Sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, and adaptations. Common discourse suggests that these things have been dominating pop culture, especially Hollywood, for the past decade or two, and that argument is hard to deny.

It’s hardly a unique insight to suggest that Hollywood has become overwhelmingly dependent on pre-existing IP (intellectual property) and franchises, scared to spend money on properties that don’t hold a demonstrated track record of profit. This has led to the box office being dominated by big-budget franchises, with studios always searching for the next big thing.

If a movie isn’t connected to a pre-existing film, chances are it’s an adaptation of a comic, novel, or video game. And on the odd occasion that a film is an original story, you can bet that there’ll be attempts to turn it into a franchise, should it prove profitable.

As more and more IP is mined though, Hollywood has to dig deeper and deeper for properties with franchise material, often exploiting nostalgia to resurrect popular movies from years or decades past, only to give them a new legacy sequel.

With all of this in mind, it can be hard to keep up with all of the content that is being pumped out of the Hollywood machine, and 2024 looks to have a few surprises in store that you may not have known about.

Movies like Deadpool & Wolverine and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire have been well-marketed, but there are plenty of others that have flown under the radar.

To start, let’s take a look at some big franchises that are getting surprise new installments this year. The Planet of the Apes reboot series is being resurrected with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the first film in the series since 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes. Swinging into cinemas May 9, it’s been confirmed that it is indeed a sequel, not a reboot, and will be set 300 years after the previous movie.

Things are pretty busy on the prequel front too, with A Quiet Place, The Lion King, and even Lord of the Rings all getting prequels this year. That’s right, you read that last one correctly, we’re heading back to Middle Earth in December for the animated feature, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. Based on another story from Tolkien’s canon, it will be set 261 years before The Fellowship of the Ring and will see former Supa-Star Miranda Otto reprising her role as Eowyn, acting as a narrator.

As for the other two, A Quiet Place: Day One (out in June) is a prequel/spin-off that will explore the beginning of the alien invasion of the previous two films. It seems that John Krasinski and Emily Blunt won’t be returning, but the script is based on a story by Krasinski (who also directed the previous installments), and Djimon Hounsou will be reprising his role from A Quiet Place Part II. Mufasa: The Lion King, expected to arrive in December, will serve as a prequel to Disney’s 2019 CGI remake of the iconic film, exploring Mufasa and Scar’s younger years.

Additionally, The Wizard of Oz will be receiving a prequel by way of the long-awaited adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical, Wicked, which in turn was based on the 1995 novel of the same name. A movie adaptation of the stage musical, which has been running since 2003, has been a long time coming, but is scheduled to finally hit cinemas in November this year. Well, half of it anyway. The story has been split into two films, with the second part due out in November, 2025.

The Hellboy franchise will also be getting a surprise new entry, in the form of another reboot: Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Based on the comic book story of the same name, this marks the first film for the franchise since the 2019 reboot, and the second reboot for the franchise overall.

Casting the remake net back into the early days of cinema, comes one of the most unexpected remakes in recent history: Nosferatu. The original film, Nosferatu – eine Symphonie des Grauens, was a silent German expressionist film, released in 1922 and based on the novel Dracula. This will be the second time it’s been remade after 1979’s Nosferatu the Vampyre, and will be directed by Robert Eggers, director of 2015’s The Witch.

Finally, there are a few surprising legacy sequels (i.e. belated sequels to movies that came out decades ago) scheduled for release this year. Coincidentally, in July we’ll be getting not one, but two of them. First up, Netflix will be releasing a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie, titled Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, a good thirty years since the last entry in the series, and forty years since the original film hit theatres (and suddenly we all feel very old). Not only will it see Eddie Murphy reprise his role as Axel Foley, but several other cast members from the franchise are set to return, including Judge Reinhold as Billy Rosewood and John Ashton as John Taggart (who hasn’t been seen since 1987’s Beverly Hills Cop II).

Also in July, Twisters will be sweeping into cinemas, serving as a sequel to the 1996 film, Twister. Its cast includes Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, and more, and a trailer debuted during the 2024 Super Bowl.

Rounding out our list of surprise legacy sequels, we have Gladiator 2, which is due out in November. This one has been a long time coming, with a sequel being in development practically from the moment the original Gladiator hit theatres in 2000. The project has had lots of ups and downs during the last twenty-three or twenty-four years of development, but Ridley Scott has remained on as director, with his Napoleon collaborator, David Scarpa, writing the script. There’s no sign of a return from Russell Crowe, but some other cast members are returning, along with a slew of new additions, including Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.

So, there you have it, 2024 is going to have no shortage of new additions to old franchises, many of which you probably didn’t even know were happening. Whether or not that’s a good thing or a bad thing will have to be taken on a case-by-case basis. Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that there’ll be no shortage of nostalgia in cinemas this year!