by Nick Leshi

Entertainment Weekly had a cool little article about movies that were produced full of potential to become huge franchises, but plans for sequels fizzled with their miniscule box-office performance.  It lists Dune, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Eragon, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Green Lantern, Godzilla, The Golden Compass, etc. My rambling mind started thinking about movies that I think actually deserved to have their stories continue in additional movies, but never did.

I already wrote about specific sequels I would like to see, but here are some more fun films (a dirty dozen in fact) that I wish would spark some additional adventures for their characters.

Daredevil – It was far from perfect, but I think this much-maligned Marvel superhero adaptation had some nice moments and laid the groundwork for more chapters in the tale of the man without fear, blind attorney by day and masked vigilante who defended Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen by night.  I’d like to see to them try again, with or without Ben Affleck in the lead.

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial – There have been rumors that Steven Spielberg has contemplated bringing a new episode in his classic blockbuster to the big screen. I don’t know how he would do it, but the idea is intriguing.

Galaxy Quest – Lesser comedies have sparked worthless sequels, so why not more of this outstanding, funny, and yes, endearing spoof of Star Trek?  It didn’t just play for cheap, easy laughs, mocking geeky fandom, it had heart. It was Tim Allen’s funniest movie by far.  Rather than another The Santa Clause, I’d like to see another Galaxy Quest.

The Goonies – We keep hearing that maybe, possibly, someday we might see the gang reunited for another great adventure.  I won’t hold my breath, but I’ll still keep my fingers crossed.

Inception – Christopher Nolan gave us an amazing new world that’s ripe for more stories.  Hopefully, we’ll have the chance to see them.

Independence Day – Again, a sequel to this huge hit is a no-brainer, which means we’ll eventually see it, but I’m surprised it’s taking so long.

The Mask of Zorro – Here was a fantastic action-adventure flick with terrific performances by Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and it set it up for more of the same — bring it on.  (Wait, they already made a sequel to this called The Legend of Zorro?  Impossible. It must have been so bad, let’s just forget about it and try a real sequel, okay?)

Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece is perfect fodder for more stories.  I want to see what happens next to Jules. Samuel L. Jackson make a bazillion movies a year, I’m sure he’d find the time to do this.

Serenity – Fans of Firefly can’t stop talking about how much they miss that show and how great the movie version was, they should make another film to convince the general public how great it actually is.

The Sixth Sense – What happened to little Cole Sear, the boy who could see dead people?  Actually, what happened to child actor Haley Joel Osment?  Make a sequel and explore the possibilities.

Time Bandits – It’s an atrocity that this brilliant motion picture never inspired further sequels.

The Truman Show – Another fine, underrated film, Jim Carrey should jump back into this character’s shoes as we see more of this future world that’s not too far-fetched from our own.

Unbreakable – M. Night Shyamalan’s career path has been disappointing, but this was another one of his better films — a realistic look at the fantasy world of superheroes and supervillains.  I wanted to see more, but instead we were given lesser films like Lady in the Water and The Happening.

It took decades for Tron to continue its tale, so I hold out hope to see the continuation of all of the above some day.