Movie Duologies-A Rare Breed

Superman: The Movie/Superman II... basically a single epic three-act story told over two films.
Night of the Living Dead/Dawn of the Dead... the best one-two punch in horror movie history... and I'm not even a horror movie fan!

It's a real pity to me that Guillermo del Toro didn't get to make his adaptation of The Hobbit, which almost certainly would have been a duology, alas... and would have worked better as one too, in my humble opinion.

 

Waynes world should be mentioned

 

Would Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace count? Rare case of continuity between Bond films

 

Doctor Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine and Doctor Goldfoot And The Girl Bombs
The Fly (the one starring Jeff Goldblum) and The Fly II
Although it was a pair of TV movies: Buried Alive and Buried Alive 2
Airplane and Airplane II

 

A problem I had with Bakshi's Lord Of The Rings is that movie literally stops at a point and we didn't get the end of the story. It was a bit disappointing.

 

Cool poster!

 

I think, as you touch on, very few are designed as duologies. It's just the sequel is so terrible that it kills the franchise.

I suppose you can add:

French Connection 1 & 2
Donnie Darko & S. Darko (it exists, so deal with it)
Carrie and The Fury I see as kind of the same subject matter by the same director
2001 and 2010
Chinatown and The Two Jakes

 

From what I understand, Superman The Movie and Superman II were originally supposed to be one movie (the rocket that Superman stopped in Superman The Movie was supposed to release the Phantom Zone criminals), but the story got too large for one movie.

This is a common issue for movies based on comic books: Many comic stories are simply too large to fit into one movie unless you do a lot of cutting and even then it is likely that you'd have to do a duology for the story. That is why I think that rather than a movie, it might be better to do a comic-book-based story as a TV miniseries rather than a movie.

 

Damn, I forgot that one...

Nope, it was always planned as a two-film project right from the outset and before the Salkinds' had even hired a writer. They had enjoyed considerable success in 1973-74 with The Three/Four Musketeers duology (which had been conceived and shot as a single epic movie, but eventually cut into two... much to the consternation of the acting talent who thought they had signed on, and got paid for, a single film!), so were planning on a similar approach for Superman... shoot it all in one go, and maximize profits by making it into two films!

Pity they screwed that plan up by firing Dick Donner before he could return and finish Superman II... about 75% of which was already in the can...

 

Never discount the possibility.

If there’s money to be made, Nic Cage seems to never say no to a paycheck.

 

That’s what makes it so surprising.

 

grease / grease 2
sat night fever / staying alive

 

Actually, the aspect of the absence of a "National Treasure 3" that surprises me the most is the fact that the 2nd film did better than the 1st.

"National Treasure": $173m US/$347m total WW
"Book": $219m US/$457m WW

Maybe Cage and others demanded a big raise that made a 3rd film less practical. Even though the 1st 2 made good box office, they were expensive to make so their profits were probably minimal and the studio may have figured that they weren't likely to turn a profit on a 3rd film...

 

The Abominable Dr. Phibes / Dr. Phibes Rises Again

 

I guess we can't count the two part movies like the last Harry Potter or Infinity War?

 

That's his reputation, but for a guy who has starred in so many movies, he's made very few sequels... just National Treasure, Ghost Rider, and Bad Lieutenant. (The last of these he was in the sequel but not the original.) He hasn't been in any trilogies.

The Five Types Of Nicolas Cage Movies

 

I loved that animated movie. For the Jackson movie they lifted that scene where the wraiths stab the pillows in the inn. That was not in the book as far as I remember, but it's been a while.

 

2 steve martin flicks
father of the bride 1 and 2
cheaper by the dozen 1 and 2

 

I’m waiting for a sequel to Leaving Las Vegas...

 

Fletch
Fletch Lives

Cannonball Run
Cannonball Run II

White Lightning
Gator

 

hmmm are we sure about this whole 'more trilogies than duologies' theory

 

Clerks
Clerks 2

 

Breakin'
Breakin' 2: Electric Boooglalooo

Every Which Way But Loose
Any Which Way You Can

Conan The Barbarian
Conan The Destroyer

Pee Wee Big Adventure
Big Top Pee Wee

Gremlins
Gremlins 2: The New Batch

 

I had absolutely no idea that there was a sequel to Donnie Darko.

 

No, but it's too late for me to edit my initial post.