Sequel Gap / Live-Action Films

Franchises with multiple examples

• Alien series:
  • 7 years between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986).
  • 6 years between Aliens and Alien³ (1992).
  • 5 years between Alien³ and Alien: Resurrection (1997).
  • 15 years between Resurrection and Prometheus (2012).
  • 5 years between Prometheus and Alien: Covenant (2017).
  • 7 years between Covenant and Alien: Romulus (2024).
  • And if you count the Alien vs. Predator films in the series, Alien vs. Predator (2004) was 7 years after Resurrection.
• Bad Boys:
  • Bad Boys (1995) and Bad Boys II (2003) — 8 years.
  • Bad Boys II and Bad Boys for Life (2020) — 17 years.
• The Best Man:
  • The Best Man (1999) and The Best Man Holiday (2013) — 14 years.
  • The Best Man Holiday and The Best Man: The Final Chapters (2022) — 9 years.
• Before trilogy:
  • Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004) — 9 years.
  • Before Sunset and Before Midnight (2013)— 9 years.
• Candyman:
  • By production order, Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999) and Candyman (2021) — 22 years.
  • By continuity, Candyman (1992) and Candyman (2021) — 29 years.
• Cats & Dogs:
  • Cats & Dogs (2001) and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010) — 9 years.
  • Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore (2010) and Cats & Dogs: Paws Unite (2020) — 10 years.
• Children of the Corn:
  • Children of the Corn (1984) and Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1993) — 9 years.
  • Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001) and Children of the Corn: Genesis (2011) — 10 years.
  • The Syfy remake Children of the Corn (2009) had its own sequel Children of the Corn: Runaway (2018) — 9 years.
• Child's Play franchise:
  • 7 years between Child's Play 3 (1991) and Bride of Chucky (1998).
  • 6 years between Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky (2004).
  • 9 years between Seed of Chucky and Curse of Chucky (2013).
• A Christmas Story:
  • A Christmas Story (1983) and It Runs in the Family (1994) (AKA My Summer Story, 1994) — 11 years.
  • A Christmas Story (1983) and A Christmas Story 2 (2012) — 29 years (18 years after It Runs in the Family)
  • A Christmas Story (1983) and A Christmas Story Christmas (2022) — 39 years (10 years after A Christmas Story 2)
• The Corpse Grinders:
  • The 1971 exploitation film The Corpse Grinders got a sequel, The Corpse Grinders 2, 29 years later, with original director Ted V. Mikels returning to helm it.
  • A third film, The Corpse Grinders 3, came 12 years after that, with no involvement from Mikels.
• Death Wish:
  • Death Wish (1974) and Death Wish II (1982) — 8 years.
  • Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) and Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994) — 7 years.
• Die Hard:
  • Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) and Live Free or Die Hard (2007) — 12 years.
  • Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) — 6 years.
• Dracula by Universal Horror:
  • Dracula (1931) and Dracula's Daughter (1936) — 5 years.
  • Dracula's Daughter (1936) and Son of Dracula (1943) — 7 years.
• Dragonheart:
  • Dragonheart (1995) had a five-year gap before its sequel, Dragonheart 2: A New Beginning (2000).
  • There was a 15-year gap before the third film, Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse (2015).
• Dr. Mabuse:
  • Fritz Lang's 1922 silent film Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler received a sequel, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, 11 years later in 1933, during which time technology had advanced enough that the second film is a talkie.
  • The third film, Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse, which was released 27 years later in 1960, was Lang's final film.
• Eastrail 177 Trilogy:
  • Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016) — 16 years (as a Stealth Sequel)
  • Unbreakable and Glass (2019) — 19 years (as a direct sequel).
• Evil Dead:
  • The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead 2 (1987) — 6 years.
  • Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness (1992) — 5 years.
  • Army of Darkness and the follow-up TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead (2015) — 23 years. Counting the remake Evil Dead (2013), which is actually a Stealth Sequel, it's 21 years.
  • Evil Dead (2013) and Evil Dead Rise (2023) — 10 years. Counting the last episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead in 2018, it’s 5 years.
• The Exorcist:
  • Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and The Exorcist III (1990) — 13 years.
  • Given that The Exorcist III mostly ignores The Exorcist II, the gap would be from The Exorcist (1973) — 17 years.
  • The Exorcist III (1990) and Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) — 14 years.
  • In addition, there is a 31 year prequel gap between The Exorcist (1973) and Exorcist: The Beginning (2004). The separate cut Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005), meanwhile has a 32 year prequel gap from The Exorcist.
  • The TV series The Exorcist, premiered in 2016, 11 years after Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005), but serves as a direct sequel to The Exorcist (1973), a gap of 43 years.
  • Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005) and The Exorcist: Believer (2023) — 18 years.
  • The Exorcist (1973) also has a direct sequel gap to The Exorcist: Believer of 50 years.
  • The Exorcist: Believer also came 6 years after the end of The Exorcist TV series in 2017.
• Gamera:
  • Gamera vs. Zigra (1971) and Gamera: Super Monster (1980) — 9 years.
  • Gamera: Super Monster and Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) — 15 years.
  • Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys (1999) and Gamera the Brave (2006) — 7 years.
• Ghostbusters:
  • Ghostbusters (1984) and its sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989) — 5 years.
  • There's a 27-year gap between the second film and the 2016 reboot.
  • If Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009) is treated as being as good as a third movie, that leaves the gap between Ghostbusters II and a proper sequel at a nice even 20 years, and a much shorter (though still long enough to qualify for this trope) 7-year gap between the game and the reboot film.
  • Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) again depends on what you count as most recent. The gap between it and the reboot is only long enough to count because it was pushed back a year, but from the 2009 game to it is 12 years, and from Ghostbusters II is 32.
• Godzilla:
  • 7 years between Godzilla Raids Again (1955) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962).
  • 9 years between Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) and The Return of Godzilla (1984).
  • 5 years between The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989).
  • 12 years between Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) and Shin Godzilla (2016), though the American-made Godzilla (2014) came out in the interim, which would still qualify, coming 10 years after Final Wars.
  • 7 years between Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One (2023) (although three animated movies and two MonsterVerse films came out in between).
  • In the American MonsterVerse series, 5 years between Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).
  • There is also a weird example that is exclusive to the American releases. The American release of the original Godzilla (1954), Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956), added insert shots with Raymond Burr as the character "Steve Martin" (not that one) as an American living in Japan who narrates and witnesses the events of the film. 29 years later, in the American release of The Return of Godzilla, titled Godzilla 1985, the filmmakers had Raymond Burr return as Steve Martin in the films American insert shots, directly referencing his experiences in King of the Monsters. The film also mentions that Godzilla originally attacked Japan in 1956, the year of the American release of the first film. Overall, the release treated the film as if it was a direct sequel to the American re-cut of the original Godzilla, ignoring the continuity of all the other films made in the thirty year gap.
• Halloween series:
  • Production order:
    • Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) to Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) — 6 years.
    • Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) to Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) — 6 years.
    • Halloween: Resurrection (2002) to Halloween (2007) — 5 years.
    • Halloween II (2009) to Halloween (2018) — 9 years.
  • Continuity-wise:
    • Halloween II (1981) to Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) — 7 years
    • Halloween II (1981) to Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998) — 17 years
    • Halloween (1978) to Halloween (2018) — 40 years
• The Hannibal Lecter movies:
  • Hannibal (2001) to The Silence of the Lambs (1991) — 10 years.
  • Red Dragon (2002), as the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs — 11 years.
  • Hannibal Rising (2007), a prequel to Red Dragon (2002) — 5 years.
• Hellraiser:
  • Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005) and Hellraiser: Revelations (2011) — 6 years.
  • Hellraiser: Revelations and Hellraiser: Judgement (2018) — 7 years.
• Highlander:
  • Highlander (1986) and Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) — 5 years.
  • Highlander and Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994), which ignores the second film — 8 years.
  • Highlander III: The Sorcerer and Highlander: Endgame (2000) — 6 years.
  • Highlander: Endgame and Highlander: The Source (2007) — 7 years.
• Home Alone series:
  • 5 years between Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and Home Alone 3 (1997).
  • 10 years between Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House (2002) and Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012).
  • 9 years between The Holiday Heist and Home Sweet Home Alone (2021).
• Indiana Jones:
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) — 5 years.
    • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) as a chronological sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) — 8 years.
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) — 19 years.
  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) — 15 years.
• The Invisible Man:
  • The Invisible Man (1933) and The Invisible Man Returns (1940) — 7 years.
  • The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) — 7 years.
• James Bond series:
  • Licence to Kill (1989) and GoldenEye (1995) — 6 years.
  • Spectre (2015) to No Time to Die (2021) — 6 years.
• Johnny English:
  • Johnny English (2003) and Johnny English Reborn (2011) — 8 years.
  • Johnny English Reborn and Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) — 7 years.
• The Karate Kid:
  • The Karate Kid Part III (1989) and The Next Karate Kid (1994) — 5 years.
  • The Next Karate Kid and The Karate Kid (2010) — 16 years, even though it's a Continuity Reboot.
  • The Next Karate Kid and the TV series Cobra Kai (2018) — 24 years.
• The George A. Romero Living Dead Series:
  • Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978) — 10 years.
  • Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead (1985) — 7 years.
  • Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead (2005) — 20 years.
• The Love Bug:
  • The Love Bug (1969) and Herbie Rides Again (1974) — 5 years.
  • Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) and Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) — 25 years. This doesn't count the 1982 miniseries nor the 1997 TV movie sequel/reboot.
  • If you do count the 1997 TV film, it came out 17 years after Herbie Goes Bananas, 15 years after the miniseries and 8 years before Fully Loaded.
• Mad Max:
  • Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) — 30 years. What's even more amazing is that it had the same director for every single one.
  • Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and the prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) — 9 years.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Captain America Brave New World (2024) — 8 years.
    • In terms of in-universe chronology, Black Widow (2021) picks up directly after Captain America: Civil War (2016) — 5 years.
  • Doctor Strange (2016) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) — 6 years.
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) — 6 years.
• Meatballs:
  • Meatballs (1979) and Meatballs II (1984) — 5 years.
  • Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986) and Meatballs 4: To The Rescue (1992) — 6 years.
• Men in Black:
  • Men in Black (1997) and Men in Black II (2002) — 5 years.
  • Men in Black II and Men in Black 3 (2012) — 10 years.
  • Men in Black 3 and Men in Black: International (2019) — 7 years.
• Mission: Impossible Film Series:
  • Mission: Impossible II (2000) and Mission: Impossible III (2006) — 6 years.
  • Mission: Impossible III (2006) and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) — 5 years.
  • Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023) — 5 years.
• The Mummy:
  • In the Universal Horror series:
    • The Mummy (1932) and The Mummy's Hand (1940) — 8 years.
    • The Mummys Curse (1944) and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) — 11 years.
  • In the Hammer Horror series:
    • The Mummy (1959) and The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964) — 5 years.
  • In The Mummy Trilogy:
    • The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) — 7 years. The spinoff The Scorpion King (2002) was released in the interim, which itself has a sequel gap of six years until its own sequel The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (also 2008). The 2017 Dark Universe reboot would come 9 years later.
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding:
  • My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016) — 14 years.
  • My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023) — 7 years.
• National Lampoon's Vacation:
  • National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) to Vegas Vacation (1997) — 8 years.
  • Christmas Vacation to the Made-for-TV Spin-Off National Lampoons Christmas Vacation 2: Eddie's Island Adventure (2003) — 14 years.
  • Vegas Vacation to Vacation (2015) — 18 years.
• The Omen:
  • Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981) and Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) — 10 years.
  • Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) to the remake The Omen (2006) — 15 years.
  • The Omen (2006) to The First Omen (2024) — 18 years.
  • The First Omen (2024) also has a 48 year prequel gap from The Omen (1976).
• The Pink Panther:
  • Inspector Clouseau (1968) and The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) — 7 years. However, considering Inspector Clouseau is treated as Canon Discontinuity, the gap would instead be between A Shot in the Dark (1964) and The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) — 11 years.
  • Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) and Son of the Pink Panther (1993) — 10 years. Son of the Pink Panther would be the last original series movie, though a remake, The Pink Panther (2006), would come 13 years later.
• Predator:
  • There's a fourteen-year gap between Predator 2 (1990) and Alien vs. Predator (2004).
  • Or, not counting the Alien vs. Predator films as legitimate, there's a 20-year gap between Predator 2 (1990) and Predators (2010).
  • Following that, there was an 8-year gap between Predators (2010) and The Predator (2018).
• Rambo:
  • Rambo III (1988) and Rambo IV (2008) — 20 years.
  • Followed by Rambo: Last Blood (2019) — 11 years.
• Return of the Living Dead:
  • Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) and Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) — 5 years.
  • Return of the Living Dead 3 and Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis (2005) — 12 years.
• Rocky:
  • Rocky V (1990) and Rocky Balboa (2006) — 16 years.
  • And following Rocky Balboa came the Spin-Off Creed (2015) — 9 years.
• Saw:
  • Saw 3D (2010) and Jigsaw (2017) — 7 years.
  • Regarding Saw X (2023) as a sequel to Saw (2004) and a prequel to Saw II (2005) — 19 and 18 years, respectively.
    • Saw X (2023) as a return to the storyline of the first seven films ended by Saw 3D (2010) — 13 years.
• Scream:
  • Scream 3 (2000) and Scream 4 (2011) — 11 years.
  • Scream 4 (2011) and Scream (2022) — 11 years.
• Shaft:
  • Shaft in Africa (1973) and the canonical soft-reboot sequel Shaft (2000) — 27 years.
  • And the sequel to that one, also titled...Shaft (2019) — 19 years.
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Original Series (ended in 1969) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) — 10 years. Although Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974) was produced in-between, which still counts given that there were 5 years between the end of The Animated Series and The Motion Picture.
  • The original broadcast of the original series episode "Space Seed" (1967) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) — 15 years. And while not a true sequel (more like a remake), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) was 31 years after that.
  • In a similar vein to the "Space Seed-Wrath of Khan" example, Star Trek: First Contact (1996) picks up plot threads from the Next Generation two-parter "The Best of Both Worlds" (1990) — 6 years.
  • Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and Star Trek (2009) — 7 years.
• Star Wars:
  • A New Hope (1977) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) — 28-year prequel gap.
    • A New Hope (1977) and Rogue One (2016) — 39-year prequel gap.
    • A New Hope (1977) and Solo (2018) — 41-year prequel gap.
  • Return of the Jedi (1983) and The Phantom Menace (1999) — 16-year prequel gap.
    • Return of the Jedi (1983) and its sequel The Force Awakens (2015) — 32 years.
  • Revenge of the Sith (2005) and The Force Awakens (2015) — 10 years.
    • Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Rogue One (2016) — 11-year sequel gap.
    • Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Solo (2018) — 13-year sequel gap.
  • And if one is willing to count animated films; Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and The Force Awakens (2015) — 7 years.
    • In terms of in-universe chronology, The Clone Wars takes place between Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith, giving it a 6 year gap from the former.
• Superman Film Series:
  • Superman Returns (2006), released nineteen years after Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) — and chronologically following Superman II (1980), released 26 years before.
  • Superman Returns (2006) and the reboot Man of Steel (2013) — 7 years.
• Starship Troopers:
  • Starship Troopers (1997) was followed by a line of Direct to Video sequels starting with Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation in 2004 — 7 years.
  • Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012) and Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (2017) — 5 years.
• Terminator series:
  • The Terminator (1984) to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) — 7 years.
  • Judgment Day to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) — 12 years.
  • Rise of the Machines to Terminator Salvation (2009) — 6 years.
  • Salvation to Terminator Genisys (2015) — 6 years.
  • Judgment Day (1991) and Genisys (2015) — 24 years.^note Technically a reboot, but marketed as the "true" third film of the franchise
  • Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) — 28 years.^note As was the case with Genisys, the film was marketed as the "true" third film of the franchise
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre:
  • Production order:
    • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) — 12 years.
    • Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995/1997) — 5-7 years; the latter film was screened and shelved in 1995 before getting a full release in 1997 to capitalize on stars Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger's increased profiles.
    • Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995/1997) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) — 6-8 years.
    • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) and Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) — a little over 6 years.
  • Continuity-wise:
    • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) — 39 years (applies Canon Discontinuity to original 3 sequels and UnReboots The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning).
    • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) — 48 years (applies Canon Discontinuity to Texas Chainsaw 3D and Leatherface).
• Tremors:
  • Tremors (1990) and Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996) — 6 years.
  • Tremors 2: Aftershocks and Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001) — 5 years.
  • Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004) and Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015) — 11 years.
• Viewaskewniverse:
  • Clerks (1994) and Clerks II (2006) — 12 years.
  • Clerks II (2006) and Clerks III (2022) — 15 years.
  • Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019) — 18 years.
• The Wizard of Oz:
  • Return to Oz (1985) was made 46 years after The Wizard of Oz (1939). The stylistic differences are great enough that by some standards it's more of a thematic sequel than a direct one.
  • Subsequently, another 28 years elapsed until the prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) came out.

Other examples

5 years:

• Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017) — Surprisingly, the first three films were released back to back, i.e. the first movie releasing in 2010 with Rodrick Rules releasing in 2011 and the aforementioned Dog Days in 2012.
• The 1993 film version of The Fugitive was followed up with a Spin-Off sequel, U.S. Marshals, focusing on Sam Gerard reprised by Tommy Lee Jones.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 (2011) and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) — While the latter is a Distant Prequel, it does feature a handful of characters from the Harry Potter films (albeit played by Timeshifted Actors).
• Insidious: The Last Key (2018) and Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
• Jaws 2 (1978) and Jaws 3-D (1983)
• Joker (2019) and Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
• Knocked Up (2007) and the "sort-of sequel", This Is 40 (2012)
• Miss Congeniality (2000) and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)
• Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)
• The Nun (2018) and The Nun II (2023)
• Pacific Rim (2013) and Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
• Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989) and Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994)
• Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) and Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)
• Warriors of Virtue (1997) and Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao (2002)

6 years:

• Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
• American Graffiti (1973) and More American Graffiti (1979)
• Amityville 3-D (1983) and Amityville: The Evil Escapes (1989)
• Black Mask (1996) and its sequel, Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002)
• Deadpool 2 (2018) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
• The Brides of Dracula (1960) and Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966). Given that Prince of Darkness mostly ignores The Brides of Dracula, the gap would be starting from Horror of Dracula (1958), so 8 years.
• Return of the Fly (1959) and Curse of the Fly (1965)
• The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) and The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
• George of the Jungle (1997) and George of the Jungle 2 (2003)
• Gremlins (1984) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
• Hollow Man (2000) and its Direct to Video sequel Hollow Man 2 (2006)
• Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
• Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010)
• The NeverEnding Story (1984) and The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
• Rush Hour 2 (2001) and Rush Hour 3 (2007)
• 'Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Staying Alive'' (1983)
• Silent Hill (2006) and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2012)

7 years:

• Angels & Demons (2009) and Inferno (2016)
• Arthur (1981) and Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988)
• Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
• Mean Girls (2004) and Mean Girls 2' (2011)
• The Enforcer (1976) and Sudden Impact (1983)
• Saturday the 14th (1981) and Saturday the 14th Strikes Back (1988)
• Scary Movie 4 (2006) and Scary Movie 5 (2013)
• The Tales from the Crypt film Ritual was released in 2003, after 1996's Bordello of Blood.
• War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

8 years:

• Basket Case (1982) and Basket Case 2 (1990)
• 48 Hrs. (1982) and Another 48 Hrs. (1990)
• Donnie Darko (2001) and S. Darko (2009)
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015) and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
• I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
• Magic Mike XXL (2015) and Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023)
• Rosemary's Baby (1968) had a Made-for-TV sequel Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1976)
• The Santa Clause (1994) and The Santa Clause 2 (2002). The Sequel in Another Medium The Santa Clauses (2022) meanwhile comes 16 years after The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006).
• See No Evil (2006) and See No Evil 2 (2014)
• Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) and Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011), by which time Fleeting Demographic had set in. The franchise was more-or-less remarketed as though new.

9 years:

• American Wedding (2003) and American Reunion (2012)
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
• The Beastmaster (1982) and Beastmaster 2: Through The Portal of Time (1991)
• The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and Riddick (2013)
• Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
• The Expendables 3 (2014) and Expend4bles (2023)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) after The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• Left Behind (2014) (2014) and Left Behind: Rise Of The Antichrist (2023)
• Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) and Nosferatu in Venice (1988)
• Sin City (2005) and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
• Timecop (1994) and Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (2003)
• Zombi 2 (1979) and Zombi 3D (1988)

10 years:

• Bean (1997) and Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
• Freddy vs. Jason (2003) is a direct sequel to Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) and was supposed to come out not long after, but it wasn't made until a decade later due to Troubled Production. It was preceded in the Friday the 13th films by Jason X (2002), which came out 9 years after Jason Goes to Hell. The last A Nightmare on Elm Street film before Freddy Vs. Jason was Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), a gap of nine years. As New Nightmare took place in an alternate continuity from the main series, Freddy Vs. Jason was preceded by Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), a gap of 12 years. The next installments in both series would be remakes, with Friday the 13th (2009) coming out 6 years later and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) coming out 7 years later.
• King Kong (1976) and King Kong Lives (1986)
• Mamma Mia! (2008) and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
• The Sting (1973) and The Sting II (1983)
• The Strangers (2008) and The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)
• Zombieland (2009) and Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

11 years:

• The Mask (1994) and Son of the Mask (2005)
• Final Destination (2000) and Final Destination 5 (2011) being a prequel and all.
• Ocean's Thirteen (2007) and Ocean's 8 (2018)

12 years:

• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) and Bridget Jones' Baby (2016)
• Kaamelott (the series) ended in 2009, and Kaamelott: Premier Volet (The Movie) came out in 2021.
• Muppets from Space (1999) and The Muppets (2011)
• The Ring Two (2005) and Rings (2017)
• The Sandlot (1993) and The Sandlot 2 (2005)
• xXx: State of the Union (2005) and XXX Return Of Xander Cage (2017)

13 years:

• Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
• Bad Santa (2003) and Bad Santa 2 (2016)
• The Benchwarmers (2006) and Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls (2009)
• Bride of Re-Animator (1990) and Beyond Re-Animator (2003)
• "Crocodile" Dundee II (1988) to Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001)
• Largo Winch 2 (2011) and Largo Winch 3 (2024)

14 years:

• Basic Instinct (1992) and Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
• The Blob (1958) and Beware! The Blob (1972)
• Borat (2006) and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
• The Devil's Rejects (2005) and 3 from Hell (2019)
• Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003) and Jeepers Creepers 3 (2017)
• Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World (2015)
• The Many Saints of Newark (2021), a prequel to The Sopranos (1999–2007), came out 14 years after the series ended.

15 years:

• Enchanted (2007) and Disenchanted (2022)
• Escape from New York (1981) and Escape from L.A. (1996)
• The Three Musketeers (1973) & The Four Musketeers (1974) and The Return of the Musketeers (1989). Not unreasonable considering the latter is an adaptation of the book Twenty Years After.
• Zoolander (2001) and Zoolander 2 (2016)
• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005) and We Can Be Heroes (2020)

16 years:

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)
• An American Werewolf in London (1981) and An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)
• Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Charlie's Angels (2019)
• Chinatown (1974) and The Two Jakes (1990)
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)
• Drunken Master (1978) and its sequel, Drunken master 2 (1994)
• The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990)
• Patton (1970) had a TV sequel The Last Days of Patton (1986)

17 years:

• Dirty Dancing received an In Name Only prequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. Patrick Swayze had a cameo, though as a different character than the first film. A direct sequel that will star Jennifer Grey was announced in 2020.

18 years:

• The Blues Brothers (1980) and Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
• Life-Size (2000) and Life Size 2 (2018)
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and The Matrix Resurrections (2021). If you're going from The Matrix Online MMORPG (2005–2009), Resurrections would be 12 years after it went offline.
• Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) and Phantasm V: Ravager (2016)
• The Visitors II: The Corridors of Time (1998) and The Visitors: Bastille Day (2016)

19 years:

• Deep Blue Sea (1999) and its Direct to Video sequel Deep Blue Sea 2 (2018)

20 years:

• Dumb and Dumber (1994) and Dumb and Dumber To (2014). not counting the prequel which would count as well being released in 2003, 9 years after the first and 11 years before the sequel.
• Independence Day (1996) and Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
• The Little Rascals (1994) and The Little Rascals Save The Day (2014)
• Mrs. Brown (1997) and Victoria & Abdul (2017). A rare biopic example, though Victoria and Abdul is best described as an unofficial sequel, as the only thing tying the two films together is Judi Dench playing Queen Victoria.

21 years:

• The Lost Boys (1987) and The Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008)
• The Passion of the Christ (2004) and The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection - Chapter I (2025).
• Trainspotting (1996) and T2 Trainspotting (2017)

22 years:

• Jumanji (1995) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
• Harold Lloyd's The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) was a sequel to his hit film The Freshman (1925)

23 years:

• Carrie (1976) and its sequel The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
• Hard Target (1993) and Hard Target 2 (2016)
• Psycho (1960) and Psycho II (1983)
• Wall Street (1987) and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

24 years:

• The Craft (1996) and The Craft: Legacy (2020)
• Gladiator (2000) and Gladiator 2 (2024)

25 years:

• Father of the Bride Part II (1995) has a a mini-sequel Father of the Bride Part 3 (ish) (2020)
• The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986)
• Space Jam (1996) and Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021). As far as Looney Tunes films in general go, Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) came out in the interim, which still applies as it came out 7 years after Space Jam and 18 years before A New Legacy.
• WarGames (1983) and WarGames The Dead Code (2008)

26 years:

• Deadly Prey, a DTV B-movie, received a sequel, The Deadliest Prey, in 2013, and basically rehashed the plot from the first film.
• Good Burger (1997) and Good Burger 2 (2023 Paramount+ original)

27 years:

• Critters: The fifth film Critters Attack! was released in 2019, 27 years after the previous film, Critters 4.
• French Fried Vacation: French Fried Vacation 2 came out in 1979, and French Fried Vacation 3 came out in 2006.
• Inferno (1980) (1980) and Mother of Tears (2007)

28 years:

• TRON (1982) and TRON: Legacy (2010) — 28 years.

29 years:

• Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
• Hocus Pocus (1993) and Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)
• A Prequel Gap case is The Thing (2011) and The Thing (1982). Additionally there was the video game sequel, The Thing (2002), which came out 20 years after the original and nine years before the prequel.

30+ years:

• The Odd Couple (1968) and its sequel The Odd Couple II (1998) -
• The classic Soviet film The Irony of Fate came out in 1976 and is typically shown every New Years Eve. Sequel The Irony of Fate 2 came out in 2007, and brought back some of the original characters, although the main focus is on their children. — 31 years.
• Coming to America (1988) and Coming 2 America (2021) — 33 years.
• The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and An Englishman In New York (2009) — 34 years.
• Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) — 35 years.
• Beetlejuice (1988) and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) — 36 years.
• Top Gun (1986) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022) — 36 years (reflected in-universe as well).
• Obscure film noir movie Strange Bargain (1949) was given a sequel 38 years later in 1987 — in an episode of Murder, She Wrote, where Jessica Fletcher investigated the original crime.
• A Christmas Story (1983) was followed by A Christmas Story Christmas (2022), 39 years later. While there were other films in the Parker Family series released in the interim, including A Christmas Story 2 in 2012, this was the first film to have Peter Billingsley reprise his role as Ralphie Parker.
• The Shining (1980) was followed by Doctor Sleep (2019) 39 years later. This is longer than the 36-year gap between the original novel and its literary sequel, as it took longer for an adaptation of Doctor Sleep to get off the ground than it did for The Shining.

40+ years:

• Coffin Joe: Brazilian filmmaker José Mojica Marins made a trilogy about his Author Avatar character Coffin Joe. The movies are At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1963), This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967), and finally Embodiment of Evil (2008), only 41 years after the second one. Of course, that doesn't mean he did nothing at all this years, even using Coffin Joe in minor roles in his other projects.
• The 1967 Kaiju movie The X from Outer Space got a sequel in 2008 called Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit in which Guilala, the titular "X" battles a warrior god named Take-Majin and North Korea (sorry, the "North Country") tries to nuke the Kaiju. 41 years! Would have been shorter if Shochiku (Guilala's creators) had succeeded in a deal with Nikkatsu to pit their own Kaiju against each other in Guilala vs. Gappa back in the 70s.

50+ years:

• Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) and Manos Returns (2018) — 51 years, one of the longest gaps ever for a live-action film with returning cast members.
• The Railway Children (1970) and The Railway Children Return (2022) with Jenny Agutter returning — 52 years.
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) received an Origins Episode 52 years later with Wonka (2023) though it's said to also be a kind-of prequel to Roald Dahl's original novel as well. Additionally, in terms of production, Wonka comes 18 years after Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation which itself came 34 years after the 1971 film.
• The Killer Shrews (1959) got a sequel in 2012, still starring James Best — 53 years.
• Mary Poppins (1964) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018) — 54 years ^note where the Time Skip in the movie itself is a mere 25 years, less than half the actual amount of time that passed between the installments.

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