r/MovieRecommendations • u/LemmonLizard • 1d ago
Help me find Movies/TV shows One offs with unique and creative premises, lore, and world building
Huge fan of Bright. I need a sequel. There is so much to unpack there. What are some other movies or shows that could have had huge potential being a series or a show but only ever got one movie/season?
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u/SleestakSamurai 1d ago
District 9
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u/LemmonLizard 1d ago
One of my favorites 🙌
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u/ZeroQuick Film Buff 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/PZ8gosOm2tNWU
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
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u/Optimal_Collection77 1d ago
They nearly got a sequel
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u/nothing_to_see_meow 1d ago
The author of the books recently got the rights back and is currently working on a sequel that focuses on Jessica.
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u/beef-jerking 1d ago
Really??
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u/Optimal_Collection77 1d ago
Yeah JJ Abraham was asked to write it but the project never came together. I'm glad it started as a one off. It's still incredible
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u/ExaminationNo9186 1d ago
Were I live has a cinema that purely shows movies that were released more than 10 years ago.
So anything from the 90s, through the about the mid2010's. (They've just had marathons for LotR, Harry Potter, and the Matrix).
But yeah, it was fantastic to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit? on the big screen, in the original 35mm film again for the first time in roughly 30 years.
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u/The_CatchXXII 1d ago
I felt like Bright drew heavy inspiration from the lore of Shadowrun, especially the race dynamics with orcs. If you want more of that, check out the Shadowrun game trilogy, as well as the novels.
Willow had such good lore and left me wanting more, so I read the novel trilogy.
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u/drethnudrib 1d ago
Oh man, the Harebrained Schemes Shadowrun games are so damn good. Speaking of tabletop adaptations, their Battletech game was also phenomenal!
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u/Whatdafuqisgoingon 1d ago
I agree! I loved shadowrun books. I think it is prime time for someone to do the story by Nigel Finley, 2XS
2XS has to be one of my favorite shadowrun books of all time, and I would love to see a movie with the magic and the hacking with cyberdecks. 2xs is about people getting hooked on virtual reality to the point where they never come out and starve to death.
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u/Barcnori 1d ago
Findley's Shadowrun novels were great. His last one set in Hawaii really got me hooked and I went back to read the others as well.
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u/Mattloch42 1d ago
Knowing that there could have been so much more but then getting... that. So much wasted potential.
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u/slatchaw 1d ago
Edge of Tomorrow
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u/PuzzleheadedRegion87 1d ago
Nah, it’s ground hog day with aliens lol
ETA: I still like the movie but it’s not overly original1
u/Kinperor 1d ago
Edge of Tomorrow
They made an anime movie of the novel that inspired that movie. It's called "All you need is kill".
I don't think it's movie of the year, but it's definitely unique and with a very confusing intrigue.
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u/Pleased_to_meet_u 1d ago
"All You Need is Kill" is a manga that was published in 2008. Edge of Tomorrow came out six year later and it's based on the manga.
17 years after the manga came out there was a movie by the same name. The movie is very different from the manga, but it's the same actions as seen by different characters perspectives.
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u/Kinperor 1d ago
It was initially published in 2004 as a light novel.
I don't know about the rest, I only saw the movie and can believe it's not very similar. Still fits the thread's prompt, imo.
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u/Much-Farmer-2752 1d ago
There is so much to unpack there.
Hell yes.
I want to see a riot police centaur in action :)
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u/LemmonLizard 1d ago
My wife and i have a running joke.
"We dont talk about centaurs."
In every movie that has Centaurs, we never get any backstory on them, so it became an inside joke cemented by Bright during this scene when we saw them and were like "Wait wait wait, we're just gonna brush over that?! CENTAURS?!"
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u/Much-Farmer-2752 1d ago
- Well, that's funny.
- What's that?
- I didn't know we had a mounted division.
- Nobody tells me nuthing!
(c) other great movie :)
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u/Helota_Keksz 1d ago
When I saw the drunk war vet swinging a magic sword, rambling about the war against the Orcs, I was hooked.
Hell, seeing the "Curse the Police" graffiti already caught my attention and it was still the opening sequence.
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u/AnotherCup-O-Noodles 1d ago
Pacific rim. It’s too bad they never made a sequel, it would have been really good, too bad they never did…
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u/thehoagieboy 1d ago
I agree. Del Toro should do that because he surely didn't let someone else do it poorly instead of doing it right himself.
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u/matttheepitaph 1d ago
GATTACA, Equilibrium, Cast a Deadly Spell, Dragonslayer, Inception.
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u/PhishClub 1d ago
Man Bright had so much potential
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u/purpleburgundy 1d ago
The world buildi qas really great, I didn't care for the screenplay and story itself though. I'd be interested in another shot at the world with a different screenwriter.
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u/Krinks1 1d ago
The Dark Crystal (1982). Not a single human in the movie, all done with puppets, and just as engaging (or even more so) than living actors. Fascinating world with lots of lore.
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u/Ancient-Many4357 1d ago
Did you watch the Netflix show Dark Crystal Age of Resistance that they canceled after one season?
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u/Lucky_Veruca 1d ago
Dredd (2012)
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u/Which_Concept3419 1d ago
Good film but the cyberpunk stuff has been done a dozen times.. the comics world is much more dynamic and distinct
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u/dyrkasolen 1d ago
Bright prequel?
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u/FewBelt7288 1d ago
I’m here for it!
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u/dyrkasolen 1d ago
They talk about the battle and war and coalition and magic disappearing and hella lot of drama...
- Really? Wouldn't we love that
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u/PuzzleheadedRegion87 1d ago
Poor things
Bugonia
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u/bigcheese4411 1d ago
Bugonia is great
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u/PuzzleheadedRegion87 1d ago
I want to say All-Star cast? But honestly? Emma stone and Jesse Plemons just carried it. No need for help lol
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u/neorapsta 1d ago
It's kinda criminal they wasted all that money on Bright when Shadowrun is right there as an IP and less of a lazy copy-paste job.
Alita Battle Angel, Dredd and District 9 for me.
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u/jthrowawaymc 1d ago
Jumper (2008)
Push (2009)
Fountain of Youth (2025)
The Giver (2014)
Last Night in Soho (2021)
Robin Hood (2010)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Van Helsing (2004)
Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)
None of these are trying to be the best movie ever made but, like you said, they each have an original premises that filmmakers could have done more with. And I find all of these to be well worth a watch!
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u/Sea-Night-1946 1d ago
Fantastic list. I'll add Equilibrium
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u/goldstar0011 1d ago
Just rewatched this with girlfriend, was her first watch after watch the Batman film, she loved it
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u/LemmonLizard 1d ago
Oh man i used to watch Push like once a month religiously. Theres a tv show or movie that came out a few years back, i cant remember the name but it was the same kind of "A bunch of random people in society have powers." But it's like outlawed to use them.
Man From Uncle is also one of my favorites. Henry Cavil is so good in that character.
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u/owlbrain 1d ago
You know that half of these are based on existing things right? Not really original premises.
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u/Loosechili 1d ago
I feel like Mitchells vs the machines is slept on. What a great flick. The art direction is so good. The story is heartfelt. So funny and so heartfelt. Deserved awards and praise.
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u/Captain_Squirrel1000 1d ago
I'm so sad that stuff like "Bright' isn't done more often. As a HUGE fantasy lover, I loved the idea, but I can understand that it wasn't profitable enough. Still, to this day I am amazed that it actually exists and I will stand with the mindset that Bright is ahead of its time
Anyway, my pick:
"Arrival" (2016)
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u/monsterZero71 1d ago
Bright should have been a series. I would have watched the shit out of that. It reminded me of the old pen and paper RPG Shadowrun.
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u/Go_cards502 1d ago
Have you seen Alien Nation? It's basically Bright but with aliens and a better film.
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u/No_Page_2566 1d ago
"Bright" really needed more movies. The premise had so much potential.
A shame really...
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u/Current_Account_2742 1d ago
Alien nation. It's the movie the movie in the post kinda ripped off but with aliens
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u/ryandmc609 1d ago
Buckaroo Banzai!
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u/weasel286 1d ago
This. So much. They’d need to redo the first movie or just swing for the fences with a full recast for sequels. The OG cast is way too old now.
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u/Nateosis 1d ago
Kung Fu Hustle
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u/Majestic-Lake-5602 1d ago
In a just world, there would be a Stephen Chow cinematic universe twice as big and 70 times as successful as Marvel.
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u/Lead-Exact 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/dAoYkA1lh3XQSP9QRi
Thought we were going somewhere with Brightburn
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u/BeeB0pB00p 1d ago
Like others here, District 9 is the one I want to see a sequel to.
But Bright had a lot of potential.
The image actually reminds me of Alien Nation, an older movie. Worth a watch if you haven't seen it. Similar vibe, but aliens instead of supernatural. Two detectives one alien, one human.
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u/RobBrown4PM 1d ago
Pacific Rim
Shit deserved a sequel
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u/MrJaffaCake 1d ago
It got a sequel?
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u/RobBrown4PM 1d ago
If it did, it's news to me!
Was it good?
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u/MrJaffaCake 1d ago
Definitely not as much as the first one. But big robots go boom so its not terrible.
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u/LanguageSexViolence_ 1d ago
Bright:Samurai Soul is a thing. Animated film from 2021. Takes place in feudal Japan. It's pretty solid. Just in case no one here realized there is another Bright universe movie.
I would've liked a direct sequel, ormaybe a modern day prequel. But Bright was by no means perfect, it was very entertaining, though.
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u/Legitimate-Log5823 1d ago
Bright would have been great if Jakoby had been the bright and not whatever Will Smith's character was named. That would have made the world building much deeper!
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u/Flimsy-Locksmith6978 1d ago
Loved Bright (despite Smith, seriously why him), honestly Nick was the best part.
Try 'Moon ', wonderful movie. 'The Void ', one of my modern favorites.
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u/Either-Skirt6031 1d ago
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003): Loosely inspired by the comic of the same name it takes place in a world where all characters from fictional literature from Mina Harker from Dracula to Tom Sawyer exist in the same world & form a proto superhero team to fight the forces of evil.
War of the Worlds Goliath (2012): An animated film that acts as a sequel to War of the Worlds featuring an alternate steampunk universe where various governments band together to build giant mechs to fight Martian tripods, it’s got Teddy Roosevelt & The Red Baron punching Martians!
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u/gogozombie2 1d ago
I wouldn't call Bright unique in terms of premise, lore, and world building. It's Shadowrun with the cyberware.
Don't get me wrong, I love the film but it is not that unique.
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u/WondrousWiener 1d ago
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - I feel like this Reddit thread is this movie’s moment. I can’t think of a more perfect answer. (With the caveat that the movie is pretty fuckin’ bad, as I recall.)
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u/CotswoldP 1d ago
Bright could have been great. Instead they said "let's make the Orcs black", which allowed lazy writing and being able to get away with racial stereotypes that would have passed muster in the 1960s with black gangs. I wish they had actually read some Shadowrun material to see how it could be done well.
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u/thehuntinggearguy 1d ago
Bright was a neat idea but the execution was awful. Magic and orcs but it's all just an on-the-nose allegory for American racism.
Everything Everywhere all at once was certainly unique.
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u/KimJongUngh 1d ago
the only thing about this movie that got me was that the orc guy mentions his people sided with a dark god/evil and he is repenting for his peoples sins. And his people were like representations of of minorities irl. and i kept thinking “are they tryna say blacks/browns are evil?” and it just tripped me up the whole movie.
the lore building was still great. the wands only being able to be handled by magical beings, and the fallout being described as a nuclear blast.
its probably just me
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u/Derangedracula 1d ago
If that's the case why was will Smith cast as the main dude. He was the good guy.
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u/PathofDestinyRPG 1d ago
It was more a reference to how Muslims are viewed in general. The actions of a loud minority created a large stain that the world views the rest.
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u/comment-cap 1d ago
Thanks for all the input folks!
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