Movie sequels have become a staple of Hollywood. Almost every film that makes money receives a sequel, whether the original story demanded it or not. The best sequels expand on the qualities of the previous films and delve deeper into characters we know and love. The worst destroy franchises and lead to fan revolts. Filmmakers need to capitalize on the success their films have already had, moving quickly to ensure the audience hasn’t moved on, and before any other studio capitalizes on the success of your product with an imitation. The fastest way to ensure your film series gets up on screen is to re-purpose standalone stories to fit in with the original content. However, incorporating someone else’s story into your franchise isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Here are some of the movie sequels that weren’t originally intended to be sequels at all. Some worked better than others.
Sawwas a huge hit when it was released in 2004, making over $100 million and embedding itself in the nightmares of all who watched it. The film has a perfect screenplay: terrifying, wholly unique and understatedly clever, but also self-contained. How then, to break the film out and release a sequel before the onslaught of imitators attempt to capitalize onSaw’s success? Adapt a screenplay already criticized for being tooSaw-ish. OriginalSawwriterLeigh WhannelladaptedDarren Lynn Bousman’s original script “The Desperate” to becomeSaw II, and a franchise was born. The incorporation worked perfectly —Saw IIwas a huge worldwide hit, Darren Lynn Bousman would go on to direct three more entries from the franchise, and the whole series would go on to make over $1 billion at the box office.
Die Hard With a Vengeance
Die Hard 3went through many iterations before the spec screenplay “Simon Says” byJonathan Hensleighwas tweaked to become the sequel. Originally, the studio wanted it to be set on a cruise ship, writing versions of the script that went on to becomeUnder SiegewithSteven Segaland some moments from these scripts were re-purposed intoSpeed 2: Cruise Control. After cycling throughDie Hard in the SubwayandDie Hard in the Junglevariants, Fox used a screenplay they had already bought and greenlit for production but could no longer film, due to the death of leading actorBrandon Lee.
The wholeDie Hardseries has interesting roots in other screenplays. The originalDie Hardwas an adaptation ofNothing Lasts Forever,the sequel novel to the filmThe DetectivestarringFrank Sinatra. It was then re-written as a sequel toArnold Schwarzenegger’sCommando, before becoming the stand-alone entry we know and love today.Die Hard 2: Die Harderwas actually loosely based on the unconnected novel58 Minutes. The fourth entryLive Free or Die Hardis based on an article written for Wired magazine. Ironically the only film written as a proper entry to the series —A Good Day to Die Hard— was the one worst received by audiences and critics alike.
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Evan Almighty
Beginning its journey to the screen as a standalone comedy named “The Passion of the Ark,”Evan Almightywas originally purchased to co-opt into a directBruce Almightysequel starringJim Carrey. After Carrey departed the film, it was again re-worked intoEvan Almightyto accommodate then star-on-the-riseSteve Carell. The gamble didn’t really pay off, with the film considered both a commercial and critical failure.
10 Cloverfield Lane
The “Cloververse” has been borne from films that have nothing to do with the 2008Cloverfieldfilm. While the success of the original guaranteed a sequel, the abundance of kaiju films released in the aftermath of the first film meant the creative team had stalled and struggled to find a good follow-up idea. Upon filming a script originally called “The Cellar” and then temporarily known as “Valencia,” ProducerJ.J. Abramsfelt the film had spiritual and tonal similarities and with a last-minute name change and a small re-write to the ending,10 Cloverfield Lanewas born.
The film was a critical and commercial success, a worthy film in its own right, only boosted by its name recognition as part of a franchise. Where10 Cloverfield Lanesucceeded, it’s successorThe Cloverfield Paradoxfailed. The film was also ret-conned into the franchise, although after much of the movie had already been filmed under the title “The God Particle,” requiring further editing and re-shoots to tie it all together. The resulting film is a narrative mess, forcing Paramount executives to question its theatrical viability and eventually pushed them to sell the film to Netflix.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Unlike the other films on this list, the source material for this film was not an original script but actually a novel.Tim Powerspublished his story,On Stranger Tidesin 1987, obviously sharing no connection to the world of thePirates of the Caribbean. While the film shares a title with the book, the novel was only used as a base for the story. The connections to the original films are also quite loose, with neitherKeira KnightleynorOrlando Bloomreprising their roles. There are only a few mentions of the previous events, andJohnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow never actually commands a ship. The idea was to spawn a new trilogy; instead the franchise reverted to its roots and brought back old favorites for the next entry,Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Ocean’s Twelve
Ocean’s Twelvewas originally intended to be aJohn Woo-directed action film named “Honor Among Thieves,” about two thieves who try and best the other with each subsequent heist. When it was decided thatOcean’s Elevenwould receive a sequel, the original screenwriterGeorge Nolfiwas called to re-write the film. The toughest challenge was how include the originalOcean’s Elevencharacters into a film that only had two in its current form. Nolfi rose to the challenge and the end result is a film that seems a natural progression for this famous ensemble. While the critics weren’t kind, box office results were undeniable. The success of this sequel echoing the sentiment of Danny Ocean “You think we need one more? You think we need one more. All right, we’ll get one more.”
Highlander II: The Quickening
There is a long-line of cash-grab sequels that were shoe-horned into franchises in an attempt to cash in on the success of a film. Alongside films likeAmerican Psycho 2,Troll 2,Dirty Dancing: Havana Nightsand many others,Highlander II: The Quickeningstarted as a standalone film and was revised to fit into an existing cinematic universe. All these films serve as warnings to producers that audiences require sequels to be well-incorporated into the world of the original story. The film is a shining example of the problems that arise when there is no care taken with a sequel. It was a huge commercial failure and was critically maligned — Roger Ebert named it the worst film of 1986. The changes made to the original script left it with large plot holes, confusing story structure and no adherence to the initial mythology. It was so bad in fact that all subsequentHighlandermovies ignore the second entry and the following sequels instead revert to the mythology of the original film.
If only Hollywood would heed the numerous examples of maligned sequels and only make worthy successors to their hit films.
