# Sneaky Sequels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451 "2012-09-12T00:35:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/1 "2012-09-12T00:35:08Z")
A few weeks ago I went to see **Clybourne Park** on Broadway. It’s an excellent play and after I spent some time reading about it, I discovered that it’s intended to be a sequel to Lorraine Hansbury’s **A Raisin in the Sun**. I spotted the similarities when I saw it (the first act of **Clybourne** was clearly dealing with the same situation as **Raisin** from a different point of view), but one of the characters in **Clybourn** was intended to be a character from **Raisin** , with the action taking place immediately after the end of the earlier play. I’m trying to think of other examples: plays, books, or movies that were in some way sequels to an earlier work, but that fact isn’t obvious. Anything else fit the bill? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/2 "2012-09-12T02:34:34Z")
Mysterious Island is a sneaky sequel to … Well if you’ve read the book you know, if you don’t know, I guess I won’t tell you here as a spoiler. I’m sure it’s easy enough to Google if you don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/3 "2012-09-12T02:41:05Z")
This will do better in Cafe Society, I think. - Gukumatz, Game Room Moderator ---
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/4 "2012-09-12T12:01:36Z")
I’m not sure how “sneaky” it is, but I didn’t realize that _Silence of the Lambs_ wasa sequel to _Red Dragon/Manhunter_ until someone mentioned the name “Hannibal Lector”. At the time, SotL was a brand new movie and, unless you’d read Thomas Harris’ novels or seen the Michael Mann film _Manhunter_, you wouldn’t have any idea who it was. Lector was easily the most compelling character in Manhunter, with far too little screen time – minutes, really. The idea of a film in whivch he was a major chacter was dynamite, and I knew I was in for a treat. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/5 "2012-09-12T12:22:00Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Mysterious Island is a sneaky sequel to … Well if you’ve read the book you know, if you don’t know, I guess I won’t tell you here as a spoiler. I’m sure it’s easy enough to Google if you don’t know. And Ayrton from _The Mysterious Island_ also appears in Verne’s _The Children of Captain Grant/In Search of the Castaways_. It’s not that much of a connection, though. This isn’t so much a sequel as a “connected reality”, which has become common in fiction. Speaking of Verne, his _An Antarctic Mystery/The Sphinx of the Icefields_ is a sneaky sequel to Edgar Allen Poe’s _The Narratrive of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket_, which seems to end abruptly with no good resolution. This left the field open for a sequel. Charles Omelyn Dake’s 1899 novel _A Strange Discovery_ is also a sneaky sequel. You could argue that H.P. Lovecraft’s _At the Mountains of Madness_ is, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/6 "2012-09-12T13:48:46Z")
Neal Stephenson’s _Diamond Age_ is supposed to take place in the same world as his _Snow Crash_, several decades down the line; the female protagonist of the latter book has a small role in the former as an old women (something that is not that evident upon first reading the book). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/7 "2012-09-12T14:04:59Z")
First one that comes to mind is “Biloxi Blues” being a sequel to “Brighton Beach Memoirs”. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/8 "2012-09-12T15:40:25Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > First one that comes to mind is “Biloxi Blues” being a sequel to “Brighton Beach Memoirs”. Not to mention _its_ sequel, **Broadway Bound**. Note all the **BB** s But I don’t think these are particularly “sneaky”. They seem pretty straightforward sequels. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/9 "2012-09-12T15:54:17Z")
Just thought of one. Technically, **Cyrano de Bergerac** is a sequel in a shared universe of **The Three Musketeers** : D’Artagnan makes a cameo appearance to say that Cyrano is the best swordsman he’s ever seen. > [@Cyrano de Bergerac](#): > > A MUSKETEER (advancing to Cyrano with outstretched hand): > Sir, permit; > Naught could be finer–I’m a judge I think; > I stamped, i’ faith!–to show my admiration! > > (He goes away.) > > CYRANO (to Cuigy): > Who is that gentleman? > > CUIGY: > Why–D’Artagnan! More a shared universe than actual sequel, but two different authors. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/10 "2012-09-12T17:19:15Z")
Actually, both [D’artagnan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27artagnan)and [Cyrano](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac_%28writer%29)were real people, and contemporaries. They could plausibly have met. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/11 "2012-09-12T22:21:20Z")
_High Plains Drifter_ is based on the premise, “What if Gary Cooper’s character had died in _High Noon_?” In _Pale Rider_, John Russell’s character bears more than a passing resemblance to Lee van Cleef, so you might consider it a sequel to the “dollars” trilogy. In one episode of _Magnum P.I._, Magnum meets a retired detective who is trying to locate an old girlfriend who just got out of prison. It was basically a sequel to _The Maltese Falcon_. (And one of the recurring characters in the TV series, “Ice Pick”, was played by Elisha Cook, Jr., who played Wilmer in the movie.) Although the characters ended up being owned by different companies, Britt Reid (a.k.a. the Green Hornet) is a descendant of Daniel Reid, the brother of John Reid (a.k.a. the Lone Ranger). ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/12 "2012-09-12T22:52:53Z")
_Psychohistorical Crisis_ is a not-very-sneaky sequel to the Foundation Trilogy. Names of people and locations have been changed, but everything is perfectly recognizeable. (And the author didn’t even bother to call it something other than “Psychohistory,” as evidenced by the title of the novel.) It’s actually a pretty fun read. The universe is both recognizeably Asimov’s, and recognizeably a product of a later age in the writing of science fiction. I see a lot of comments to the effect that it’s better than any of the official non-Asimov-written books in the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/13 "2012-09-12T23:39:59Z")
I was pretty surprised when I found out that **The Color of Money** was a sequel to **The Hustler**. IIRC it was when I watched The Hustler for the first time, which would have been years after seeing The Color of Money. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/14 "2012-09-13T17:01:44Z")
The movie \*Die Hard \*was based on the book “Nothing Lasts Forever” by Roderick Thorp. This was a sequel to another book called “The Detective”, which was the basis for a 1968 film starring Frank Sinatra. According to the _Die Hard_ IMDb trivia [page](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016/trivia?tab=tr&item=tr0792355): > [@](#): > > […] because of a clause in Sinatra’s contract for “The Detective” which gave him the right to reprise his role in a sequel, he was actually the first person offered the McClane role, even though he was 73 years old at the time. Also, Coincidentally, Bruce Willis made his movie debut in The First Deadly Sin walking out of a bar as Sinatra walks into it. A geriatric Sinatra as McClane would have been pretty awesome. 😛 That story might not be entirely accurate, though, as the very same trivia page also claims that Arnold Schwarzenegger was the first actor to be offered the part (with no mention of Sinatra, and Bruce Willis way down on the list), as the movie was originally planned as a [sequel to Commando](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016/trivia?tab=tr&item=tr0792003): > [@](#): > > John McTiernan was originally going to make Commando 2, but Arnold Schwarzenegger turned the role offer down. Commando 2 was transformed into this film; Schwarzenegger was the first actor offered the title role, but he again declined. Eventually Bruce Willis would get the part after it had been offered to Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson and Richard Gere. So, sort-of-sequel to a Sinatra movie and almost-sequel to a Schwarzenegger movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/15 "2012-09-14T14:49:35Z")
_Theatre Shoes_ is about three children who are sponsored by the (now adult) characters from _Ballet Shoes_. The books are by Noel Streatfeild. The second group of children have similar characters to the first group, although they never meet and are not related. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/16 "2012-09-14T14:56:43Z")
In videogames Phantasy Star 3 does not seem to be connected to the earlier two games, in fact rather than sci fi it has a medieval fantasy setting, eventually comes the reveal that it is. This wouldn’t be surprising as it is common for JRPG sequels to have no connection. Is Prometheus a sneaky prequel? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/17 "2012-09-14T15:43:11Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > _Psychohistorical Crisis_ is a not-very-sneaky sequel to the Foundation Trilogy. Names of people and locations have been changed, but everything is perfectly recognizeable. (And the author didn’t even bother to call it something other than “Psychohistory,” as evidenced by the title of the novel. I was going to add the last to Asimov Foundation books, which have characters from the Robot series show up. I guess that’s more of a shared universe thing then a “secret sequel” thing though. ---
**Author:** ![TimToyGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@TimToyGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimToyGeek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/18 "2012-09-14T20:18:03Z")
I like the theory of High Plains Drifter being a sequel to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, it works pretty well. I’m a fan of Italian Westerns, and a while back found one called Ace High, which seemed mostly to be a sequel to an earlier movie titled God Forgives, I Don’t, in which the duo of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer seem to have the same names and characterizations in both movies. Notably appearing in Ace High, though, is Eli Wallach playing a bandito character very similar to TGTBTU’s Tuco. So while it’s not really official in either respect, Ace High can function as a sequel to two different unrelated movies. Similarly, there have been several of Donald Westlake’s books made into movies independent of one another that function as sequels of a sort. You could get the movies together of The Hot Rock, with Robert Redford, Bank Shot with George C. Scott, and What’s the Worst That Could Happen with Martin Lawrence(!) and they’re all playing John Dortmunder, however filtered. You could collect, too, Point Blank, Payback, Slayground, The Outfit, and I’m sure I’m missing a few - all of them based on Parker novels. Tim ---
**Author:** ![TimToyGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@TimToyGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimToyGeek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/19 "2012-09-14T20:21:51Z")
I like the theory of Pale Rider being a sequel to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, it works pretty well. I’m a fan of Italian Westerns, and a while back found one called Ace High, which seemed mostly to be a sequel to an earlier movie titled God Forgives, I Don’t, in which the duo of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer seem to have the same names and characterizations in both movies. Notably appearing in Ace High, though, is Eli Wallach playing a bandito character very similar to TGTBTU’s Tuco. So while it’s not really official in either respect, Ace High can function as a sequel to two different unrelated movies. Tim ---
**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:** [September 14, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451/20 "2012-09-14T20:28:49Z")
At the end of _Animal House_, the caption states that Niedermeyer was “killed in Vietnam by his own troops.” In _Twilight Zone The Movie_, there’s a scene with some soldiers discussing how they killed Niedermeyer. John Landis directed both. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneaky-sequels/634451.md?page=2)