Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017): 35 years

This is one of the most legendarily long gaps between films in a franchise. The original Blade Runner (above), set in 2019, is a sci-fi classic that felt like a closed story, impossible to improve upon. But Denis Villeneuve dared to take over from original Blade Runner director Ridley Scott, and did the original film justice in this sequel that featured K (Ryan Gosling) hunting down replicants and running eventually into the hero of the original film, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford).

Ana de Armas, in one of her breakout roles, added an element of mystery and sadness as K’s A.I. hologram girlfriend, Joi.

Blade Runner 2049 was a box office letdown, but feels like a building block to Villeneuve’s incredibly ambitious Dune films. It also spawned a TV series, Blade Runner: Black Lotus.