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There have been hundreds upon hundreds of great movies that have been made in cinema. From classics like Battleship Potemkin and Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times to newer films such as Titanic and Interstellar. Awesome new stories, fantastic new characters, and worlds all coming together to give audiences the ultimate viewing experience. On the flip side, these films also rake in millions of dollars for the respective studios that make and produce these movies.
The producers and businessmen salivate, and their eyes turn into cash symbols when they see films like Titanic bring in over two billion dollars or Avengers: Endgame do even better than that. Good films often get sequels. In some cases, sequels are planned out for a larger story (think the Marvel Cinematic Universe) or are a blatant cash grab, like The Lost World: Jurassic Park. But, in very rare cases, some sequels end up completely unrelated to their predecessors, often new movies that use the sequel title as a cash grab. Here are ten sequels that have nothing to do with the original.
Update September 9, 2023: This article has been updated with even more sequels that have nothing to do with the original films.
10 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
After the first Cloverfield movie offered a found footage story filled with big kaiju bonanza, 10 Cloverfield Lane came out of the left field with something absolutely unrelated to the plot of the first story. The film, directed by Dan Trachtenberg, is a survivalist tale where a woman named Michelle finds herself trapped inside an underground bunker where a control freak named Howard lets her know a chemical attack has rendered the air unbreathable in the open. Bit by bit, the plot unravels to reveal Howard is hiding more than he lets on, prompting Michelle's desire for escape. It's not a bad film at all, but it has a different tone from the last one with the same name.
9 Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2010)
Just one year after the original film was released, the right holders of the IP sought to capitalize on the popularity of the first movie by making a sequel that missed the mark entirely. Books of Shadow tries to make some meta-commentary, but the message gets lost in a confusing plotline that plays with the audience's perception and the cast members as they try to figure out if the Blair Witch is real or not. Let's say the experiment didn't work out for the best, and the franchise would remain dormant for 16 whole years until it was revived with a proper sequel to the original in 2016.
8 I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013)
The remake of I Spit on Your Grave featured the acting talents of Sarah Butler as Jennifer Hills in a story that is gruesome, brutal, and satisfying to watch at the same time, as she takes revenge on the men who brutalized her. When a sequel was announced one year later, fans were curious to see how the story would continue.
To the disappointment of everyone, the film was simply a rehash of the plot of the first entry as another girl named Katie is abducted and abused by a trio of men. Jemma Dallender manages to do a decent job. Still, there's no thread connecting her journey to the last film, and she looks way more brutal than the previous lead, making this sequel underwhelming and unnecessary.
7 American Psycho 2 (2002)
If we are talking about missing the mark with a sequel, American Psycho 2 takes it out of the park with honors. Released two years after the original, the movie directed by Morgan J. Freeman has the weakest thread connecting it to the first movie. The film follows a new girl named Rachel (played by Mila Kunis) who witnessed Patrick Bateman killing one of his victims in the first movie.
A few years later, she's making her way into the world of criminology by becoming an assistant to a prestigious professor. Any person who threatens Rachel's dreams is killed, not metaphorically, as the first movie implies. Every killing here is a literal one. The only thing that's put into question at the end of the journey is Rachel's actual identity.
6 Kindergarten Cop 2 (2016)
The realm of direct-to-video sequels is a scary place. Many popular films you cherished and loved will likely have a terrible sequel that was quickly put together as a cash grab. Kindergarten Cop 2 should not even exist. The movie, directed by Don Michael Paul, stars Dolph Lundgren and Bill Bellamy in a story that follows beat by beat the plot of the original, only this time around, the main focus is placed in the politically correct landscape most teachers have had to endure since the early 2010s. Sadly, this movie is only there if you wish to satisfy some curiosity, but there's not much here to offer with entrainment value.
5 The Fast & The Furious: Toyko Drift (2006)
This one is a slight cheat since it now is tied into the wider Fast & Furious saga, but for a while there, this felt more like a spin-off film to the franchise that was more disconnected than the actual spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw. The Fast & The Furious: Toyko Drift featured none of the original cast members from the previous two films, except for a cameo by Vin Diesel at the end of the film, and for the most part, follows its own set of characters far removed from the other entries.
The film would later be retroactively made important, with Sung Kang's Han being added to Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast and Furious 6 before returning in F9. Since he died in Toyko Drift, it meant the film was now retroactively taking place after the events of the following six sequels. The main crew of Toyko Drift did return for fun cameos in Furious 7 and F9, but even still from the subtitle to almost none of the cast being major players in the franchise, this entry often feels like the direct-to-video sequel.
4 The Suicide Squad (2021)
After the 2016 entry, Warner Bros. brought back four members of the original cast, along with director James Gunn, and released a second film titled The Suicide Squad. While it is technically a sequel and features a few returning characters like Harley Quinn, Rick Flag Jr., Amanda Waller, and Captain Boomerang, it is a major departure in tone and style with no mention of the previous film.
This incarnation of the film did much, much better with fans and critics than its predecessor, although it was a commercial flop since it was released during the COVID-19 days. It's still a solid entry with some of the best critical reception for a DC film in a long time. With praise for Gunn's humor, the goriness of the film, and the level of depth provided for the characters, The Suicide Squad, although a completely unrelated sequel, cemented itself as one of DC's better superhero films.
3 Home Alone 3 (1997)
After following the exploits of a young Kevin McCallister as he's left alone during the Christmas season both at home and in New York (in the second film), Home Alone 3 goes in a completely new direction with an entirely new cast. Essentially a reboot of the first film of a seven-movie series, Home Alone 3 follows a young boy named Alex, who must defend his home from thieves working for a terrorist organization during the Christmas season. The film did okay at the box office, making its budget back times two, but the critical response was the opposite. Home Alone 3 currently sits at 29% on Rotten Tomatoes and was even nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Film Sequel (losing out to Speed 2: Cruise Control).
2 Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
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Another third film to make this list, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, was a drastic change from the previous two Halloween films. The biggest change in Season of the Witch (and the only film to do so) was that there was no Micheal Myers featured at all. Rather, the film chooses to dive deep into the lore behind the Halloween holiday itself, with Pagan rituals, sacrifices, and more. It does, however, feature the ever-famous Micheal Myers masks and the factory that produces them.
Halloween III was a critical let-down, with some reviewers saying they couldn't understand the meaning of the film and famed critic Roger Ebert calling it "a low-budget thriller." Nonetheless, it made roughly $14 million USD off a $2.5 million USD budget. The film has gained a cult following in recent years.
1 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
Sharing the name of the original film only, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was a breath of fresh air in a sequel. Starring an entirely new cast that featured the likes of Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, and Kevin Hart, Welcome to the Jungle follows four high school students who get sucked into a video game world and have to free themselves from it by completing the story of the game.
Bringing the original concept into a new era with video games and putting the characters into the game instead of the real world made Welcome to the Jungle one of the more refreshing sequels at the time. It featured a few callbacks and references to the original film, including a nice tribute to Robin Williams, but it mainly stands on its own. It was a critical success and nearly crossed the billion-dollar threshold at the box office. It's considered one of the more worthy sequels ever made and was followed up two years later with Jumanji: The Next Level.