5 2000s Fantasy Movies That Are Officially Being Rebooted

The 2000s were a huge, transformative decade for fantasy movies, and the cinematic landscape in general. The double whammy successes of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone ($974m) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ($883m) propelled studios and audiences into a whole new era. That was one where fantasy genres and fandoms were king, finding a literary adaptation was crucial, and tapping into a YA market was considered best for business.

It led us, one way or another, to things like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and along the way a trail of copycats – some of which soared, some of which ended up as disasters, and most of which took on the Harry Potter model rather then the Lord of the Rings one. From things like The Golden Compass, Eragon, and Inkheart, through to the 2010s and Percy Jackson and Hunger Games franchises, we’ve already seen several franchises come, go, and return again, and that’s continuing in the 2020s as well, with several set for a reboot.

5) Harry Potter

In a sign of things coming full circle, and confirmation that history will always repeat itself – or at least that Hollywood is an ouroboros – Harry Potter is coming back to screens, 25 years after it started the modern fantasy and YA boom. This time around, though, it’ll be on TV. HBO’s remake, starting with The Philosopher’s Stone this Christmas, is aiming to cover each book in one season of TV across the next decade or so. That will allow for it to more faithfully adapt the books, while expanding beyond what’s on the page as well.

The bar is high for the remake, because the movies – which only finished 15 years ago – remain beloved and rather ever-present. They’re popular on streaming, they’re shaped multiple theme parks and other visitor attractions, and are a huge business in their own right. Finding the balance between nostalgia and doing its own thing will be key to getting this one right. Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton will play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, respectively, with the impressive adult cast including John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape.

4) The Chronicles of Narnia

The Narnia books may predate Harry Potter by four decades, but Disney’s big screen franchise was undoubtedly born from the success of the Wizarding World (and from the adaptations of C.S. Lewis’ contemporary, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings). And for a time, it looked like coming close to repeating those hits, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) was a clear success, grossing $745m worldwide on a $180m budget. That, however, is the best known and most popular of the Narnia books, and subsequent movies couldn’t quite match it.

After Prince Caspian ($419m) and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ($415m), the franchise petered out, and lay dormant for several years, albeit with constant talk of a reboot. That finally arrived at Netflix thanks to Greta Gerwig, who is coming to it off the back of her billion-dollar smash, Barbie. This time out, though, things are starting with The Magician’s Nephew: chronologically the first in the Narnia book series, it was the sixth to be released, and has never been adapted before. It serves as a prequel to the other books, featuring the creation of Narnia by Aslan.

The Magician’s Nephew movie boasts an impressive cast, including Emma Mackey as Jadis, aka the White Witch, along with Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep (believed to be voicing Aslan). There’s a lot of anticipation for the movie, which will be getting Netflix’s first wide theatrical release on February 12, 2027, before streaming on the platform from April 2. Gerwig is signed on to direct another Narnia movie as well, so this should just be the beginning of what could be a complete adaptation of Lewis’ works if all goes well.

3) Eragon

Eragorn, the first book in author Christopher Paolini’s The Inheritance Cycle series, tells the story of a young farm boy finds a mysterious stone, which turns out to be a dragon egg that eventually hatches, and sets him on a chosen one journey. It was an obvious choice for adaptation in the 2000s, but the movie did not work out well. The film made sweeping changes to the source material, was panned by critics (with just 15% on Rotten Tomatoes), and underperformed at the box office, earning $250m on a $100m budget, meaning its potential franchise was DOA.

In 2021, Paolini and fans started a push on social media for a new adaptation under Disney, who held the rights after the purchase of 20th Century Fox, using the hashtag #EragonRemake. A year later it was reported that an Eragorn remake was in the works as a Disney+ series, with Paolini set to serve as one of its writers.

Updates after that were few and far between, but earlier this year it was reported that Eragon is still moving forward, with Todd Harthan and Todd Helbing (Superman & Lois) as co-creators alongside the author. After the success of Percy Jackson, another failed movie property that’s worked as a Disney+ series with greater involvement from its author, hopes are high for it finally getting Eragon right.

2) Twilight

One of the biggest post-Harry Potter successes, Twilight turned the book phenomenon into a smash movie franchise, with the first movie, starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, grossing $407m on a budget of just $37m, and the final entry, Breaking Dawn – Part 2, pulling in $829m. Few fandoms at the time were as rabid and passionate as Twilight‘s, which was a true sensation in the late 2000s and into the 2010s, and a new take is going to test just how strong interest still is.

The plan is not for a full reboot as such, nor a remake, at least not exactly. Instead, we’re getting an adaptation of author Stephanie Meyer’s Midnight Sun, which retells the story of Twilight from the point-of-view of Edward Cullen. In another change to the movies, this will be a TV show, and an animated one at that. Meyer has discussed writing more Twilight books as well, so it’s possible this won’t be the last new screen iteration of the vampire series that gets to sparkle on TV.

1) Pirates Of The Caribbean

Will the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie be a direct sequel, a reboot, or something in between? That’s been a question hanging over Disney for years, and one it needs to get right. Purely in terms of Walt Disney Pictures, rather than Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, and Disney Animation, Pirates is one of the biggest franchises it has, and it’s surprising it’s been so long since an entry was released (the last one was Dead Men Tell No Tales in 2017). The controversies surrounding Johnny Depp have made his future uncertain, while Margot Robbie was set to lead a new movie at one point, which may or may not be happening.

What’s clear is that Disney, and franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer, very much want to figure it out. It was reported earlier this year that a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie was a priority for Disney, and that Robbie would still be involved, while it might also focus on the son of Depp’s Jack Sparrow. Bruckheimer confirmed discussions are ongoing with Robbie, but denied the rumor about Sparrow’s son. He does, however, want Depp himself to return, which is no doubt a major part of contention and conversation within the studio. At some point, though, with or without him, the Pirates franchise is going to set sail again.

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