Top 20 Movie Sequels You've Never Heard Of

“Marley & Me” was a surprise hit back in 2008 with Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston and that oh-so-lovable Marley. The film took in over $247 million at the box office and had everyone who saw it shedding about that many tears at the sad ending. Given all that, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they made another “Marley” movie - except that it will surprise almost everyone. Unfortunately the 2011 film, “Marley & Me: The Puppy Years” was a pathetic direct-to-video follow-up that didn’t have any of the charm or heart of the original. They also decided to give Marley a speaking voice in this one. Yup, the dog talks.

2000’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and was the first foreign-language film to hit the $100 million mark in the United States. It’s also one of the best movies of the 21st Century thus far. The sequel - “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” - was released on Netflix in 2016 and holds a 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Michelle Yeoh did come back for the second movie - but the wonderful Yeoh wasn’t enough to make this “lazy sequel” anything worthwhile or - as it turns out - memorable.

Many of us remember that in 1989 Rick Moranis shrunk the kids and in 1992 he blew one of them up. But how many of you recall that in 1997 he shrunk himself (along with his wife, brother and sister-in-law)? If you were fans of the first two films in the franchise and are wondering how you missed that third movie in the theatres - one reason could be that it was never released in theatres. Nope, for “Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves” Walt Disney Pictures went the direct-to-video route with this one. Which we can only assume shrunk their audience for the film as well.

There are a couple reasons most of us have never heard of this 2009 film. The first is because Reese Witherspoon isn’t in it (and who wants a “Legally Blonde” movie without Reese right?). And the second reason is because it was never supposed to be a movie in the first place. Originally intended as the pilot for a spin-off television series, the pilot was converted into this 82 minute straight-to-DVD film about Elle Woods’ British twin cousins. It made its TV premiere on ABC Family a few months later. For anyone wondering, it’s exactly what you’d expect from an ABC Family movie (and we don’t mean that in a good way).

“American Psycho” was an excellent satirical psychological horror film featuring smart and engaging writing and a brilliant performance from Christian Bale. “American Psycho 2,” starring Mila Kunis, was none of those things. In fact, it wasn’t even originally supposed to be a sequel to “American Psycho.” Originally titled, “The Girl Who Wouldn't Die,” they made a few changes after production began in order to connect it tangentially to the 2000 Bale movie. And as much as we don’t remember it, there are many who wish they could forget it. Including Kunis, who said this about the film: “When I did the second one…It was supposed to be a different project, and it was re-edited, but, ooh … I don't know. Bad.”

Fans of 1989’s “Road House” starring Patrick Swayze were probably pretty excited about the 2024 “Road House” remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal. But were they as excited about the 2006 sequel, “Road House 2?” Well, they might’ve been had they known it existed. You’d think that a film that had built up such a cult following and rabid fan base as “Road House” would’ve gotten a sequel with a theatrical release and a big marketing push behind it. But instead we got “Road House 2” - a direct-to-video piece of mediocrity that had at least one critic telling people to ignore the film and just go rewatch the original. And ignore it, we all have.

Remember at the end of “Splash” when Madison the mermaid tells Allen that if he goes to live in the sea with her that he will never be able to live on land again? Ya, well neither did the writers of the 1988 made-for-TV sequel, “Splash Too” - which sees Allen and Madison return to New York and attempt to appear like a normal married couple. The film first aired on ABC over two consecutive Sundays on The Disney Sunday Movie, and featured a completely new cast from the 1984 hit that we all remember fondly. The sequel however… not so much.

1986’s “9½ Weeks” was a graphic erotic thriller - at least outside of the United States. In the US the film was heavily edited and performed poorly. Internationally it played in its original form and did much better. The film did finally get an “uncut” release in the United States. But that was in 1998 - a year after the release of the direct-to-video sequel, “Another 9½ Weeks” (titled “Love in Paris” outside of America). Mickey Rourke returned for the sequel, and this time he finds himself erotically entwined with Angie Everhart instead of Kim Basinger. At least 50 people saw the film (according to the audience Rotten Tomato numbers) - but given the 19% score - it’s probably better that you weren’t one of them.

“Staying Alive” isn’t just the name of the BeeGees song that opens up the classic 1977 film, “Saturday Night Fever.” It’s also the name of the hit sequel made six years later. Yes, we said “hit.” Directed by Sylvester Stallone and starring John Travolta, “Staying Alive” somehow made over $127 million at the box office on a $22 million budget. So, it’s probably fair to say that folks in 1983 heard about, and probably even saw, this sequel. However, what we haven’t told you yet is how bad it is. We’re talking 0% Rotten Tomato score bad. We’re talking “Worst Sequel Ever” bad - at least according to Entertainment Weekly. This makes it easier to understand how “Staying Alive” got lost in the trash heap of cinematic history.

#11: “The Birds II: Land's End” (1994)

Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” is remembered these days as one of the greatest horror movies ever made. On the other hand, the made-for-TV film, “The Birds II: Land's End” is barely remembered at all - and those that do remember it, do so with regret and dismay. Especially many of those involved in making it. The director Rick Rosenthal is credited as ​​Alan Smithee in the film (a moniker used by directors who want to disavow themselves from a project). Tippi Hedren - the star of the original film - appears in a little cameo in the sequel, but called the whole thing embarrassing and horrible. When asked what Hitchcock would think of the film, Hedren responded, “I'd hate to think what he would say!”

Given the popularity of the 1983 film, “WarGames” back in the day, there was most definitely an audience for a sequel in the 80s. But it didn’t happen. There was probably even an audience (albeit an older one) for a sequel in 2008. But while we did get one that year, most people probably didn’t even know about it. “WarGames: The Dead Code” went direct-to-video in 2008 and there aren’t even enough critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for it to register a score. Also, the best thing any critic said about it was “As far as direct-to-DVD sequels go, you can do a lot worse.”

If you thought the American “The Ring” franchise ended in 2005 with “The Ring Two” - you’re wrong. 12 years later, the franchise about the deadly videotape was back in theatres with “Rings.” Naomi Watts didn’t return - and neither did Ehren Kruger, who wrote the first two screenplays. But the videotape was back and the movie did make a little over $83 million at the box office. It got a C- Audience CinemaScore and is rocking a 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. There had been talk of making more “Rings” movies, but that hasn’t happened yet. Or maybe it has and we just never heard about it.

1999’s “The Blair Witch Project” was a cinematic phenomenon and became one of the most profitable films of all time. And although the 2000 sequel “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2” was pretty terrible, it came out the year after the first one so at least it was still part of the public consciousness at the time. The same can’t be said for 2016’s “Blair Witch” though. Most critics agree that the “Blair Witch” direct sequel - while not very good - is better than the first attempt at a second film. But given that it came out over a decade and a half after the original, it didn’t have the same cultural impact or staying power in our horror consciousness.

What were you doing at the end of November in 2016? Well, based on box office numbers, you probably weren’t seeing “Bad Santa 2”. The film only grossed $9 million in its first 5 days and went on to an unimpressive $24.1 million total. Unlike many films on this list though, its star, Billy Bob Thornton came back for part 2 - and it got a big theatrical release in thousands of theatres. But whether it was because “Bad Santa 2” was bad or because it was too many years since the great 2003 original, the sequel made very little noise. And the noise it did make - most of us didn’t hear.

Yup, 6 years later the human-eating, underground, worm-like monsters came back. But this time Kevin Bacon didn’t. The Bacon-ator starred in the first “Tremors” movie, but didn’t come back for the sequel. Despite no Bacon, the second film was actually pretty good, and TV Guide even called this direct-to-video production, “worthy of its theatrical predecessor.” Although, if you haven’t heard of this one, we’re going to assume you also had no idea about the 5 more films they made over the next 25 years: “Tremors 3: Back to Perfection,” “Tremors 4: The Legend Begins,” “Tremors 5: Bloodlines,” “Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell,” and “Tremors: Shrieker Island.”

“Mean Girls” was a hit back in 2004, and you might’ve heard that they made a Broadway musical that premiered on stage in 2018. You might also be in the know about the 2024 “Mean Girls” movie, which is itself a musical and inspired by the aforementioned broadway show. All of which were written by Tina Fey by the way. And then there is “Mean Girls 2” - the 2011 made-for-TV movie that Tina Fey had nothing to do with, that premiered on ABC Family and was met with pretty harsh reviews. Tim Meadows did reprise his role as principal though.

“S. Darko”, aka “S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale” is set 7 years after the events of “Donnie Darko” and tells the story of Donnie’s sister Samantha who sleepwalks, hallucinates and might be able to time travel. The first film became a big cult hit, but this second one flew way under the radar. But while most of us have never heard of the film - you know who has? The director of the first film, Richard Kelly, although he wishes he never had. As he said in one interview, “I hate it when people ask me about that sequel because...I had nothing to do with it…. I’ve never seen it and I never will.”

For many of us Ralph Fiennes first came to our attention playing Amon Göth in “Schindler's List.” However, he actually came to director Steven Spielberg’s attention after playing T. E. Lawrence in the made-for-TV “Lawrence of Arabia” unofficial sequel “A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.” Whereas David Lean’s 1962 epic depicts T. E. Lawrence during the first world war, “A Dangerous Man” deals with Lawrence and events after the war. The film first aired on British television in 1990 before coming to PBS in the United States a couple years later.

1983’s “A Christmas Story” has become one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time. But did you know there was a sequel? And no, we aren’t talking about 2012’s direct-to-DVD “A Christmas Story 2” or HBO Max’s 2022 “A Christmas Story Christmas.” We’re talking about 1994’s “My Summer Story” (released in the theaters originally as “It Runs in the Family”). So why haven’t you heard of it? Maybe it’s because it doesn’t have “Christmas Story” in the title, or because delays in production forced a total recast of the movie. Don’t feel bad about not knowing about this one; it only made $71,000 at the box office, so no one really knew it existed in 1994 either.

There’s only one movie in the “Vacation” franchise that doesn’t star Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo. That film is the 2003 made-for-TV movie, “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2” - also known as “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure.” This sequel to the much-loved 1989 “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation” film, focuses on Randy Quaid’s Cousin Eddie character and his family who, through a series of events, get stranded on a deserted island at Christmas. A “Vacation” movie without Chevy Chase? No wonder we never heard of it. Have you?



Any of these sequels ring a bell? Let us know in the comments.