1 of 4 | Jeff Bridges arrives on the red carpet for the 58th CMA Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, on November 20. He’s once again reprising his role in the “Tron” franchise for a new film also starring Jared Leto. File Photo by John Angelillo | License Photo
Tron: Ares is set to hit the big screen Friday, taking audiences back to a futuristic world they first fell in love with in the 1980s.
More than 40 years later, the pop culture of the 1980s still has a hold on us. Now that all those ’80s kids have grown up, they’re bringing their childhood favorites back to the screen with sequels and remakes, like the third film in the Tron franchise.
Here’s a look at upcoming sequels to some of our favorite ’80s movies:
‘Tron: Ares’
Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn in the latest installment of the Tron franchise. The new film stars Jared Leto as Ares, an AI being; Greta Lee as the new CEO of ENCOM, the company that created the Grid virtual reality that spawned Ares; and Jodie Turner-Smith as Athena, second in command to Ares.
The first Tron movie, released in 1982, follows Flynn as he’s sent into the Grid to try to overthrow the Master Control Program. In 2010’s Tron: Legacy, Flynn’s son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund), follows his father into the grid to stop another villainous program from invading the real world. The sequel also stars Olivia Wilde and Michael Sheen.
In Tron: Ares, the digital world comes into the real world.
The latest installment is directed by Joachim Ronning and also stars Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Gillian Anderson and Cameron Monaghan. It comes to theaters Friday.
‘Blade Runner 2099’
Audiences will go back to the future will a new series in the Blade Runner franchise, based on the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.
It will be the first live-action series from the franchise and the seventh film and TV adaptation.
The first film, directed in 1982 by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford and Sean Young, is set in a dystopian Los Angeles in the year 2019. Harrison plays former police officer Richard Deckard, a “blade runner” tasked with hunting down a band of rogue synthetic beings known as “replicants.”
The second feature film, Blade Runner 2049, was released in 2017 and sees the return of Ford’s character. It also stars Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista, Mackenzie Davis and Jared Leto, and was directed by Denis Villeneuve.
In that film, Gosling plays Officer K, a blade runner searching for Deckard and attempting to stop a catastrophe that could break down society.
Blade Runner 2099 will begin streaming on Prime in 2026. Not much has been shared about the plot, but the series stars Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer. Creator Silka Luisa will also serve as showrunner.
File Photo by David Silpa/UPI
‘The Goonies’ sequel
An all-time favorite of ’80s kids, The Goonies is in talks to return to the big screen. The original film, starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Ke Huy Quan, Martha Plimpton, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman and Kerri Green, was released in 1985.
In February, it was announced that Stephen Spielberg and Chris Columbus, producers on the original film, were working on a sequel. Lauren Shuler Donner, the widow of the first film’s director, Richard Donner, was set to executive produce.
Those involved have yet to announce a cast or plot for the new film.
File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
‘The Labyrinth’ sequel
Even less is known about the planned sequel for 1986’s The Labyrinth. In January, Deadline reported The Witch and The Lighthouse director Robert Eggers has signed on to write and direct the new film for TriStar Pictures. He’ll be collaborating on the script with Sjón, and Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus and Lisa Henson will produce while Brian Henson will executive produce.
The original film starred the late David Bowie as the goblin king, Jareth, and a teenage Jennifer Connelly as Sarah. Sarah is sucked into a fantasy world and must navigate an ever-changing and dangerous maze to try to rescue her baby brother from the goblin king.
No plot, cast or release date has been released regarding the sequel.
File Photo courtesy of Shout! Studios and The Jim Henson Company
‘Predator: Badlands’
Aside from a 14-year break starting in the 1990s, the Predator franchise has consistently lived in the consciousness of science fiction and horror lovers. The first film, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Carl Weathers, was released in 1987.
The story follows a paramilitary rescue team sent to find a government official whose helicopter went down in a Central American jungle. There, they encounter the deadly alien predators.
The predators go to battle in Los Angeles in 1990’s Predator 2, which starred Danny Glover, Gary Busey and Bill Paxton. Predators and the creatures from the Alien movies go head-to-head in Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).
Four more films followed: Predators (2010), The Predator (2018), Prey (2022) and Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) before the latest installment, Predator: Badlands.
The latest film stars Elle Fanning as the android Thia and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as a predator outcast. The two team up together to hunt down a massive, deadly creature.
The film is set to hit theaters on Nov. 7.
‘Spaceballs 2’
For a little lighter fare, comedic legend Mel Brooks is bringing back the Schwartz with a sequel to his 1987 spoof, Spaceballs.
Returning for the sequel will be Bill Pullman as Lone Star, Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa and Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet. Also joining for the new offering will be Josh Gad, who also co-wrote the script, Keke Palmer and Lewis Pullman.
The cast gathered for its first table read of the new script in September. No release date has been announced.
Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
