This year and next, like many before, science fiction fans will be getting many sequels and reboots to their favourite movies, including Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Star Trek 2, MIB 3 and Caeser: Rise of the Apes. Looking beyond 2012, multiplexes look like being just as busy with sequels and reboots for the rest of this decade.
Of course, the future isn't yet written but here's a taster of what to expect...
Star Trek, Jurassic Park, Avatar and Star Wars Sequels Beyond 2012
Star Trek is one of the most endearing of all science fiction franchises and has had both sequels and a reboot. The original series of ten movies stretched from 1979 to 2002 and followed the adventures of first Kirk and then Picard before the hugely successful 2009 Star Trek reboot from J. J. Abrams spun the franchise off in a new direction with an alternative reality.
With that movie earning almost $400 million worldwide at the box office and next year's sequel also expected to be a big hit, further voyages of the starship Enterprise beyond then are all but guaranteed. But whether Abrams will continue to direct isn't so certain and, like the Star Trek movies before, expect to see more than one director at the helm of the franchise in future.
Next year's live-action Disney movie John Carter of Mars is very likely to spawn sequels as it's based on the first story in Edgar Rice Burroughs' 11-volume Barsoom series about the adventures of an American Civil War solider on a Mars populated by alien species.
Disney's Tron: Legacy may have only hit cinemas last December but there's already talk of a sequel, with producer Steven Lisberger confirming in October that a script was now being written for Tron 3. Also confirmed is the new Tron: Uprising animated TV series which starts next Summer, with Bruce Boxleitner lending his voice to the title character.
Another science fiction movie from last year, Predators, is also set to get a sequel after pulling in over $120 million worldwide. Director Robert Rodriquez has already indicated in interviews that he has ideas for more movies in the series and actor Adrien Brody has expressed an interest in returning to the part of mercenary Royce for Predators 2.
The first two Transformers movies have so far earned a staggering $1.5 billion at the box office and this year's Transformers: Dark of the Moon will almost certainly push the franchise over $2 billion for Paramount Pictures. With so much potential for further movies, more sequels are all but guaranteed but IMDB reports these will be without either director Michael Bay or lead actor Shia Labeouf. Could there even be a reboot?
Also possibly more a reboot than a sequel will be Jurassic Park 4 which is long overdue after the huge success of the first three movies. Joe Johnston, the director of 2001's third installment and this summer's Captain America: The First Avenger, said as early as last year that there would be a Jurassic Park 4 but it would break away from the first three movies and be the start of a new trilogy. But whether the director will have time after making the inevitable sequels to Captain America remains to be seen.
Another overdue sequel - but definitely not a reboot - is a sequel to the 1996 mega blockbuster Independence Day about an alien invasion of Earth. In a February interview this year with Roland Emmerich in Empire magazine, the director stated "One day it will happen" but that it was currently nowhere.
But the big science fiction sequels of this decade will be Avatar 2 and Avatar 3, which director James Cameron has confirmed will be shot back-to-back and released December 2014 and 2015 after the two Hobbit movies have finished their Christmas reign of the multiplexes around the globe. Little is currently known about these two 3D sequels, except that Cameron has hinted they may feature scenes beneath the oceans of Pandora or even on another world, but with Avatar the biggest movie of all time (earning over $2.7 billion at the box office) expectation is huge.
Or will the Avatar sequels really be the biggest this decade? Rumours constantly persist that George Lucas will make a new Star Wars trilogy that takes place either before or after the current movies. There's still plenty of life in the franchise and the expanded universe is a big one with plenty of stories still to tell. The Clone Wars animated TV series is a big success and this year's release of all six Star Wars movie on Blu-ray is sure to set sales records. Next year those same movies will start to be released at cinemas in 3D and a live-action TV series is still planned. George Lucas may deny any more Star Wars movies will be made but that doesn't mean it won't happen this decade.
Terminator, Fantastic Voyage, Logan's Run and Flash Gordon Science Fiction Movie Reboots
One of the most popular but troubled science fiction franchises is Terminator. 2009's Terminator: Salvation with Christian Bale and Sam Worthington was expected to resurrect the franchise but then hoped seemed lost when the production company went bankrupt. But now Universal Pictures are set to reboot the Terminator franchise, possibly with none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger returning.
With top directors like James Cameron, Roland Emmerich and Paul Greengrass already involved in the past, it may seem like a remake of the 1966 science fiction classic Fantastic Voyage will never be made. But hope still remains and Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy is the latest to be involved for 20th Century Fox, with James Cameron now producing the 3D remake set inside the human body.
Moving forward a decade, a 70's movie set to get the reboot treatment is Logan's Run about a future society that puts to death anyone who reaches 30. Many attempts have been made in the past to remake Logan's Run, including a 2004 treatment by Bryan Singer, but it now seems to be going ahead, with Ryan Gosling set to play the lead 'Sandman'.
Other science fiction movie reboots and remakes include Flash Gordon, The Black Hole, Short Circuit, The Blob, Mad Max, West World, Dune, Escape from New York and Robocop.
And the 80s and the Flash Gordon movie has now become a cult classic and a reboot has been confirmed with The Crazies director Breck Eisner bringing the comic strip hero back to the big screen.
Future Science Fiction Movies
For science fiction fans, there's never been so many movies to look forward to. If the years beyond 2012 seem too far away, there's still movies like Transformers: Dark of the Moon to look forward to this year and Star Trek 2, MIB 3, Battleship and John Carter of Mars heading to cinemas next year.
Jason Glover - Jason Glover has worked in the marketing teams of major companies for over twenty years, including over ten years in online marketing ...
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