After Top Gun and Beetlejuice - perhaps Goonies too - these are the 1980s movie sequels I want to see next

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Top Gun and Beetlejuice have been given a 2020s sequel and rumour has it that a follow-up to Goonies is also in the works - so while we’re on the subject here’s the other 1980s movies I want to see get a second chapter.

The 1980s is having a resurgence and I am here for it. After almost 40 years, I find myself ‘getting busy with the fizzy’ once again after getting my kids a SodaStream and this weekend I found myself pondering whether to go to the cinema to watch Beetlejuice. It’s like time travel but in real life… like Back to the Future or something.

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Leading the charge for all things 80s back in 2022, the long awaited Top Gun sequel - Top Gun: Maverick - was released. Much to everyone’s relief Tom Cruise did reprise his role as naval aviator Maverick, from the cult 1986 movie.

As with all sequels, it ran the risk of being a flop compared to the original but with an IMDb score of 8.2/10 and receiving an impressive 96% on Rotten Tomatoes - it proved the public had not lost that loving feeling for everyone’s favourite wingman.

Jumping back to the present day and we find ourselves reliving 1988 with Beetlejuice back on the silver screen. Well, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, to be exact, the sequel to Tim Burton's iconic comedy horror.

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The second incarnation sees several cast members return including Michael Keaton as the titular character, along with Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O'Hara as the joyously eccentric stepmom Delia Deetz. It also sees the perfect casting of Jenna Ortega as Astrid - who portrays ‘strange and unusual’ just as well as her on-screen mother, Winona. 

Beetlejuice and Top Gun both got a sequel - but there are a few more 1980s films worth a comeback in the 2020sBeetlejuice and Top Gun both got a sequel - but there are a few more 1980s films worth a comeback in the 2020s
Beetlejuice and Top Gun both got a sequel - but there are a few more 1980s films worth a comeback in the 2020s | Warner Bros. Pictures / Paramount Pictures Corporation

Now there are rumours they might be bringing back classic coming-of-age flick, Goonies. If the whispers are true and the film is released next year, it will be 40 years on from the original which came out all the way back in 1985. We can but hope.

This newfound love for the cinematic behemoths released in the decade of my birth has got me thinking about what else I'd like to see being given a 2020s rebirth. Without sounding like one of those 'things were better in my day' people, the 1980s does boast a host of movies that deserve another outing.

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ET would be the first film on many people's list (mine included) because, well, we all just want to see Elliot reunited with his little alien friend - and if the frenzy around a recent hoax is anything to go by, a sequel would be very well received.

Word of a follow up film called ET: The Return to Earth has circulated online, but there is no such film in the works sadly. So, just putting it out there Steven Spielberg, for now, can we at least get a maybe?

As my more out-there suggestion, I’m declaring a follow up to Little Shop of Horrors is something we all need to see. The 2020s just need a little of that joyfully silly, scary musical action that managed to blend a man-eating plant with 1950s show tunes utterly seamlessly. Da-Doo!

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My final suggestion is a little more risky. Without the genius of John Hughes directing the action, a sequel to cult classic The Breakfast Club could be appalling. That said, it’s on my list because I’m just itching to know how life turned out for Brian, Andrew, Allison, Claire, and John, after serving that Saturday detention back in 1984.

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