5 Long-Dormant Movie Franchises Finally Returning in 2026

In the endless cycle of reboots, sequels, and revivals, some movie franchises go nowhere and are always in the cultural conversation. The last year that there wasn’t a movie based on any kind of DC Comics character was 2015, and it goes all the way back to 2001 for the last time there wasn’t a Marvel movie. Recent revivals like Jurassic World, which brought back the franchise after 14 years in 2015, have managed to stick around with three more sequels in the ten years since then. Even long-awaited sequels like 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 ended a decades-long drought for a franchise and made way for the series to expand into TV.

This year will see even more franchises finally break free from the doldrums of irrelevance, and some of them have already come out. Back in January, fans were able to see Return to Silent Hill, the first film in the video game adaptation in fourteen years, while just last week saw the long-awaited revival of Faces of Death, the first film in that “series” in twenty-seven years. There are even more set to debut the rest of the year, though, including one almost forty years in the making.

5) Scary Movie

Time since last movie: Thirteen years (2013’s Scary Movie 5)

The upcoming Scary Movie 6 will not only right the wrong of bringing back this parody franchise in a major way, but by bringing back the creators of the franchise, the Wayans brothers. Not only does Keenen Ivory Wayans write the new movie with brothers Marlon and Shawn Wayans, but the latter two also reprise their two characters from the original films. Arriving this summer, Scary Movie 6 is poised to not miss a beat in the time that it has been away, with the trailer revealing that it will not only roast the new Scream movies but also films like Get Out, Longlegs, Smile, M3GAN, The Substance, and Weapons. It seems likely that this one is headed to success, hopefully meaning the wait for the next one isn’t nearly as long.

4) Street Fighter

Time since last movie: Seventeen years (2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li)

A fixture of arcades and video games for almost forty years, Street Fighter, like so many other video game franchises, is one that has a frayed history with live-action adaptations. Though the 1994 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raúl Juliá has garnered some cultural reappraisal in the years since, the series largely has a disastrous reputation, with the original film holding an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes and the 2009 film holding a 3% rating.

With the upcoming film, the series will attempt to actually right all of those wrongs, with a film that has not only earned the praise of one of the most important figures in Street Fighter gaming, but assembled a cast of beloved actors for game-accurate versions of the characters and story.

3) Meet the Parents

Time since last movie: Sixteen Years (2010’s Little Fockers)

No one could have guessed that back in 2000, the romantic comedy Meet the Parents would kickstart an entire film franchise, but the success of the awkward comedy did just that. Even the two sequels, despite terrible critical ratings, managed to make hundreds of millions at the box office, which makes this gap a little surprising. In any event, Meet the Parents will return this year with Focker In-Law on November 25.

In Focker In-Law, Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller return as their characters, this time with Skyler Gisondo playing Ben Stiller’s son, now ready to propose to his own partner (Ariana Grande), something that Stiller’s Gaylord Focker is uneasy about. The film will put a spin on the original concept, not only seeing what places Stiller’s character will go to in order to stop the engagement, but how Grande’s character combats it in her own way.

2) Chronicles of Narnia

Time since last movie: Sixteen years (2010’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)

Though not related to the last set of movies that adapted C.S. Lewis’ novels, the new Narnia film from Greta Gerwig and Netflix will continue the trend of adapting a different book from the series. Based on the 1955 novel The Magician’s Nephew, the film will revive the series by starting with the first story in the chronology of the Narnia series and seemingly put the franchise on a path towards adapting all of the books in the proper order.

It remains to be seen how audiences will react to a new take on Narnia arriving over a decade after the last one, as it’s certainly been more than long enough for interest in a reboot to spark imaginations, but the history of the last attempts at adapting Narnia for the big screen revealed diminishing returns after the most famous story (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) had already arrived.

1) Masters of the Universe

Time since last movie: 39 Years (1987’s Masters of the Universe)

Almost forty years ago, the first live-action adaptation of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was released. Though the Dolph Lundgren-starring movie was a flop upon release and lambasted by critics, it has become a cult classic in the years since. As a result, and thanks to the reboot economy in Hollywood, there have been countless attempts over the past 15 years to bring another He-Man movie into the world.

This summer will finally see the decades without another live-action He-Man come to an end, with Bumblebee director Travis Knight bringing his love for these ’80s franchises to the screen once again. Though unconnected to the original film, don’t expect the Frank Langella post-credit scene to get referenced; the new movie finally revives the Masters of the Universe series as a movie, and fans have been waiting a long time to see the franchise done justice.