AlthoughA24’sY2Khas an original premise, the upcoming horror comedy also owes a creative debt to a more family-friendly spin on the same idea. It is pretty easy to work out the creative origins ofA24’s upcoming horror comedyY2K.Y2Kfollows a pair of likable, nerdy teens who attend a booze-fueled party on New Year’s Eve 1999. In this movie’s reality,Y2K’s “Millennium Bug” turns out to be a very real fear as electronics all over the world go maliciously haywire at the stroke of midnight and begin massacring humans.
What follows is a classic genre mashup that blends a “One Wild Night” teen comedy with an apocalyptic horror.Y2Kis effectively a horror version ofSuperbad, or an unlikely mashup ofCan’t Hardly WaitandMiracle Mile.While taking the robotic apocalypse ofThe Terminatormovies and transplanting it into the world ofHarold and Kumar Go To White Castleis an inspired idea, there is another influence that director Kyle Mooney’s upcoming movie also borrows from. As noted by a handful of commentators online,Y2Ktakes cues both visually and story-wise from an underrated ‘90s classic.
I Lived Through Y2K - The New A24 Movie’s Trailer Gets A Lot Wrong About The Panic & Culture
A24’s Y2K movie looks like it could be fun, but it completely whiffs on the culture of the ’90s and the Y2K bug panic that permeated the end of 1999.
A24’s Y2K Is An R-Rated Small Soldiers
Joe Dante’s ‘90s Classic Focused On Toys Going Haywire
Y2Kis effectivelySmall Soldierswith an R-ratingdue to its “Bloody violence, strong sexual content/nudity, pervasive language, and teen drug and alcohol use.” Directed byGremlinshelmer Joe Dante,Small Soldiersis an adventure movie from 1998 that sees a young boy’s toy soldiers come to life thanks to a military-grade microchip. This chip turns the tiny toys into real-life killing machines that soon cause chaos throughout the hero’s hometown. With a stacked cast including Kirsten Dunst, David Cross, Tommy Lee Jones, and the late, great Phil Hartman,Small Soldiersblends sharp satire with family-friendly adventure.
Y2Kwill be released on July 31, 2025.
AlthoughSmall Soldierswas rated PG-13, the movie’s violence is relatively minimal. There are a few bloody injuries, but nothing more intense than the cartoonish mayhem seen in Dante’sGremlins. In contrast,Y2Kpromises a darker spin on the same premise where malicious malfunctioning toys are just the beginning of a lethal takeover by machines. One scene inY2K’s trailer sees a toy truck light up a partygoer’s face with a homemade aerosol can flamethrower, which proves the movie will definitely be a lot nastier thanSmall Soldiers. This could makeY2Ka fun return to this promising concept.
Y2K’s Rating Allows A24’s Horror Movie To Take Its Premise Further
Small Soldiers Was Limited By Its PG-13 Rating
Although Dante’s movie did feature some scenes of peril,Small Soldiersnever got too dark thanks to its family-friendly rating. The movie’s toys are threatening, but there are few genuine scares and most of the movie’s most violent moments happen off-screen. In contrast,Y2K’s risky horror comedystory is chock-full of gory violence and scenes of mass destruction. The trailer includes a shot of two passenger planes crashing into each other while one younger character is brutally stabbed in the head by a toy truck.Y2K’s R-rating means it is not as limited asSmallSoldiers.
This will result in an interesting tone, sinceSmall Soldiersarguably needs the confines of its PG-13 rating. Although it was released in 1998,Small Soldiershas the tone of an Amblin movie from the ‘80s likeBatteries Not Included,The Goonies, orArachnophobia. In contrast,Y2Kcould potentially be far darker, judging by its MPAA description. However,Y2Karguably needs this same adventure-centric tone, since the teen comedy shouldn’t take itself too seriously.Y2K’s eponymous catastrophe could make the movie surprisingly bleak, but Mooney should instead try to balance laughs and scares as Dante did.
Small Soldiers Never Received An Official Follow-Up
Dante’s Movie Underperformed Release
Since the movie made only $70 million on a $40 million budget,Small Soldiersnever received a sequel or a reboot. There was a Justin Lin project titledToymaggedonaround 2014 and this story of a toy factory that descends into comical chaos was rumored to be a stealth reboot of the franchise. However,Toymaggedonwas never officially called aSmall Soldiersreboot and the project was canceled in 2019 after Disney purchased Fox. As such, theRachel Zegler vehicleY2Kmay be the closest thing thatSmall Soldierswill ever receive to a follow-up.
Of course,Y2Kcould also prove to be a surprise success thanks to its stellar cast and A24’s history of great releases in the horror genre. If this is the case,Y2Kmight revive interest in theSmall Soldiersbrand. Thus, years after Dante’s family movie inspiredA24’s upcoming horror comedy,Y2kmight be able to indirectly bring back the franchise by reminding viewers just how fun its “Toys gone bad” story was.
