The 5 Best Sequels We’ll Never Get
Despite Hollywood’s aversion to making anything original, a surprising number of beloved movies have been left out of the franchise-grab. In some cases, that’s a good thing — nobody wanted to see what happened to Travis Bickle. But some ideas creators have kicked around for sequels sound cool as hell, even if they’ll absolutely never get off the ground.
The Princess Bride
Later editions of William Goldman’s novel of The Princess Bride included a chapter from a future sequel Buttercup’s Baby, which teased Fezzik’s babysitting adventures and more details about Inigo Montoya’s backstory. Unfortunately, Goldman died before completing the book, commenting in 2007 that “I desperately want to write it, and I sit there and nothing happens and I get pissed at myself,” and, well… are you gonna try to out-Goldman Goldman?
Pulp Fiction
The sequel Quentin Tarantino planned for Pulp Fiction would have actually been a prequel for both that film and Reservoir Dogs, featuring Vince Vega and his brother, Vic aka Mr. Blonde, having a wild weekend in Amsterdam. Since those are two of the most fascinating characters and movies in the history of the medium, there was considerable hype around it, but Tarantino sat on it for so long that both actors are way too old now. Travolta is in his 70s. We’d still watch him crime around Europe, but a prequel is dubious.
Kill Bill
In 2021, rumors swirled about a Kill Bill 3, which would have followed Vernita Green’s daughter, played by (fingers crossed) Zendaya, in her quest for revenge against The Bride, but Tarantino quickly shut down that idea. He insists he will only make 10 movies, he’s already made nine, and he claimed, “My final film is about a film critic, a male critic, and it’s set in the ‘70s,” which he probably made up on the spot because Kill Bill 3 sounded too awesome.
Bubba Ho-Tep
It’s like what they say about Velvet Underground: Not everyone saw Bubba Ho-Tep, but everyone who did became a weird little freak. The saga of elderly Elvis and JFK fighting mummies who eat souls through buttholes was so beloved by its dozens of fans that Don Coscarelli considered actually making the joke sequel announced at the end, Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires, but Bruce Campbell wasn’t into it, so “that was pretty much the end of it,” Coscarelli said. After a decade of trying to get other sequel ideas off the ground and, somehow, a lack of interest from Hollywood backers, fans had to settle for a comic book, which they’re pretty accustomed to doing.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
A sequel to the industry’s best animation/live-action collab has been in the works since 1989, and after nixing some truly terrible ideas about the cartoon bunny infiltrating Nazi Germany, Robert Zemeckis claims to have an amazing script of the “when Roger met Jessica” variety and even some test animation and five songs written by Alan Mencken. So why won’t Disney make it? According to Zemeckis, Jessica Rabbit is simply too hot for 21st-century Disney, which is flagrant body-shaming. She’s not bad! She’s just drawn that way!