I sure wish the saying “it’s worth the wait” were always true.

In some cases, as with these sequels that took over 20 years to release, it was indeed well worth the wait.

Sadly, that’s not the case for all these films.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

23 years after we saw Gordon Gecko go to jail, we’re thrust into a story taking place during the 2008 financial crisis.

Despite Michael Douglas’s return as the popular character and Oliver Stone directing, it fails to live up to its expectations. Just because you can make a sequel to a beloved movie doesn’t mean you should. It made money at the box office, though, so there’s that!

Blade Runner 2049

Meanwhile, Blade Runner 2049 was absolutely worth the 35-year wait between films.

In a cruel twist of fate, however, it didn’t perform well at the box office despite rave reviews.

Tron: Legacy

28 years after Disney’s Tron revolutionized the world of movies and became a cult classic, we finally got a sequel with 2010’s Tron: Legacy.

The wait for the next release in the Tron franchise won’t be as long. Tron: Ares is set to release later this year.

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Fantasia 2000

Disney has a tendency to keep people waiting.

Now, I’m not sure what the demand was for a new Fantasia movie, but we still got one 59 years after the original.

Bambi II

If you think that was a long wait, we went 64 years between Bambi movies.

Bambi II is nothing special to write home about, though, as it’s a straight-to-video release.

Return to Oz

With hype for Wicked For Good set to fully kick in, it seems like a good time to talk about that other Wizard of Oz movie.

It’s an unofficial sequel to The Wizard of Oz, but a sequel 45 years in the making nonetheless. It’s not the classic the original was, but it’s still a faithful adaptation of the novels by L. Frank Baum.

Prometheus

Yeah, this one’s a bit controversial.

Nobody realized that Prometheus was a prequel to Alien until a major plot twist by the end of the movie. It’s too bad Prometheus isn’t any good; at least we have Alien: Romulus. We just had to wait 38 long years for a worthy follow-up to Aliens.

Mad Max: Fury Road

This one, however, was definitely worth the wait.

30 years after Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, George Miller made a glorious return with one of the most stylish and entertaining movies of the 2010s.

Psycho II

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho is one of the best horror movies of all time. It’s an absolute classic that, for some reason, saw a sequel release in 1983.

Here’s the plot twist: it was actually somewhat well-received. In some cases, as with director Quentin Tarantino, people prefer this one over the original!

The Rage: Carrie 2

Psycho isn’t the only classic horror film to get a sequel 20-plus years in the making.

Sadly, The Rage: Carrie 2 can’t repeat Psycho II‘s success. It’s a massive disappointment, but then again, the movie was rewritten to be a direct sequel during development.

The Black Bird

Chances are that you’ve never heard of 1975’s The Black Bird. However, you’ve probably heard about 1941’s The Maltese Falcon.

So what does a 1970s comedy have to do with a classic film noir? The Black Bird is the sequel, of course. Why they decided to make it a comedy, of all things, I’ll never understand. It was received as well as you’d expect.

Independence Day: Resurgence

One thing that stood out to me when I was rewatching Independence Day on July 4th was how well the movie holds up today.

The same cannot be said for its sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence. The movie tries to run through all the hits again, even dragging Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman along for the ride. However, it’s missing Will Smith. It’s also missing a clever script to keep things grounded.

Dumb and Dumber To

Okay, technically, we got Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd as a prequel in 2003, but that lacked the original cast.

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels finally returned 20 years later for Dumb and Dumber To, but they left all the good jokes back in the ’90s.

Bill & Ted Face the Music

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Bill & Ted Face the Music, the first Bill & Ted movie since 1991’s Bogus Journey.

Thankfully, the film was well received as a worthy entry in the franchise and a much better modern sequel compared to a certain other Keanu Reeves franchise (looking at you, Matrix Resurrections).

Kindergarten Cop 2

I have no idea who in their right mind asked for a sequel to Kindergarten Cop 25 years after the sequel.

You’d figure they’d change their mind after Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he’s passing on the film, claiming that Detective John Kimble (he’s a cop, you idiot) was retired. Instead, we got Dolph Lundgren in the lead role. It bombed hard with critics and was a straight-to-DVD release.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Let’s end on a high note. Yes, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice leans hard into nostalgia, but hey, it works.

Beetlejuice was never a serious movie, and Tim Burton’s sequel, 36 years in the making, delivers on every front. It’s great seeing Michael Keaton and the rest of the original cast back at it again, and the new additions (Jenna Ortega) are an excellent addition.

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