1984’s The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension became a cult favorite among sci fi fans even if it never quite caught on with mainstream audiences (read more about the movie at this link). And at the end of the movie we were promised a sequel to be titled Buckaroo Banzai vs. the World Crime League, but that never made it to the theaters. So what ever happened to that long lost continuation to the original film?
When Buckaroo Banzai hit the Big Screen in 1984, many people did not quite know what to make of this tongue-in-cheek sci fi satire that had a main character who was a neurosurgeon, rocket scientist, adventurer, and the leader of the rock band The Hong Kong Cavaliers. And apparently the promoters didn’t know what to do with it either as the film’s flimsy marketing campaign did little to give it much of a chance once it was released. Not surprisingly, the movie flopped, only making back about one quarter of its budget during its theatrical run. But once it hit home video, the film became a surprise hit and developed a notable following among genre fans in the years after its release. And those who had became huge fans of the movie all wanted to know why that promised sequel never made it to the theaters.
The most obvious reason was the financial failure of the movie during its initial run at Box Office. But since it did so well in the video market and on cable television (and also made several return performances to the big screen in repertoire theaters), fans thought that surely the sequel would emerge at some point. The movie’s studio, Sherwood Studios, went bankrupt shortly after the film hit the theaters, though, which resulted in legal complications that kept the property in limbo for years. This even delayed the release of the film on DVD until the 21st century.
An outline for the sequel was drafted and it involved Buckaroo Banzai’s arch enemy Hanoi Xan who had originally appeared in the first movie, but his scenes were later edited out (they were restored in the DVD edition, though). And parts of this storyline worked their way into the comic books that Moonstone has release which Buckaroo creator Earl Mac Rauch was involved with. But we have yet to see the full story originally intended as the sequel make it to the big screen and likely never will seeing as the cast has aged too far to reasonably reprise their roles.
in 2021, Dark Horse published the novel Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League, Et Al: A Compendium of Evils by Rauch which did finally tell the full story planned for that sequel while also adding additional material. But it was not well received, receiving criticism for its rambling writing style, convoluted and pointless subplots, as well as its disappointing ending. The comic books put out by Moonstone covered part of the World Crime League story and were more enjoyable, but they have since gone out of print.
Back in 1998, FOX began development of a TV series continuation of the character which would have had the title Buckaroo Banzai: Ancient Secrets and New Mysteries. But it stalled early in development and deprived us of yet another set of new adventures from our favorite rock star/brain surgeon/adventurer. In 2016, plans for another television series were announced with Kevin Smith attached, and a whole new cast would be brought onboard for the production. Smith ended up dropping out, though, and there have been no recent updates, so this version is either in development hell or it has been scrapped.
