11 Films That Many People Don’t Even Realize Are, in Fact, Sequels
Hollywood loves to give audiences more of the same, but there are times when a sequel to a hit film just doesn’t work out. Instead, we can point to cases where directors instead create (unintentionally or not) a “spiritual sequel” – a film that is not directly related to the earlier work but still feels familiar. They may use the same stars or similar narratives and images, but they are not part of the series.
A simple example is director Christopher Guest’s series of mockumentary films, which include A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, and Waiting for Guffman . They share actors, but not characters, but they still feel like they belong. Below I’ve collected more examples – 11 pairs of films that, although not part of a franchise, can be a lot of fun to watch together.
Sean Connery’s James Bond (1962–67) / The Rock (1996)
Despite the plot of a Navy SEAL team breaking into Alcatraz to stop a rogue general from launching nerve gas missiles into San Francisco, movie buffs have long argued that director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer planned this popcorn action movie Rated R starring Shawn. Connery will be an extension of his time as James Bond. There are lengthy Reddit threads and YouTube videos filled with evidence, from the timeline of the capture of Connery’s character John Mason to training by British intelligence and other Easter eggs hidden throughout the film. While The Rock won’t go down as a canonical Bond film, as a longtime Bond fan, I found that watching The Rock with this mindset made Bay’s minor masterpiece that much more enjoyable.
Where to watch James Bond: digital rental
Where to watch The Rock: digital rental
A Fish Called Wanda (1988) / Fierce Creatures (1997)
John Cleese wrote a comedy heist film , A Fish Called Wanda , that was so funny that someone seemed to die laughing while watching it. He also co-wrote the script for Fierce Creatures , which was released nine years later and reunited the main cast of Wanda : Cleese, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Palin. Luckily for the few who saw Ferocious Creatures , no one met their demise while watching this farce about a zoo that adopts animal cruelty policies to increase attendance and revenue, but it does have its moments.
Where to watch A Fish Called Wanda: MGM+, Tubi, Pluto TV, Hoopla, digital rental
Where to watch Fierce Creatures: digital rental
Blade Runner (1982) / Soldier (1988)
Written by David Webb Peoples, who also co-wrote the screenplay for Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner , Solider is viewed by cult fans as a spin-off of the influential 1982 science fiction film. Throughout the 1998 action film, Kurt Russell’s protagonist describes scenes straight from Rutger Hauer’s “Tears in the Rain” monologue at the end of Blade Runner . According to Wikipedia , which is correct, Peoples theorized that Solider takes place in the same universe as Blade Runner. However, he retracted his comments from last year.
Where to watch Blade Runner: Digital Rental
Where to watch Solider: digital rental
Jumanji (1995) / Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Both Jumanji and Zathura are based on Chris Van Allsburg’s books about children’s board games coming to life, and the latter film’s marketing team tried to exploit that connection in the trailer. However, director Jon Favreau, who would go on to expand the Star Wars universe with The Mandalorian , tried to downplay any connection between his space film and Robin Williams’ jungle-set classic. Although Zathura was a box office flop, it was received much better by critics and, more surprisingly, by my oldest child, than Jumanji .
Where to watch Jumanji: Netflix, digital rental
Where to watch Zathura: A Space Adventure: Netflix, digital rental
Dazed and Confused (1993) / Everyone Wants It! (2016)
In 2014, director Richard Linklater announced the film Everybody Wants It! about freshman college baseball players humorously navigating life in the 1980s. He immediately began linking it to his breakthrough hit Dazed and Confused , which was set around the last day of school in the ’70s. There are many similarities, from the rock soundtrack to the young cast of future stars (Glen Powell and Wyatt Russell, for starters); Both films also revolve around how the small moments in our lives make us who we are. In fact, everyone wants some!! may improve on the formula established by its predecessor.
Where to watch Dazed and Confused: digital rental
Where to watch “Everybody Wants It!”: digital rental
The Conversation (1974) / Enemy of the State (1998)
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer was a little more open about the connection between the action movie Enemy of the State and the dangers of surveillance to his influences than he was while working on The Rock . Any film fan knows that Gene Hackman’s presence as the grizzled former public relations executive is no coincidence: he played a similar role in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, giving this entertaining film much more seriousness than it would have had if the name Hackman was above the title.
Where to watch The Conversation: Paramount+ from Showtime , digital rental
Where to watch Enemy of the State: Digital Rental
Jackie Brown (1997) / Out of Sight (1998)
Two of the most influential independent filmmakers of all time have successfully taken on the adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel, and although they are not bound by the plot, they each capture the spirit of what the author put on the page. Based on Rum Punch , Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino) gives Leonard’s story a blaxploitation flavor with Pam Grier as the title character trying to evade the police and the no-nonsense arms dealer who wants her dead. What ties Tarantino’s film to Steven Soderbergh’s adaptation of Out of Sight , a modern noir about a bank robber (George Clooney) and a federal officer (Jennifer Lopez, in her best role) who fall in love, is the presence of actor Michael Keaton, who plays ATF agent Ray Nicolette in both films.
Where to watch Jackie Brown: Prime Video , digital rental
Where to watch Out of Sight: The Criterion Channel, digital rental
Heathers (1989) / Mean Girls (2004)
Both Heathers and Mean Girls are satires about the social structures of high school, although the former has a much darker tone with its jokes about death and suicide. However, both films were adapted into musicals and even have a family connection: Heathers was written by Daniel Waters, and Mean Girls was directed by his brother Mark.
Where to watch Heathers: Prime Video , Hoopla, Pluto TV, Tubi, YouTube, The Roku Channel, digital rental.
Where to watch “Mean Girls”: Hulu , Paramount+ with Showtime , digital rental
Goodfellas (1990) / Casino (1995)
Although there is no plot connection between these two Martin Scorsese films, they have many common elements that might lead some to believe otherwise. For example, both of them are based on real stories told in non-fiction books by author Nicholas Pileggi, and the actors Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci play the roles of bandits. They also depict the details that have made cinematic anti-heroes so successful at breaking the law, with scenes of extreme violence scattered to a classic rock soundtrack.
Where to watch Goodfellas: digital rental
Where to watch casinos: Hulu , Peacock , digital rentals
Better Off Dead (1985) / One Crazy Summer (1986)
Although not on the level of Scorsese, Savage director Steve Holland, John Cusack and Curtis Armstrong worked together on two of the funniest teen films ever (though Cusack disowned them for some reason). While both are filled with absurdist humor that probably wouldn’t see the light of day if they were made today, it’s best to watch them with this mindset: Better Off Dead is a dark but hilarious film in which Cusack becomes suicidal after his girlfriend breaks up with him. , is about the fear of starting high school, while One Crazy Summer is about the fun that can be had once it’s all over.
Where to watch Better Off Dead: digital rental
Where to watch One Crazy Summer: Tubi, Kanopy, Plex, digital rental
Scarface (1983) / Carlito’s Way (1993)
Before it became a cult classic, critics accused Carlito’s Way of sailing in the same waters as Scarface , the first collaboration between Al Pacino and director Brian DePalma. This is fair considering that in both films Pacino plays a gangster with a questionable accent that plays on racial stereotypes ( Scarface portrays a Cuban gangster, Carlito’s Way a Puerto Rican). However, when viewed in order, Scarface portrays a young, ambitious drug lord, while Carlito’s Way shows us what happens when your mistakes catch up with you.
Where to watch Scarface: Prime Video , AMC+, digital rental
Where to watch Carlito’s Way: Starz, digital rental