One of the Greatest Fantasy Movies Of All Time Is Back On Netflix (With a Sequel Finally In The Works)

We all have that movie that just shunts us straight back to our childhood. Whether it’s actually a good movie or not is usually up for debate, but at the end of the day, it’s nostalgic, fun, and it gives us all the good feelings. This movie, however, is actually really good—both with nostalgia lenses and without. It’s creative, whimsical, scarier than expected, and fully deserves its status as one of the most iconic fantasy movies of all time. 

We’re obviously talking about Labyrinth, which is now available to stream on Netflix. One of Jim Henson’s best creative projects, Labyrinth centers on Sarah, a frustrated teenager who summons the Goblins to take her baby brother away and solve all of her problems (honestly, relatable). When the baby is actually taken, Sarah must follow in hopes of rescuing him, only to fall headfirst into the dangerous world of the Goblin King, Jareth. It’s exactly as weird and delightful as it sounds, and David Bowie wears a very cool wig throughout. 

Read Next

Nosferatu Director Weighs in on Reports of Developing a New Labyrinth

A Legacy Film For Henson

Not as terrifying as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth takes a more whimsical and enchanting approach to fantasy as it sets Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) on her journey to the Goblin King’s (David Bowie) castle in search of her brother. The music is offbeat, a bit jarring in and of itself, with songs like “Magic Dance” solidifying the topsy-turvy world that Henson has created. Are these songs Bowie’s best work? No. But they’re fun, and in the face of the darkness that lurks beneath the surface of Labyrinth, that’s exactly what they needed to be. 

And now that it’s finally streaming again, it seems that the news about the sequel has shifted from ‘this is never happening’ to a much more positive direction. Two years ago, Scott Derrick sat down with our very own Chris Killian, saying, “I don’t know what’s happening with that. We never got the script all the way to a place where the studio wanted to make it, but I was very proud of the work that we did on it. And it’s a hard, hard project to turn into something commercially viable, because it’s so imaginative and surreal that there’s no way that it can be done cheaply. And at the same time, it’s so daring and different that it is a tough movie for a studio to feel competent, that it has enough commercial value to earn a profit. So I think that it’s a tough nut to crack, but all I can tell you is I’m very proud of the work that we did on it. We certainly had a great film in mind.” A year later, in 2024, Lisa Henson, Chris Henson’s daughter and the CEO of the Jim Henson Company, shed some light on where they were at with the project: “We just haven’t been able to get the script right. We’ve had a couple of scripts written, and we’re gonna start over again. We’re gonna start with a new script and a new director so it won’t be anytime soon. In fact, because we’re in that starting-over process, I just don’t even want to talk about dates or when it could be because I don’t want to get anybody excited.”

As of now, it looks like Robert Eggers, who has directed absolute bangers like The Northman, The VVitch, and Nosferatu, is attached to the project as its director. Chris and Eleanor Columbus are also set to produce. Will the sequel happen anytime soon? Probably not. Egger’s focus right now is fully on Werewulf. “The thing is, I always have a ton of things in development because you need to survive this industry and you don’t know what is going to hit next,” he told us back in January. “But I definitely want the next film I make to be an original movie.”

What are your thoughts on a Labyrinth sequel from Eggers? Let us know in the comments before you head over to the ComicBook forums to see what other fans are saying.