# Sequels you wouldn't know are sequels from the titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 20, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592 "2025-05-20T16:56:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/41 "2025-05-22T11:56:55Z")
I don’t know if this counts since these were all books before they were adapted for various TV and film versions, but… Pretty much the whole of Agatha Christie’s Poirot series - with the exception of a couple that name Poirot in the title, and maybe a few that you might associate if you saw them adjacent to one another, like the ones that begin ‘Murder [on/in]…’ Same, or even more so with the Miss Marple series. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/42 "2025-05-22T15:18:53Z")
_The Freshman_ and _Mad Wednesday/The Sin of Harold Diddlebock_. The latter started with scenes from the former and showed what Harold was doing years later. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/43 "2025-05-22T15:35:49Z")
I’m not sure book series should count here, even if movies were made from the books. Practically no one, except maybe Sue Grafton or John Updike, “serializes” their book titles. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/44 "2025-05-22T15:41:32Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > The Road Warrior and Mad Max. I think they retroactively changed the title to **Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior** , but it will always be _The Road Warrior_ to me also. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/45 "2025-05-22T16:17:29Z")
_Scenes from a Marriage_ and _Saraband_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/46 "2025-05-22T22:33:54Z")
In literature, you have _The Three Musketeers_, _Twenty Years Aftßer,_ and _The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later_, all featuring d’Anangnan. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/47 "2025-05-23T11:07:53Z")
**Lady in Cement** (1968) is the sequel to **Tony Rome** (1967), Both starred Frank Sinatra as detective Tony Rome (and had Richard Conte in them). Frank Sinatra also appeared as a detective, Joe Leland, in **The Detective** (1968) (Duh!). It was based on a 1966 novel of the same name by Roderick Thorpe. He later wrote a sequel, _Nothing Lasts Forever_ (1979), also starring Leland. The novel was filmed in 1988 as **Die Hard** , famously starring Bruce Willis as the hero, renamed John McClane. The one movie isn’t a direct sequel to the other, but they’re based on books in which one is sequel to the other. It’s similar to the relationship between Michael Mann’s **Manhunter** (1986) and Jonathan Demme’s **Silence of the Lambs** (1991). Or between the many versions of Jules Verne’s **20,000 Leagues under the Sea** and the many versions of **The Mysterious Island** ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/48 "2025-05-23T11:39:49Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Practically no one, except maybe Sue Grafton or John Updike, “serializes” their book titles. Don’t forget Harry Kemelman, author of _Friday the Rabbi Slept Late_, _Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry_, _Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home_… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/49 "2025-05-23T12:17:53Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Practically no one, except maybe Sue Grafton or John Updike, “serializes” their book titles. Lindsay Davis’ Falco series, set in ancient Rome, started out with a pattern. They had metals (and sometimes gods) in the title – _The Silver Pigs, Shadows in Bronze, Venus in Copper, Iron Hand of Mars, Poseidon’s Gold_ – but she stopped after the fifth book and never went back to it ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/50 "2025-05-23T14:12:47Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Don’t forget Harry Kemelman I did! Probably filed “Rabbi” and “Rabbit” in the same mental folder! What adult man goes by the name Rabbit, anyway? “What’s up with that?” ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/51 "2025-05-23T14:35:07Z")
What about something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Much of it is obvious, like _Captain America: First Avenger_ and _Captain America: The Winter Soldier_ are related. However, other than gobs of marketing and ads, you’d have no way of knowing that _Captain America: Civil War_ is a sequel to _Avengers: Age of Ultron_. Maybe it’s the “:” that ties them all together? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/52 "2025-05-23T15:22:34Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > > > Don’t forget Harry Kemelman > > I did! > > Probably filed “Rabbi” and “Rabbit” in the same mental folder! > > What adult man goes by the name Rabbit, anyway? “What’s up with that?” And Rabbit’s real name was…Harry. We’re through the looking glass here, people. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/53 "2025-05-23T17:05:33Z")
**Demetrius an the Gladiators** (1954) is the sequel to **The Robe** (1953), famous as being the first movie released in CinemaScope – that’ll show those TV shows, with their 1.37:1 ratio! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/54 "2025-05-23T18:09:11Z")
_Harper_, which introduced detective Lew Harper to film, was followed by _The Drowning Pool._ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/55 "2025-05-23T18:14:58Z")
**Billy Jack** (1971) was the sequel to **The Born Losers** (1967) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/56 "2025-05-23T18:22:52Z")
**When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth** (1970) is the sequel to **One Million Years B.C.** (1966). Jim Danforth did a creditable job with the stop-motion animated dinosaurs, which were done in the first film by Ray Harryhausen). Certainly when you compare the work in these two films it stands up much better than between _The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad_ and _Jack the Giant Killer_, where Danforth was also following in Harryhausen’s footprints). Interesting thing – most of the stop-motion creatures weren’t actually dinosaurs. The Chasmosaurus and the Megalosaurus were, but not the others. Actually, it was preceded by **Prehistoric Women** (1967), which used the same sets and costumes as One Million Years B.C., but it had no stop-motion creatures. **Creatures the World Forgot** (1971) was the sequel, in turn, to When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. The title notwithstanding, there are no stop-motion creatures in this film. I guess they forgot. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/57 "2025-05-23T18:55:24Z")
[“War of the Gargantuas” (1966)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060440/) was the sequel to [Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059205/reference/), but in the finished product, the connection is pretty tenuous. Trivia Note: In one “Gomer Pyle” episode, Gomer is standing outside a movie theater, and the moving being played in “Frankenstein Conquers the World.” However, they have part of “Frankentstein” covered up, so all you see is “Ken Conquers the World.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/58 "2025-05-23T19:49:15Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > [“War of the Gargantuas” (1966)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060440/) was the sequel to [Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059205/reference/), but in the finished product, the connection is pretty tenuous. Good one. I saw **Frankenstein Conquers the World** in the theater when it was new (It was a cover story in _Famous Monsters of Filmland_, but I wasn’t aware for years that _War of the Gargantuas_ was a sequel. Bonus: WotG stars **Russ Tamblyn** , who was Rif, the leader of the Jets, in the first version of **West Side Story**. He was also in _Dracula vs. Frankenstein_. He later showed up in both incarnations of **Twin Peaks** ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/59 "2025-05-23T22:11:05Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I want to believe that someone somewhere liked Christian Bale’s other films, but had no interest in BATMAN BEGINS, and then said, _ooh, he’s now starring in a movie called THE DARK KNIGHT? Is it set in the days of King Arthur? Does our hero speak with a British accent while on horseback with his trusty lance at the ready?_ They really should have avoided confusion by calling them _Batman Begins_, _Batman in the Middle_, and _Batman Ends_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592/60 "2025-05-23T22:22:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > > Practically no one, except maybe Sue Grafton or John Updike, “serializes” their book titles. > > Lindsay Davis’ Falco series, set in ancient Rome, started out with a pattern. They had metals (and sometimes gods) in the title – _The Silver Pigs, Shadows in Bronze, Venus in Copper, Iron Hand of Mars, Poseidon’s Gold_ – but she stopped after the fifth book and never went back to it John D. MacDonald did it with his Travis McGee books. All of the titles had a color in them. And most of Ed McBain’s Matthew Hope books were titled after a nursery rhyme or fairy tale. The exception is the thirteenth (and last) one which was titled _The Last Best Hope_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-wouldnt-know-are-sequels-from-the-titles/1018592.md?page=4)