From an adorable bear to rampaging dinos, sweaty gladiators to a toxic comic book couple, movie lovers have much to look forward to.
Fans of movie franchises are in a happy place these days. Sequels (or prequels) are being released one after the other.
The past few weeks alone have seen moviegoers flocking to the theaters for sequels to A Quiet Place, Despicable Me, and yes, even Beverly Hills Cop which had its first installment in 1984. Then there’s of course the much awaited and critically acclaimed follow up to Inside Out, which hit theaters last June 14.
To say it’s raining sequels is not even a stretch as it looks like we’re in for a slew of them until 2025. To get you even more excited for what lies ahead from Hollywood, The POST gathers the 10 sequels to pencil in your calendar.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, September 24, 2024
The much-anticipated sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 hit Beetlejuice will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in August, as reported on The Guardian. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice will see original stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder reunited with Burton.
The sequel takes place 36 years after the events of the original movie, and features Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Ryder’s character Lydia Deetz. Keaton returns as “bio-exorcist” Beetlejuice, with Monica Bellucci playing his ex-wife Delores.
Joker: Folie à Deux, October 4, 2024
Director Todd Phillips brings together a dream pair come true: Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as the Joker and Lady Gaga as Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn.
The film has been described as a drama with musical elements set in and around Arkham Asylum. The supporting cast includes returning Joker star Zazie Beetz opposite franchise newcomers Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Harry Lawtey.
The original film was a huge success, raking in over $1 billion worldwide to become the highest-grossing R-rated release in box office history. The film also earned 11 Oscar nominations, including best picture, and won Phoenix the best actor prize.
Gladiator 2, November 22, 2024
If there’s one film on this list that I’m so looking forward to, it’s this sequel to Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning 2000 film which catapulted Russel Crowe to the Hollywood A-list. Having the talented Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal in the lead roles is more than enough assurance for me that this film would do well. It’s also nice to see Connie Nielsen reprising her role as Lucilla, and Denzel Washington playing Macrinus who sponsors fighters like Oliver Reed’s Proximo in original first film.
Mescal plays Lucius, son of Lucilla and the late Lucius Verus, who recalls watching Crowe’s Maximus fight in the Colosseum in the first movie. Inspired by his courage, the enslaved Lucius vows to defeat new emperor wannabes Caracalla (Joseph Quinn) and Geta (Fred Hechinger).
Pascal, meanwhile, plays Roman general, Marcus Acacius who trained under Maximus. His push to invade north Africa puts him in the crosshairs of Lucius. The ever-charismatic Pascal described his character as “a very, very good general, which can mean a very good killer.”
Moana 2, November 27, 2024
The film is the sequel to 2016’s Moana, which followed an adventurous Polynesian teenage girl who sets on a mission across the ocean to save her people. Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson will reprise their roles as the voices of Moana and Maui.
The original Moana made $687m (£540m) at the box office worldwide, and scored two Oscar nominations. A sequel was previously in development but as a Disney+ series, but the company surprised fans in February when it revealed it would take the film to cinemas instead.
A live-action Moana remake, also starring Johnson, is scheduled for release in 2026.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3, December 20, 2024
After two successful installments and television shows, Sonic the Hedgehog returns with a third film this year. The franchise, based on Sega’s games, follows the iconic anthropomorphic blue hedgehog with superhero powers.
The third movie will focus on Shadow (voiced by Keanu Reeves), a morally gray antagonist that’s inspired by the video game Sonic Adventures 2.
The cast also includes Idris Elba as Knuckles, Ben Schwartz as Sonic, and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik.
Mufasa: The Lion King, December 20, 2024
Last May, Disney released the first trailer for this prequel to the 2019 remake of The Lion King. To nobody’s surprise, the company also revealed that Blue Ivy Carter has joined the voice cast.
Directed by Barry Jenkins, Mufasa will chronicle the titular lion’s origin story, depicting his childhood with his brother Taka a.k.a. Scar, who becomes the main antagonist in The Lion King. James Earl Jones voiced Mufasa in both the 1994 original film and 2019 remake. Jeremy Irons voiced Scar in 1994, while Chiwetel Ejiofor took over in 2019.
As per a report on Variety, most members of the 2019 voice cast are returning, such as John Kani as Rafiki, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, Billy Eichner as Timon, Donald Glover as Simba, and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala. Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy, will play Kiara, the daughter of King Samba and Queen Nala. Jeff Nathanson is also returning to write Mufasa.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is writing the film’s songs, produced by himself and Mark Mancina, with additional music and performances by Lebo M.
Considered one of Disney’s most successful properties, the original 1994 “Lion King” grossed $960 million worldwide, with the 2019 version grossing $1.6 billion at the global box office.
Paddington in Peru, January 17, 2025
I could never get enough of this adorable bear—I know many of you can’t, too—that’s why I was so ecstatic upon learning that Paddington will be back for a third film in January next year.
Dougal Wilson directs this film which follows the always-polite spectacled bear to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown family in tow, adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest to the mountains of Peru.
Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont wrote the screenplay with a story by Burton, Paul King, and Simon Farnaby. Based on the beloved children’s stories by British author Michael Bond, Paddington 3 stars Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Antonio Banderas, Olivia Colman, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Jim Broadbent, and Carla Tous, with both Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton returning as the respective voices of Paddington and Aunt Lucy.
Mission: Impossible 8, May 23, 2025
Ethan Hunt will be back for the conclusion to Dead Reckoning’s two-part story. Of course, Tom Cruise will be back as Hunt for the eighth time, as well as Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Haley Altwell as Grace and Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis. Newcomers to the series in the next movie are Janet McTeer, Hannah Waddingham, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Katy O’Brian, and Tramell Tillman.
Mission: Impossible 8 will continue where Dead Reckoning left off, focusing on Ethan Hunt stopping a rogue A.I. called The Entity. Fans hope the film will answer a series of lingering questions from the previous installment.
The series has been met with a generally positive reception from critics. It is the 17th-highest-grossing film series of all time, earning over $4.09 billion worldwide,and is often cited as one of the best action franchises to date.
New The Karate Kid film, May 30, 2025
The upcoming 6th film in the Karate Kid franchise will see Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan reprising their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han from various iterations of the franchise, according to Screen Rant. It was originally slated to hit theaters on December 13, 2024, but will now premiere six months later on May 30, 2025. The rescheduling allows for the final season of the Macchio-led series “Cobra Kai” to conclude before the film opens in cinemas, as per a report on Indiewire.
Last June 22, it was reported that the movie has wrapped up filming, with Macchio paying tribute to the 40th anniversary of the OG film through an Instagram post showing Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso donning the iconic Miyagi headband.
New Jurassic World film, July 2, 2025
Just last week, it was reported that the new Jurassic World film has officially started filming ahead of its release in theaters mid-2025. The movie started shooting on June 13, 2024 in Thailand where it’s set to film for a month, before heading to Malta from July to September and wrapping up at Sky Studios Elstree in the UK, Variety reports.
The new Jurassic World movie was announced in January 2024, with David Koepp – who wrote Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park– returning to write the movie. Scarlett Johansson and Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey– soon to be seen in Wicked – are set to lead the film.
Since the June 1993 release of Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park, the six-film franchise has earned more than $6 billion worldwide. The most recent entry in the series, 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion, surpassed $1 billion worldwide.
