(Credits: Far Out / Siebbi)
Sat 21 June 2025 1:30, UK
Sequels have divided cinema fans for decades, perhaps because there are countless sequels out there that stand as nothing more than just shameless cash grabs. We’re looking at you, Space Jam: A New Legacy. Hollywood is an industry run on producing as much money as humanly possible, often inhumanely, and that means exploiting good (or, let’s be real, bad) movies for the sake of getting fans to return to cinemas years – even decades – later.
What’s easier than capitalising on pre-existing intellectual property? With the characters and a storyline already established, a sequel has the potential to repeat the success the first film achieved, and in some instances, they might even triumph over them. Of course, there are many great sequels out there that don’t feel like cash grabs at all. You only have to look at The Godfather Part II as the ultimate example, while everything from Toy Story 2 to Before Sunset also stand as strong sequels that feel like necessary additions to their pre-existing worlds.
Hollywood mainstay Jeff Bridges, who made his film debut when he was just one year old in the 1951 film The Company She Keeps, has nothing against a sequel if it feels right, and he’s appeared in several throughout his career. In 1990, he reunited with Peter Bogdanovich and the cast of The Last Picture Show for its much less well-received sequel, Texasville, while he has also starred in sequels like Tron: Legacy and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Clearly, Bridges is down for anything.
There was once a sequel he was really down to make happen, but sadly for the actor, it never came to fruition. Bridges was keen to appear in a sequel to Starman, directed by John Carpenter, which he starred in back in 1984. Alongside Karen Allen, who played the widowed Jenny Hayden, Bridges led the film to significant acclaim, and he even bagged an Academy Award nomination for it as a result. For a sci-fi romance movie from the man behind movies like Halloween, Escape From New York, and The Thing – none of which were exactly Oscar fodder – this was quite an unusual feat.
Starman wasn’t a commercial hit, which is perhaps why a sequel never came about, even though there seemed to be plans in place for a part two. There simply wasn’t enough financial gain in making another movie, it seemed – considering that the first made less than $30 million – so Bridges’ dream of reprising his role as Scott Hayden died a tragic death.
Talking to ComingSoon.net, the actor revealed, “I was kind of surprised that they never did [a sequel] for Starman because it was all set up for one. Karen Allen is pregnant with the Star Baby and there’s a silver ball with the kid. Whenever I see Karen, we always jam about different ideas for a sequel.”
Instead, Carpenter moved on to yet another commercial failure, Big Trouble in Little China, which only made a measly $11m. We can’t help but think that perhaps a Starman sequel might have fared a little better.
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