# Long time between sequels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185 "2005-11-02T22:34:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/1 "2005-11-02T22:34:28Z")
Im talking about the length of time between one episode and its sequel. Psycho(1960), Psycho II (1983), 23 years. The Godfather, part II (1974), The Godfather, part III (1990) ,16 years. Know any older ones? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/2 "2005-11-02T22:50:15Z")
“The Hustler” (1961) and “The Color of Money” (1986) ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/3 "2005-11-02T23:03:46Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > “The Hustler” (1961) and “The Color of Money” (1986) 25 years. Excelent. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/4 "2005-11-02T23:14:23Z")
The Old Testament & The New Testament, 1000 years ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/5 "2005-11-02T23:36:50Z")
[A recent thread on the identical subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=331386&highlight=diddlebock) ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/6 "2005-11-02T23:39:37Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > The Old Testament & The New Testament, 1000 years The Illiad and the Aneid and pretty close to that as well. Though the Aneid could also be considered fan fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Loblaw\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@Bob\_Loblaw\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Loblaw_1)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/7 "2005-11-03T00:36:06Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > The Illiad and the Aneid and pretty close to that as well. > > Though the Aneid could also be considered fan fiction. And if Dido were a transexual transvestite, it would be slash. What’s your point? Just kidding, I thought it would have good meter that way. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/8 "2005-11-03T03:06:43Z")
**Sullivan’s Travels -** 1941 **O Brother Where Art Thou** - 2000 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/9 "2005-11-03T03:09:18Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > **Sullivan’s Travels -** 1941 > **O Brother Where Art Thou** - 2000 _Homage_ is not synonymous with _Sequel_ ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/10 "2005-11-03T03:11:31Z")
Do they have to have theatrical releases? Disney’s going hog wild with that lately. Bambi (1942) - Bambi II (2006) 64 years Aren’t they making a sequel to Snow White now? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/11 "2005-11-03T03:29:31Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > _Homage_ is not synonymous with _Sequel_ Well granted that “sequel” is not quite\* le mot juste\*, but neither is homage. It’s a sequel in that it’s a followup. But it’s not a continuation of the storyline. As you know, _O Brother_ is the bringing into being of a \*fictional \*movie referred to in _Sullivan’s Travels_. Which renders _Sullivan’s Travels_ into what, science fiction? that it refers, in the present, to a movie from the future? My brain hurts. _O Brother’s relationship to Sullivan’s Travels_ is pretty unique; neither “sequel” nor “homage” covers all the bases. Although, it just occurred to me, not that unique, and here’s another layer of homage: \*O Brother Where Art Thou \*has roughly the same relationship to _Sullivan’s Travels_, that _Miracle of Morgan’s Creek_ has to _The Great McGinty_. Or is there a vice versa in there somewhere? It’s a hyper-tangent, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/12 "2005-11-03T06:02:12Z")
_The Black Bird_ (1975) is a long-delayed and totally crappy sequel to _The Maltese Falcon_ (1941) with two actors (Elisha Cook jr. and Lee Patrick) reprising their roles, after a gap of 34 years. Among theatrical films which are inarguably sequels, I bet this wins. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/13 "2005-11-03T07:06:34Z")
The Odd Couple (1968) to The Odd Couple 2 (1998), 30 years. The best qualifier is they both star Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, making it a direct sequel with the same principals. That doesn’t make The Odd Couple 2 a good movie though! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/14 "2005-11-03T07:16:33Z")
_Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ came out in 1989. If the next installment does indeed come out in 2007, that’d be 18 years. Stallone has talked about making new entries to the _Rocky_ and _Rambo_ franchises next year. _Rocky V_ was released in 1990; _Rambo III_ in 1988. So 16 and 18 years. Screw the episode numbers… _Return of the Jedi_ (1983) and _Phantom Menace_ (1999) were 16 years apart. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/15 "2005-11-03T13:31:19Z")
I’m not sure if this counts, since they were both made for TV movies (though both were released as theatrical movies in the USA), but Ingmar Bergman’s “Saraband” (2003) was a sequel to his dreary 1973 “Scenes From a Marriage.” That’s a 30 year gap. Maybe he thought it would take 30 years for audiences to forget how hard the original sucked! ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/16 "2005-11-03T14:35:40Z")
Wasn’t _The Two Jakes, 1990_ a sequel to _Chinatown, 1974_ ? If so , 16 years ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-time-between-sequels/329185/17 "2005-11-03T19:58:20Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Well granted that “sequel” is not quite\* le mot juste\*, but neither is homage. It’s a sequel in that it’s a followup. But it’s not a continuation of the storyline. As you know, _O Brother_ is the bringing into being of a \*fictional \*movie referred to in _Sullivan’s Travels_. Which renders _Sullivan’s Travels_ into what, science fiction? that it refers, in the present, to a movie from the future? My brain hurts. Actually, no, it really isn’t. The Coen Bros. appropriated the title and some of the structural elements and setpieces (hence, “homage”), but the film they made was certainly not the film Sullivan was talking about making: > [@](#): > > I want this picture to be a commentary on modern conditions, stark realism, the problems that confront the average man. > > I want this picture to be a… document. I want to hold a mirror up to life. I want this to be a picture of dignity… a true canvas of the suffering of humanity. > > How can you talk about musicals at a time like this? With the world committing suicide, with corpses piling up in the street, with grim death gargling at you from every corner, with people slaughtered like sheep! This certainly doesn’t resemble what the Coen Bros. made (though the Coens probably had this playful contradiction in mind). The closest resemblence Sullivan’s vision has with the Coens’ creation is that it has some artistic pretension toward an intellectual pedigree (with _O Brother_ “based on” Homer). In addition, _O Brother_ takes place around 8-10 years before _Sullivan_ (using Baby Face Nelson & the Marx Bros. as references). Sullivan was interested in making a contemporary treatise on social conditions, not a period film. Much of the world was at war by 1941 (and so were we by the time _ST_ was released), so the issues and conditions he’s talking about are markedly different than the ones that take place in the early 30s setting of _O Brother_ > [@](#): > > Although, it just occurred to me, not that unique, and here’s another layer of homage: \*O Brother Where Art Thou \*has roughly the same relationship to _Sullivan’s Travels_, that _Miracle of Morgan’s Creek_ has to _The Great McGinty_. Or is there a vice versa in there somewhere? It’s a hyper-tangent, or something. Again, bad example. Donlevy & Tamiroff play the same characters in both films and actually appear in both. You can say the action in _McGinty_ explicitly bookends the action in _Miracle_. There are no recurring characters (or even ones we’re encouraged to draw explicit comparisons to, except perhaps the pre-teen roadster) and certainly no actors reprising their roles between _O Brother_ and _Sullivan_. Homage. Of course, this doesn’t mean I wouldn’t **love** someone to make _Ants in Your Plants of 1939_