Hollywood regularly turns to time-tested plots, updating popular franchises. This trend covers a wide range of genres: from classic monsters to superheroes. Publications Gamespot has prepared a list of movie series that have been given new life on the screen most often, and we are briefly recounting them here.
Dracula
Number of restarts: approximately 63
Count Dracula is the leader in the number of reincarnations on the screen. The most famous adaptation is the 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi. Among them Other famous actors who have played the vampire include Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman, and Nicolas Cage. Even today interest to Dracula is not fading away, as evidenced by the upcoming movie «Nosferatu» starring Bill Skashgård.
Frankenstein
Number of restarts: approximately 52
Dr. Frankenstein’s creation is not far behind its «counterpart» by genre. The most famous adaptation is the 1931 film, starring Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster. Before that, there had already been three movies and two restarts. У following Universal films, the monster was played by Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. Later, a series of seven films from Hammer Films appeared, starting with «The Curse of Frankenstein» 1957. Among them, Robert De Niro and Aaron Eckhart, contemporary actors who embodied the creature.
Sherlock Holmes
Number of restarts: approximately 33
Despite the controversy over copyrightSherlock Holmes remains one of the most popular characters for adaptations. The first short film about Holmes appeared in 1900. Among them Famous actors who played the detective — Basil Rathbone, Peter Cushing, Michael Caine, Robert Downey Jr. and Ian McKellen. Recently, Henry Cavill played Sherlock in the Netflix movies about Enola Holmes.
Batman
Number of restarts: 8
The Dark Knight of Gotham has gone through several key relaunches. Before Michael Keaton who played Batman in 1989, there have been several film adaptations. Val Kilmer and George Clooney played the same Batman as Keaton. The real relaunch came in 2005 with «Batman: The Beginning» and Christian Bale in the title role. Then there was Ben Affleck in the DC Extended Universe movies, and now — Robert Pattinson. James Gunn plans to introduce a new Batman in The Brave and the Bold».
The Wolf Man
Number of restarts: 4 (the fifth is planned for 2025)
Another classic monster, the Wolf Man, has also returned to the screen many times. Lon Chaney Jr. played Larry Talbot/Wolf Man in six films. Since then majority of the character’s appearances were in individual movies, including «The Wolf Man» 2010 with Benicio del Toro. In January 2025, a new movie directed by Lee Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott will be released.
The Mummy
Number of restarts: 4
The first version of the franchise featured six films with actors such as Boris Karloff, Tom Tyler, Lon Chaney Jr. and Eddie Parker. Hammer Films releases a series of films about the mummy from 1959 to 1971 of the year. The 1999 relaunch with Brendan Fraser is the most famous version of the franchise. The 2017 film «The Mummy» with Tom Cruise was supposed to launch the «Dark Universe», but the project was not successful.
Halloween / Halloween
Number of restarts: 4
The «Halloween» franchise has a complex chronology. «Halloween 3» — separate a movie not related to Michael Myers. «Halloween: 20 Years Later» and «Halloween: Resurrection» ignored the events of the previous sequels. Rob Zombie made a complete relaunch in 2007. Since 2018, he has released three films that relaunched the franchise.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Number of restarts: 3
The first trilogy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films (1990-1993) was followed by an animated film in 2007. Michael Bay produced a new version in 2014 and its sequel in 2017. The franchise is currently represented by the animated film «Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Unleashed Chaos» and its upcoming sequel.
Source: Gamespot
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