Year of the Sequel Will Be Followed by More Sequels
There are a few sequels, in my opinion, that were better than the original. It doesn’t happen often that the second, third, or fourth installment of a hit movie matches up to the blockbuster it’s designed to hopefully outdo or at least come close to being as enjoyable as the motion picture its story is continuing. However, it does happen from time to time.
Maybe you have a few sequel movies in mind that you enjoyed and you feel can contend with the originals. Whenever this comes up in conversation my go-to and the first that comes to mind is Toy Story 2.
Since my favorite in the quadrilogy is Toy Story 3, I would argue Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures accomplished the “sequel better than the original” feat twice, consecutively in the same series. Forky and the fourth Toy Story is no doubt the weakest in the collection.
As I mentioned, Pixar and Toy Story aren’t the only ones to accomplish this. The unarguable list also includes The Godfather Part 2, The Dark Knight, and Top Gun: Maverick. All of these unarguably surpass the previous ones in the series, but it’s fun to debate which one did it better.
Last year saw theatres slowly come back to pre-pandemic attendance.
During the climb, we were bombarded with sequels. According to multiple sources including Rotten Tomatoes, nine out of ten of the top-grossing movies in 2024 in the United States just happened to be sequels.
Wicked was the only one that wasn’t a sequel, but close. The Wizard of Oz inspired it. Even if it were a sequel, despite its huge success, it cannot be compared to the original’s legendary success and reputation, yet.
Related: 5 Movies We’re Excited About In 2025
Others on last year’s top ten list of sequels include Dune: Part Two which killed at the box office but didn’t equal its predecessor. We were also treated to Inside Out 2, which I haven’t seen so I can’t comment other than its financial superiority over Inside Out. IO2 nearly doubled IO1’s box office take.
We were also treated to Deadpool & Wolverine which is not necessarily considered to be a sequel to Deadpool 2, but it is. My favorite in the series is the first installment.
More Highly Anticipated Sequels in 2025
According to IMDb, we can look forward to another chapter from the Jurassic Park series, Mission: Impossible, Avatar, and the long-awaited Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2.
I’d love to see a companion to Pulp Fiction. I’d be thrilled to see either a sequel or a prequel. It’s been talked about, but no solid plans have been announced. C’mon, Quentin!!!
