Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull just cleaned up at the box office, despite a 19 year wait since the last installment in the franchise. Way to capitalize on that momentum, guys. I'm not even sure the target audience was alive when the last one was released, but that didn't seem to stop them from buying tickets. So, in honor of the success of the sequel everyone forgot they wanted, I give you today's List of the Obscure: Sequels That Got Made...Eventually.
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Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Released: May 19th, 1999
Sequel to: Return of the Jedi, released May 25th, 1983
Time between movies: 15 years, 11 months, 24 days
Why the wait: This would seem to be the least important question we could ask about the prequel trilogy. Some more pressing questions are why, how come, and seriously, what the fuck. Enough ink and nerd tears have been spilled over this. Let's just move on.
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Basic Instinct 2
Released: March 31st, 2006
Sequel to: Basic Instinct, released March 20th, 1992
Time between movies: 14 years, 11 days
Why the wait: Development hell. Originally slated for a 2002 release, the film was delayed when they couldn't find an actor willing to get naked and sweaty on screen with Sharon Stone. On the bright side, this left an open spot in her schedule for Catwoman.
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Clerks 2
Released: July 21, 2006
Sequel to: Clerks, released October 12, 1994
Time between movies: 11 years, 9 months, 9 days
Why the wait: The film was planned as far back as 1999, when the end credits of Dogma promised the return of Jay and Silent Bob in the upcoming film, Clerks 2: Hardly Clerkin. The title was subsequently changed to Clerks 2: Rude and Unwrapped and Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks before Kevin Smith decided that he wasn't as witty as he thought he was and just called the damn thing Clerks 2. The delay could probably best be blamed on Smith's participation in such brilliant counter-culture fare as Daredevil, Jersey Girl, and Catch and Release. Seriously, what happened to him? At least he was finished with Clerks 2 in time for...
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Live Free or Die Hard
Released: June 27, 2007
Sequel to: Die Hard With a Vengeance, released May 19, 1995
Time between movies: 12 years, 1 month, 8 days
Why the wait: The Die Hard series has always been a little strange. The 3rd movie in the series was not originally written as a Die Hard movie, but was adapted from a script called "Simon Says." This one was based off a script titled "WW3.com", stalled after the 9/11 attacks (what wasn't?) and eventually rewritten as a Die Hard movie. Got an idea for a movie that isn't going anywhere? Change the name of the main character to John McClane and...magic!
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The Two Jakes
Released: August 10th, 1990
Sequel to: Chinatown, released June 20th, 1974
Time between movies: 16 years, 1 month, 21 days
Why the wait: Aah, the best laid plans... Chinatown was the first film in a planned trilogy. The events of the first film took place in the 1930s. The Two Jakes was set in the 1940s, approximating the amount of time that actually passed between the two movies. The final movie, which would have been called Cloverleaf, would have taken place in the 1950s if The Two Jakes hadn't been a total bomb both critically and at the box office. The planned plot for this movie very closely approximates Who Framed Roger Rabbit, although presumably without the giant cartoon knockers.
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The Color of Money
Released: October 17th, 1986
Sequel to: The Hustler, released September 25th, 1961
Time between movies: 25 years, 22 days
Why the wait: Well, the book didn't come out until 1984. So why did it take so long for the book to get written? I dunno. I'm not researching books here. My guess is the author was hungry.
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