32 sci-fi movies that deserve a sequel
From s🐓pace travel to time travel, these are the sci-fi movies begging to tell more stories

Science fiction is one of the oldest genres in movie history, dating back to Georges M&ꦇeacute;liès’s 1902 film A Trip to the Moon. But because sci-fi asks so much more from its audience to suspend disbelief, and more out of filmmakers to execute on their visions more precisely, a lot of sci-fi classics go underappreciated and under the radar. Some, however, are deserving of more sequels.
Whether they’re based on comics or cartoons, or completely original ideas from writers and directors, sci-fi tentpoles tend to be the riski♉est investments in the modern movie business. While hits like Star Wars, Avatar, and Avengers: Endgame are seismic hits that make billions of dollars around the world, some sci-fi movies have a harder time making any noise before it’s too late.
To mark the genre’s continued relevance and to bring attenti꧃on to some overlooked gems, here are 32 sci-fi cult classic movies that actually deserve a sequel.
32. Titan A.E. (2000)
In what is currently the last theatrical feature from legendary animator Don Bluth, the remnants of mankind live among hostile alien species all throughout the galaxy. A young man, voiced by Matt Damon, discovers he holds the key to humanity’s new home. Released during a transitional period when Hollywood animated movies were still mostl💙y drawn by hand, Titan A.E. memorably combined Bluth’s beloved style with sophisticated CGI. Decades later, Titan A.E. remains attractive not only for its unusual artistic style, but because of its original story that felt so much bigger than one movie ﷽ought to contain.
31. Godzilla Minus One (2023)
One of the most unexpected hits of 2023, Godzilla Minus One from Takashi Yamazaki is a breathtaking, mesmerizing monster horror epic that re-instilled our fear for kaiju terrors. While not a traditional remake or reboot of the original 1954 movie, Godzilla Minus One takes place in Japan&🐼rsquo;s turbulent postwar recovery period when Godzilla rises from the seas for the first time. With its touching story about com🃏munity, family, bravery, and sacrifice, Godzilla Minus One shook audiences when they least expected. While Yamazaki has publicly commented on his own ideas for a sequel, producer Minami Ichikawa told GQ Japan in November 2023 that any sequel will be shepherded at a snail’s pace, believing Toho is in no rush to get another hit out the door.
30. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
While fans of Douglas Adams’ book series aren’t such big fans of Garth Jenningers’ Hollywood film version, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy maintains a devout following who still appreciate its humor, special effects, and delightful performances from a strong cast. (Martin Freeman stars, alongside Mos Def, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, and the late Alan Rickman in a voiceover capacity.) The movie tells of a man from Earth, living in the UK, whose house is being demolished for a highway, only to find that all of Earth is slated for demolition for a space highway. While the complete Hitchhiker’s franchise consists of several diဣfferent books, the 2005 version simply didn’t make enough bank to warrant sequels based on them. That’s a shame, because it sure would be a treat to finally visit The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
29. Flash Gordon (1980)
The sci-fi comic and movie serial that inspired George Lucas to create Star Wars got a more authentic blockbuster film adaptation in 1980. From director Mike Hodges came Flash Gordon, with Sam J. Jones in the title role, that of a football ❀star who becomes Earth’s hero against the terrifying Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow). Although the movie earned solid reviews and a strong box office showing, Jones reportedly did not get along with producer Dino De Laurentiis. Their disagreements prohibited a sequel from going forward. A shame, considering just how expansive Flash Gordon’s adventures are that are begging to be enjoyed by a wider audience. Since 2014, there have been attempts at a reboot, including an animated movie from Taika Waititi that was canceled in 2019.&𒅌nbsp;
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28. Upgrade (2018)
Leigh Whannell’s sci-fi thriller U✃pgrade is basically, “What if Venom was a thousand percent darker and more violent?” Logan Marshall-Green stars as a paralyzed widower who is implanted with a cutting-edge computer chip. The chip not only allows him to walk againও, but infects him with a super intelligent A.I. alter ego with its own motivations. Viciously violent and tonally bleak, Upgrade isn’t necessarily franchise friendly. But it’s just too good to not want more of Leigh Whannell and Logan Marshall-Green together raising more hell.
27. The Black Hole (1979)
Emerging during Disney’s flop era, The Black Hole is an ori𓃲ginal science fiction movie about space explorers who find a lost spaceship floating dangerously close to a black hole. At the time the most expensive live-action movie from Disney and the first to be rated PG, The Black Hole did not win favorable reviews - the late Roger Ebert panned it as “[taking] us all the way to the rim of space only to bog us down in a talky melodrama” - but remains infamous for showing Disney’s willingness to experiment during a prolonged drought. The Black Hole may not be begging for a spot in the Disney parks, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t try again.
19. Underwater (2020)
The last theatrical release from 20th Century Fox before it was renamed by Disney, the 2020 sci-fi horror Underwater is a muscular mon𝔉ster feature with one of the most famous literary creatures of all time waiting at the end of it. Kirsten Stewart leads a cast that also includes Vincent Cassel, Jessica Henwick, and John Gallagher Jr., all playing scientists and engineers who live and work deep in the Mariana Trench. As earthquakes destroy the facility, the team tries to make a desperate escape. Despite the widespread influence of H.P. Lovecraft in modern pop culture, there still aren’t that many faithful adaptations of the famous author’s works. But being one of the first original universes in pulp literary fiction, movies like Underwater could, and should, be the first to spawn a franchise featuring all the Great Old Ones.
18. Innerspace (1987)
One of the most inventive and playful sci-fi movies of the 1980s, Innerspace from Joe Dante is basically Fantastic Voyage reimagined as a contemporary romantic comedy. Dennis Quaid plays a handsome but down-on-his-luck Navy aviator who submits to a top secret experiment that shrinks subjects to microscopic size. Somehow, the experiment places the pilot in neu🥃rotic grocery clerk Jack (Martin Short), kicking off a kooky buddy comedy where Quaid basically tells Martin Short how to man up. While too much time has passed to really follow any of its characters, it’s hard not to vibe with a modern retelling of the same premise.
17. The One (2001)
Before Spider-Man and The Flash flung through the multiverse, Jet Li fought his way through it. In this vastly underrated sci-fi kung fu movie from 2001, Jet Li plays both hero and vill🅰ain: noble cop Gabe Law and outlaw Yulaw, who aspires to traverse all parallel dimensions and kill his other selves to gain their strength and become “The One.” The One is easily one of Jet Li’s most ridiculous (and most fun) movies in his career, staying fr෴esh decades later. Now that audiences are more familiar with the multiverse theory, it would be quite something for Jet Li to reclaim his dominance and show all the fancy superheroes that there can still only be “one.” (Cue Papa Roach.)
16. Chronicle (2012)
Before Josh Trank suffered a career downfall after his 2015 Fantastic Four, he was a hotshot up and comer with his remarkable found-footage thriller Chronicle. Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan all play high school teenagers who suddenly possess telekinetic superpowers, which they use for fun until the powers dangerously corrupts one of them. Emotional, harrowing, and inventive with its unique touchstones - with visible influences fr🧸om the likes of The Blair Witch Project, Akira, and X-Men - Chronicle is too astonishing for just one movie.
15. Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
A passion project of producer 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:James Cameron based on his own anime fandom, Alita: Battle Angel was an immediate cult favorite when it opened to relatively little fanfare in 2019. Based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga, Alita tells of a cyborg who awakes in a new body but lacks any memory of her past. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and starring Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, ﷺEd Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley, Alita’s fans still love it for its impressive visual effects, sympathetic characters, and unique sense of sci-fi. While James Cameron believes more Alita movies are possible, it is unknown if the movie is to stay doomed to the scrap heap.
14. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Renowned comics author Alan Moore quite famously wants nothing to do with movie versions of his works. This extends to The League of Ex🐭traordinary Gentlemen, with Moore having more or less ignored its existence; artist Kevin O’Neill also expressed in a 2009 interview with The Times UK that he found the script lacking the source material’s spirit. Still, it says a lot that moviegoers who caught the movie back in 2003 have expressed wanting more🌟 of it. Basically an “Avengers”-like team-up of public domain figures - we’re talking Allan Quartermain from King Solomon’s Mines, Mina Harker from Dracula, Dorian Gray, and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen really lends itself to more, or at least just adapting Volume II of the book.