The Oblique Guide for Movie Sequels

• This time, make it personal
• Increase the stakes: what if the whole world needs the hero now?
• Bluff your way out of a plot by adding well-known actors
• Bring back the bad guy. Have it be personal, this time.
• If it was based on a book: check to see if there is a sequel you can destroy
• Increase the time span
• Show things only mentioned in the original
• Introduce a brother, father, son, girlfriend, or friend
• Have the characters meet up by accident many years later
• Make the bad guys more powerful, perhaps misrepresent evolution in the process
• Can former enemies unite in the face of a common foe?
• Go back to how it all started
• Think of intricate ways to get the cast back together: perhaps they angered someone in the original who will go through great lengths to get back at them all at once, thus ensuring an action-packed, if unbelievable sequel
• Does any of the cast seem like it might be going through a major life event?  Perhaps puberty, coming back from college, or a heart attack might work.
• Send the main character to Africa/Europe/Asia/South America/An Island/Space/Another Dimension!
• Perhaps there was a hidden significance to some events in the original.
• Joe Pesci

This time, make it personal Increase the stakes: what if the whole world needs the hero now? Bluff your way out of a plot by adding well-known actors Bring back the bad guy. Have it be personal, this time. If it was based on a book: check to see if there is a sequel you…