A comon way to indicate a movie sequel is to tack a 2 or II onto the name of the original. Sometimes it’s “part 2” or something like that. Subtitles are sometimes added after the number. There are numerous examples of this: Shrek 2, Rocky II, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Star Trek 2: the Wrath of Khan, Rambo: First Blood Part II, etc.
But sometimes they use an unusual sequence. Instead of the first sequel being number 2, they take a number already in the first movie’s title and increment it. I can only think of a small number of examples of this:
The Three Musketeers (1973)/The Four Musketeers (1974)
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)/Ocean’s Twelve (2004)/Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
101 Dalmations (1996)/102 Dalmations (2000)
Die Hard / Die Harder / Die Hard, With A Vengance / Live Free Or Die Hard / A Good Day To Die Hard / Just Die Hard Already!
(OK, I made that last one up, and some of the movies do have numbering, but it varies by country of release)
I’d maybe include “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset,” and “After Midnight” as rather similar.
Also, Apted’s every-seven-years documentaries make for an interesting numerical series: “7 Up,” “14 Up,” “21 Up,” lather, rinse, repeat.
They should have gone with Second Blood for that one.
I Know What You Did Last Summer was followed by I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Apparently there was also a third one after that which was straight-to-DVD, called I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.
If we’ve left strict OP territory by now, I want to mention the sequel to Analyze This, called Analyze That. I guess the third film will be Analyze Some Other Stuff.
Seven Up!
7 Plus Seven
21 Up
28 Up
35 Up
42 Up
49 Up
56 Up
Took a couple tries to get a consistent naming going.
While made for TV, they are released in theaters. The most recent one finished the week at 101 in the US box office. (While M was at 97, talk about box office legs. Metropolis peaked at 88 in late 2011. Must … stop … reading … BoxOfficeMojo.)
Shanghai Noon* was followed by Shanghai Knights
The Amnesty International benefit series The Secret Policeman’s Ball** was followed by non-numbered by title-related sequels like The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball, The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball, and The Secret Policeman’s Ball [year], as well as a lot of unrelated titles. When I first saw one of the middle ones, without context, I found the title irritatingly obscure.
Dracula, Son of Dracula, Bride of Dracula, Tomb of Dracula, Curse of Dracula, Ghost of Dracula, Curse of the Tome of the Ghost of the Bride of the Son of Dracula
There’s First Blood, Rambo: First Blood part two, Rambo 3 (even though it’s the second “Rambo” movie), with the fourth film in the First Blood series being called Rambo.
Planet of the Apes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
The Thin Man (1934)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Another Thin Man (1939)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Son of Frankenstein
Ghost of Frankenstein
Hoodwinked!
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
Think Like a Man
Think Like a Man Too
Teen Wolf
Teen Wolf Too
Shrek
Shrek 2
Shrek the Third
Shrek Forever After (Shrek Four-ever after, get it?)
