It can take years for a sequel to finally be made and released in theaters. “Tron: Legacy” was nearly 30 years after the original. However, sometimes you can expect the sequel of a film series to open less than one year after the latest installment, as in the case of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” to “Eclipse” (just over 7 months). With “Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil” finally coming to theaters next Friday five years after the original, let’s take a look at some example of lengths of time between #1’s and #2’s:
Quick turnarounds:
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” – March 19, 2010; “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” – March 25, 2011; Barely one year apart.
“Iron Man” – May 2, 2008; “Iron Man 2” – May 7, 2010; Just over 2 years. “IM3” however will open in 2013, 3 years since “IM2”.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” – July 7, 2006; “At World’s End” – May 25, 2007; About 10 and a half months apart, because they were filmed back-to-back due to the success of the first enstallment, which came out in 2003. This also happened with the “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” series’. However, “On Stranger Tides” opens 4 years after “At World’s End”, this May 20th.
Examples of what I would call “normal” lengths:
“Shrek the Third” – May 18, 2007; “Shrek Forever After” – May 21, 2010; Animated films take a long time, so 3 years is an appropriate time, and a “Shrek” film has opened every 3 years.
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” – December 9, 2005; “Prince Caspian” – May 16, 2008; “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” – December 10, 2010; This series has also kept a pattern of a new film every 2 and a half years, even under new distribution.
Long awaited sequels:
“Toy Story 2” – November 19, 1999; “Toy Story 3” – June 18, 2010; It wasn’t until the second decade of the 21st century that there would be a new “Toy Story”, but it was worth the wait, as “TS3” became 2010’s biggest film, and the biggest animated film of all-time.
“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” – May 24, 1989; “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” – May 22, 2008; “The Last Crusade” didn’t turn out to be the last “Indiana Jones” film, and even though #4 came almost 20 years later, it still pulled in a whopping $787 million worldwide.
Sometimes studios decide to make a sequel after the original does very well at the box office opening weekend (as in the case of “Despicable Me”). Other times it’s takes awhile, but the goal is always to make money off the success of the previous film.