Highlights
- Some movie reboots have been successful and well-received by both fans and critics.
- Reboots can bring fresh life and a larger audience to classic films, like the Ocean's Eleven series, and the reboot of The Planet of the Apes that spurned even more Planet of the Apes movies.
- Reboots can reimagine and change well-known characters, like multiple Batman reboots, Mad Max, and James Bond.
Reboots are a huge part of both the film and gaming industry nowadays. While many of the reboots that come out are found to be lacking by fans and critics, there have been some movie reboots that are actually for the better.
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From franchises that have had multiple reboots and finally hit a truly successful one, to some one-off classics that find fresh life and a larger audience by getting a face-lift, there are a long list of movie reboots that have gone amazingly well. The history of cinema is long, and there are so many films that came out before technology had caught up with what the film needed to become the best possible version of itself.
10 Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
IMDb Score: 7.3
- Based On Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
While there are a number of entries in George A Romero’s zombie series that helped define what the genre is today, one of the best-remembered is actually a reboot. Not only was Dawn of the Dead envisioned as a re-imagining of the entire zombie idea in a new, modern style. It was also the breakout for Zack Snyder, in his directorial debut.
His unique style, which has gone on to create a number of huge moments in modern cinema, is also what helped create and change the zombie genre in this seminal modern version of Romero’s older classic stories, which helped inspire many video game adaptions of the zombie genre.
9 Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
IMDb Score: 7.4
- Based On Spider-Man (2002)
There have been multiple reboots of the Spider-Man movie franchise, but the current one is the best immediate break-out for a new version of the character. Tom Holland’s version of Peter Parker was introduced in Captain America: Civil War, but his more intimate, street-level focused film was the first of its kind in the larger MCU.
Homecoming featured Peter as an uncertain hero, attempting to navigate his way through being part of the Avengers' larger universe while also dealing with high school. The superhero focus of the MCU made it difficult to explore the more human side of heroes with secret identities, but Spider-Man: Homecoming was the right reboot of this character at the right time.
8 Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011)
IMDb Score: 7.6
- Based On Planet Of The Apes (1968)
The Planet of the Apes franchise is one that has had previous failures in the reboot department. The 2001 attempt at redoing a similar version of the original film didn’t find huge success. However, the more recent re-imagining of the franchise shows the beginning of the apes rising to power.
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This reboot focused on a very character-driven story about a scientist who manages to give enhanced intelligence to apes, resulting in the eventual downfall of human society. This fascinating turn helped start a new franchise which is still going on today, as it prepares for a fourth installment of this new rebooted universe.
7 X-Men: First Class (2011)
IMDb Score: 7.7
- Based On X-Men (2000)
The Fox X-Men franchise may have finally ended because of Disney's purchase of Fox and their Marvel characters, but before that, they had their fair share of attempts at rebooting and resetting their universe. First Class was an attempt to see a rebooted version of the early days of the X-Men team.
Seeing the young versions of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr becoming the men they would be, and cast so brilliantly in their younger forms, helped make First Class a massive success as a part prequel, part reboot, though the villain was an unusual choice. While it didn’t yet feature many of the other characters fans loved, including Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, it did introduce a new focus to the franchise greatly.
6 Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
IMDb Score: 7.7
- Based On Ocean's Eleven (1960)
One of the reboots that was so beloved that it managed to erase the memory of the original from the minds of many. The first Ocean’s Eleven film came out in 1960 and starred the likes of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, but it never became as huge a phenomenon as it had the potential to be. The franchise seems set to return to the original '60s setting soon though.
However, the 2001 version of the film managed to become a much larger, beloved success. Featuring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts to name a few, this version defined the heist genre for modern audiences, managing to create something hugely iconic for pop culture.
5 The Batman (2022)
IMDb Score: 7.8
- Based On Batman: The Movie (1966)
There have been a lot of Batman reboots, more than almost any IP in history. The most recent one was another unexpectedly huge success, casting Robert Pattinson in the role of Bruce Wayne as the franchise focused more on a gritty, investigative style for the character, which was drawn out over a long runtime.
With so many versions of the character already, it was going to be difficult to find a completely original idea or style. But The Batman managed to do something incredible. A mixture of fantastic casting with the likes of Paul Dano as The Riddler and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman helped round this out as a fantastic reboot that helped excite viewers about the idea of a new cinematic Batman mythos.
4 Star Trek (2009)
IMDb Score: 7.9
- Based On Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Another franchise that has seen so much content over the years, Star Trek, has nevertheless never done any sort of reboot until 2009’s Star Trek brought a young prequel version of the cast from the original USS Enterprise together. Kirk, Spock, and the whole gang were young cadets, about to go off on their first great adventure together.
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Not only did this give a needed refresh to the Star Trek Universe, but it also brought new, younger fans to the series. Despite the strange multiversal concept introduced in this reboot of the franchise, there was a great response to this film, and it is considered by many fans to be one of the best films produced in the lengthy sci-fi series.
3 Casino Royale (2006)
IMDb Score: 8.0
- Based On Dr. No (1962)
James Bond is one of the longest-running film franchises of all time. While there have been many different versions of James Bond and the stories often don’t appear to be in any kind of order, the closest the series has come to an official reboot is when Daniel Craig took over as a younger version of Bond, achieving his 007 status for the first time.
Casino Royale was the first in the Ian Fleming series of James Bond novels, but it was never developed within the MGM film franchise until 2006. This classic story and the brilliant new serious tone for Bond gained new traction for the franchise, with Casino Royale being remembered by many fans as one of the best James Bond films ever.
2 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
IMDb Score: 8.1
- Based On Mad Max (1979)
George Miller originally made the Mad Max trilogy on a fairly low budget with Mel Gibson in Australia. However, after many years, technology got to a place where he could return to the franchise and reboot it with a much more cinematic style and a scale so grand it remains almost unbelievable.
The sweeping story and fascinating world built in this new universe haven’t been returned to, but it was a huge success that helped launch many careers, became a highlight reel for Charlize Theron, and reinvigorated the memory of the franchise. Many new fans who jumped on board with this entry are eagerly looking toward the future of the series.
1 Batman Begins (2005)
IMDb Score: 8.2
- Based On Batman: The Movie (1966)
Another reboot of the Batman character, the best-loved modern cinematic Batman, is definitely the Christian Bale version found in the Christopher Nolan trilogy. Batman Begins was the first entry in the history of Batman films that included a lot of history around how Batman trained to become the defender of Gotham.
While Batman is normally a detective, this aspect was taken away more to focus on Batman as a fighter and vigilante as he took on Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins to stop them from destroying Gotham. This reboot led to the most famous Batman film ever, and the Nolan trilogy remains a hugely important set of films for the Batman character.
