2023 was the year of legacy sequels, but Hollywood needs to remember one thing

In recent years a fresh beast has crawled out of the crypt and onto cinema screens: the legacy sequel. Differing from reboots or remakes – which completely reset an IP and start again from scratch – legacy sequels (or requels) build directly on the original entry in a series, frequently ignoring other sequels while capitalizing on classic characters.

It's a phenomenon often (though not exclusively) associated with horror – such as David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy – and it appears to be gaining traction: this year alone we've had Evil Dead Rise, Scream 6, Saw X and The Exorcist: Believer, all of which, in various ways, sought to resurrect their respective franchises. But is it working?

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Total Film's The Bikeriders cover. — (Image credit: Total Film/20th Century Studios)

This feature first appeared in Total Film magazine - Subscribe here to save on the cover price, get exclusive covers, and have it delivered to your door or device every month.

The box office numbers seem to indicate 'yes'. Horror is a notoriously bankable genre, and there are exciting possibilities in breathing new life into old bones, particularly when some series may benefit from pruning past entries. The result can be a choose-your-own-adventure multiverse, giving fans the option of exploring multiple narrative threads without writing anything out of the canon.

Perhaps the broader question, though, is whether legacy sequels are inherently better than more traditional remakes. Some of the greatest horror films of all time (John Carpenter's The Thing; David Cronenberg's The Fly) are remakes, showing that resetting the timeline entirely – but retaining the central idea – can yield thrilling results.

However, the real reason why legacy sequels are experiencing such momentum right now may be more human: nostalgia. With series such as Stranger Things drawing deep on the pop-culture wells of yesteryear, looking back is big business, and hooking audiences in with remixes of classic canons – without being beholden to lesser sequels – makes business sense.

But there are signs that audience fatigue may be setting in, with The Exorcist: Believer underperforming on its opening weekend. With two more sequels planned in Blumhouse's proposed possession trilogy, perhaps the lesson is that, whether dealing with established brands or new properties, studios would be best served remembering the old Pixar mantra that "story is king", and that feel-good callbacks will only get you so far.

This feature first appeared in Total Film's Bikeriders issue, and you can still buy a copy here.

For more, check our guide to all of the new horror movies on the way.