Hollywood’s obsession with reboots, remakes, sequels, revivals, and requels has been key to their business plan for over a hundred years, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon. This year alone, we’ve seen the strategy pay off in major ways. Not only did the seventh movie in the Scream franchise become the highest-grossing film in the entire series after thirty years, but a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada arrived after two decades and is on track to make double what the original film did at the box office. There’s even more as the year carries on, including a new Street Fighter and Meet the Parents.
2027 will, of course, continue these trends yet again, with plans for the third Godzilla x Kong movie already in motion, along with the third Spider-Verse movie, a Conjuring franchise prequel, and a fourth Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Some of the sequels that are scheduled to debut next year, though, won’t just be a traditional follow-up, they’ll break a cycle of silence for some more franchises. Some of them have only been on ice for a few years, but others have been waiting idlly for decades.
Time since last movie: Six years (2021’s Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin)
When the last film in the Paranormal Activity series was released, a straight to Paramount+ effort, it seemed like this once robust horror franchise had completely been kneecapped, not only due to lack of interest by the audience, but the filmmakers. A year after its release, producer Jason Blum called it “terrible” and said “enough already” for the franchise as a whole. Like every horror franchise, though, it can’t stay that way for long. Undertone filmmaker Ian Tuason has been hired to direct a new film in the franchise, its eighth, but Blum will produce alongside both horror maestro James Wan and Paranormal Activity creator oren Peli. Even Paramount has noted they want to bring the series back to theaters and get it back on its feet.
Current Release Date: May 21, 2027
Time since last movie: 11 years (2016’s Ice Age: Collision Course)
Since The Walt Disney Company acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019, they’ve been slowly making their way through all of their major franchises and either rebooting them for Disney+ or putting them back in theaters. Ice Age, once a pillar animated series for Fox, has been mostly left waiting in the wings. Though a feature film spinoff and even a TV series were produced for streaming on Disney+, the series hasn’t been in theaters for over a decade. That changes next year with Ice Age: Boiling Point, the sixth film in the series which will naturally bring back voice actors Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Simon Pegg and Queen Latifah. It remains to be seen what the plot is, but based on that title it seems like the ice might start melting.
Current Release Date: February 5, 2027
Time since last movie: 20 Years (2007’s The Simpsons Movie)
One of the biggest surprises that The Walt Disney Company has made recently is confirmation that not only is another Simpsons movie finally happening after two decades, but it would arrive very soon. A surprise poster confirmed that The Simpsons 2 would premiere in the summer of 2027 (it was later delayed until September after the second Minecraft movie announced it would premiere on the same date. No details have been confirmed about the sequel beyond its existence, with even the title likely to be changed before it premieres. Suffice to say, The Simpsons will finally return to theaters after a twenty year gap.
Current Release Date: September 3, 2027
Time since last movie: 37 years (1990’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch)
A movie sequel stuck in development hell for years, it seems like the Gremlins may finally return to theaters after decades. After Gremlins 2 flopped at the box office, the series has been on ice, with attempts made across the 2010s to finally revive it. Though none of those succeeded, it appears the series may have finally found the right combination of collaborators. The film boasts a script by original Gremlins creator Christopher Columbus, and Final Destination Bloodlines filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, with plans in place for Columbus to direct. The film is scheduled for a holiday release date, meaning that not only is the series coming back, it may be getting back into the Christmas spirit when it does.
Current Release Date: November 19, 2027
Time since last movie: 40 Years (1987’s Spaceballs)
Mel Brooks’ film career wasn never one built on sequels, instead he would shift genres and tones, lampooning something else after successfully roasting one. Brooks’ parody of Star Wars and other science fiction films, Spaceballs, even made a joke about how it should have a sequel, but one that was naturally rooted in lambasting its initial target. Though the upcoming Spaceballs movie won’t carry the subtitle “The Search for More Money,” it will have on that’s just as irrevrant when it debuts in 2027, Spaceballs: The New One. Featuring the return of Brooks as well as original stars Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, George Wyner, and even Rick Moranis, the film is poised to not only roast decades of Star Wars movies that have arrived since then, but our current obsession with legacy sequels.
Current Release Date: April 23, 2027
