s been pushed back at least three times and is now scheduled for June 30, 2027. Oh, we’re also getting a Donkey spin-off. Sure, why not? Hey, the Puss in Boots movies are actually kind of great, so who knows?
PRACTICAL MAGIC 2
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There may be no film more representative of a Fall Girl Aesthetic than Practical Magic. Despite the first film, which was released in 1998, underperforming at the box office, it gained a cult following and made homey witches with cool aunts a thing. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are back, along with pretty much every original cast member except for Evan Rachel Wood (who wanted to participate but was declined for some reason). The first film was based on a novel by Alice Hoffman and this one will be adapted from the follow-up to that.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2
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Based on a novel by Anna Wintour’s former assistant, The Devil Wears Prada is a rare example of an adaptation that is much better than its source material. The film helped to reinvent Meryl Streep as a modern icon and landed her one of the coolest Oscar nominations of her career. Now, everyone is reuniting for a follow-up. Meryl, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are returning to the magazine world, albeit one devastated by the decline of traditional publishing. I’m depressed already! Joining them are Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, and Lucy Liu.
FOCKER-IN-LAW
Meet the Parents is a very funny comedy about a tyrannical father trying to exert control over his daughter’s boyfriend. The two sequels that followed are both crap. But they all made a lot of money and have name recognition, so of course it’s time for the legacy sequel. I suppose that pun title was too good to resist. What’s the hook this time around? Miss Ariana Grande in her first film following her Oscar-nominated turn in Wicked. She’s a great comedienne, so maybe her presence here will make up for the absence of Barbra Streisand.
SCARY MOVIE 6
There’s certainly a lot to mock in modern horror, in this era of endless sequels disguised as reboots and the indie post-horror phase of A24-esque ‘it’s all trauma’ rewrites. Are the Wayans brothers up for it? Scary Movie was very funny, but the sequels were spotty at best. Their parodies have always leaned towards broad (and frequently sexist and homophobic), but not without an evident target. The Naked Gun did prove that parody films can work in the current era, so perhaps there is hope for this one. At the very least, it’ll be good to see the sinfully underrated comedy queens Anna Faris and Regina Hall front and centre once more.
ICE AGE: BOILING POINT
It’s been nine years since the last Ice Age movie. A lot of people assumed the series was over once Disney bought 20th Century Fox and shut down Blue Sky Studios. But never underestimate Disney’s ability to milk an IP dry. So, it’s time for part seven in this prehistoric saga. The cast is back, including Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary. And I assume that creepy squirrel will be there too.
