5 Upcoming Movie Sequels That Are Completely Unnecessary

The Last Witch Hunter 2

Vin Diesel is a man who loves starring in a franchise, as his repeated outings as Dominic Toretto, Richard B. Riddick, Xander Cage and Groot will attest.

Even when he's not reprising a role he's trying to make sure that he will at some point in the future, and The Last Witch Hunter is the latest of his projects to be getting the sequel treatment, despite the fact that the first installment was roundly dismissed by critics and bombed at the box office.

The gravel-throated action star has always been known to remain engaged with his fans on social media, so presumably there are a handful of them desperate to see Kaulder return to the big screen, because the vast majority of people don't seem to be of a similar persuasion.

RoboCop Returns

RoboCop Returns is said to completely ignore the second and third installments in the franchise, and act as a direct sequel to the classic original instead. However, based on recent events following the template set by the Terminator franchise probably isn't the wisest idea.

We already had a new version of RoboCop a few years back that wasn't very good, and there's every chance that Returns could end up as just the latest in a long line of long-delayed and nostalgia-driven sequels that disappoints both longtime fans and newbies alike.

Much like his attempts at Alien 5, Neill Blomkamp's next attempt at reinventing a beloved 80's action classic didn't fare so well, and while Little Monsters director Abe Forsythe has since been hired as his replacement there doesn't seem to be much interest in seeing yet another reboot/sequel hybrid arrive on our screens at least a decade too late.

Aladdin 2

Given the long-lasting popularity of the animated original, it didn't come as much surprise that Aladdin raced to over a billion dollars at the box office. What did come as a surprise was the fact that Will Smith was easily the highlight of the entire movie, when a lot of the pre-release speculation thought that his terrifying-looking Genie was primed to be a disaster.

Aladdin might have been a very successful movie, but it wasn't a particularly good one, and left a lot to be desired in almost every area that mattered. It fell firmly into the more uninspired section of the Disney remake production line, but a sequel is nonetheless in the works with all of the key cast and crew members set to return.

Despite the countless billions the Disney remakes have brought in, only Alice and Wonderland and Maleficent have gotten sequels, and both Through the Looking Glass and Mistress of Evil suffered from vastly diminished returns at the box office and in terms of critical reaction.

The second adventure for Aladdin, Jasmine and the Genie will no doubt generate big bucks, but from the ending of the first movie there doesn't exactly seem to be anywhere exciting or interesting for the story to head, but the studio's relentless quest for world domination must continue.

Indiana Jones 5

On paper, things don't look good for Indiana Jones 5. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still lambasted by fans to this day as a desecration of the near-perfect original trilogy, which instantly lends an air of increased trepidation to the idea of another sequel.

Steven Spielberg is also stepping away from behind the camera, and while James Mangold is a talented filmmaker, The Beard's fingerprints have always been a key component in the DNA of the franchise. Having recently been delayed already until May 2022, and even that seems likely to change given Crystal Skull's slow crawl through development hell, Harrison Ford is going to be at least 80 the next time we see him cracking the whip.

The wildly polarizing and divisive response to Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker apparently hasn't deterred Disney in the slightest from bringing another beloved Lucasfilm franchise back to the big screen, and there's already a sense of unease and dread coursing through the fanbase at the prospect of seeing Indiana Jones once again struggle to live up to the expectations set by his first three adventures.

Lethal Weapon 5

We're now 33 years removed from the first time Roger Murtaugh said he was getting too old for this sh*t, and it's been 22 years since he said it last, but in January it was announced that Lethal Weapon 5 was officially back in active development, with all of the major players set to return.

Riggs and Murtaugh will always be known as one of the buddy movie's most iconic duos, but the tank was starting to run out of gas long before the fourth installment was released in 1998. With another two decades on the clock, do we really need to revisit these characters again and risk diluting their legacy?

This isn't exactly going one for the young 'uns, with 64 year-old Mel Gibson and 73 year-old Danny Glover possibly being joined by the 77 year-old Joe Pesci and the 66 year-old Rene Russo in an action movie directed by 90 year-old Richard Donner.

Sure, Donner might be the same age as Clint Eastwood and he's still churning them out on a regular basis, but there's a real sense that when it comes to Lethal Weapon 5, the gang are definitely too old for this sh*t this time.