The movie sequels nobody asked for

Sometimes a sequel is announced or rumoured that leaves film fans utterly bemused. This week it was reported that a sequel to 80s comedy ‘Twins’ is in the works. Titled ‘Triplets’ it would reunite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as the unlikely siblings, as they discover they have another brother.... played by Eddie Murphy.

Similarly ‘Wrath of the Titans’ hits cinemas this weekend, and when that was announced the reaction from most cinema-goers was something akin to, “Erm.. but why?” A fair enough question considering the first film ‘Clash of the Titans’ didn’t set the world alight critically and never quite lived up to billing at the box office. 

Even more baffling were the releases of ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ and ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island’ earlier this year, both sequels to critically panned films that never interested the movie-going public.

This got us thinking about sequels through ages that people either didn’t want at all or in hindsight weren’t the sequels people ever asked for.

[Related video: Exclusive Wrath of the Titans trailer]
[Related video: Terrible Lethal Weapon 5 script revealed]

Here are nine examples...

S. Darko (Donnie Darko 2)
Following its 2001 release, Richard Kelly’s bundle of dark insanity ‘Donnie Darko’ became a cult classic. Lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal made the film what it was with a star-making performance and yet he was nowhere to be found in the sequel. Releasing it eight years after the original was not a good idea either. By then people either had no idea about the film, were curious to see the original or liked the original and didn’t see the point in a sequel.

‘S. Darko’ went straight to DVD.

xXx: State of the Union
‘xXx’ was an average Vin Diesel action film in which he was undoubtedly the focus. Everything about the film (including Samuel L Jackson’s brief part in it) came second to Sony’s attempts to make Diesel a huge star. Someone somewhere thought casting Ice Cube as Diesel’s replacement for the sequel would be a sensible thing to do. They were wrong.

‘xXx: State of the Union’ opened to rubbish box office numbers in the States.

Grease 2
When Grease Lightning struck and set the world alight in 1978 of course people wanted to see more. Yes, the ending of the first was pretty definitive but the public wants what the public wants. What they did not want was John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John to be totally absent from 'Grease 2'. Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer took their place in what is essentially a re-tread of the first film, minus the magic flying car.

‘Grease 2’ didn’t come close to matching its predecessor’s success.

Evan Almighty
The original, ‘Bruce Almighty’, is a surprisingly good comedy with great showings from Jim Carrey as the lead and Morgan Freeman as God, who endows Carrey with his powers. Steve Carell was certainly a big enough star to warrant top billing but his character in the original was hardly the most likeable. He was the focal point of the film’s standout scene however, when Carrey interferes with Carrell’s news-reading. Slightly changing the plot of the original, Evan becomes an ark-building Noah-type to save people from an impending flood (which coincidentally probably killed hundreds).

‘Evan Almighty’ failed to make back its huge £109 million budget.

Basic Instinct 2
Is it possible to sell a film on the possibility of seeing up someone’s skirt? As hard as Michael Bay tries, we don’t think so. The first film worked because a) it was actually good and b) something so risqué was a big thrill for viewers back in 1992. The sequel does not work because a) there’s no Michael Douglas to lend gravitas, b) it came out 14 years after the original and c) they hired Stan Collymore, who lent anti-gravitas, if that’s actually a thing.

‘Basic Instinct 2’ made a loss of £19 million.

Speed 2: Cruise Control
As big a star as Sandra Bullock was, who ever thought making the damsel in distress of the first film into the action heroine of the second was a good idea? People wanted Keanu Reeves back and a villain to match Dennis Hopper’s fantastic villain. What they got was a big boat. The ‘Father Ted’ episode ‘Speed 3’ is much better.

‘Speed 2: Cruise Control’ was ranked among Time Magazine’s biggest box office bombs of all time.

Blues Brothers 2000
No sequel to ‘Blues Brothers’ should have ever been made without John Belushi, who died in 1982. That is scientific fact. However it didn’t stop Dan Aykroyd bringing the concept, and his character Elwood back for this painfully embarrassing film. Released in 1998 rather than 2000 as you might assume, it had just as many cameos as the first but came out in a time when nobody really cared about the days of soul music that it pined for so much.

‘Blues Brothers 2000’ failed to make back its relatively small budget.

Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights
As you’ll have noticed in this feature, timing plays a big part in a sequel’s potential pointlessness. ‘Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights’ was released a whole 17 years after the original. The result is a studio desperate to capture an audience that doesn’t care about seeing people who aren’t Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze dirty dancing. To confirm this, the trailer has “rediscover the time of your life” plastered on it. Nauseating.

‘Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights’ didn’t so much pirouette as fall flat on its face.

Son of the Mask
Jim Carrey and the sight of Cameron Diaz made the first film. Rubber-faced Carrey was perfect for that role and the film was a fun, star-making hit. The sequel starring Jamie Kennedy, awful make-up and a horrifying CGI baby is generally considered one of the worst films ever made. It entered Empire’s list of the 50 worst films ever, Total Film’s list of the 66 worst films ever and IMDB’s user-ratings-based bottom 100 movies.

‘Son of the Mask’ was assigned to a special level of hell.