Naming a Sequel

The Roman Numeral - Classy, elegant and to the point, no matter how crappy the series. 

• Saw (2004)
• Saw II (2005)
• Saw III (2006)
• Saw IV (2007)
• Saw V (2008)
• Saw VI (2009)

        If you start with Roman numerals don’t switch to Arabic…or back again.

• Death Wish (1974)
• Death Wish II (1982)
• Death Wish 3 (1985)
• Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
• Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994)

The Arabic Numeral - Good but 62% less classy.

• Creepshow (1982)
• Creepshow 2 (1987)
• Creepshow 3 (2006)

        Try not to be confusing…

• The Eye (2002)
• The Eye 2 (2004)
• The Eye 10 (2005)

        …and if you have an interquel feel free to shoehorn it into the franchise.

• The Lion King (1994)
• The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998) (V)
• The Lion King 1½ (2004) (V) (interquel)

The Homophone - Substitute the number 2 for a homophone like “too”.   This gets the audience laughing before they even take a seat in the theater.

• Teen Wolf (1985)
• Teen Wolf Too (1987)

The Part Number - It  makes you look like you put a bit more effort into it then just slapping a number on it.

• The Godfather (1972)
• The Godfather Part II (1974)
• The Godfather Part III (1990)

The “Plus One” - If the original movie had a number in its title just increase that number by one for each consecutive movie

• Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
• Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
• Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)

The Extension-  Make a variation of the original title with sayings like “strikes back” , revenge of”, “return of”.  This has been effective from Son of Kong (1933) through I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006) (V)

• Planet of the Apes (1968)
• Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
• Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
• Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
• Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

The Tweak - Keep the familiarity of the original’s title but add a clever twist

• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
• Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992)
• Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997) (V)

The Pre-Subtitle - A phrase of two or more words that describes the contents of the movie which precedes the franchise title

• Jurassic Park (1993)
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

The Post-Subtitle - A phrase of two or more words that descibes the contents of the movie following the franchise title

• Ice Age (2002)
• Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)

        Have a game plan and plan ahead!  If you think you have a series in the making give it a post-title right out of the gate.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)

The “One Word Label” - Like naming a child.  Doesn’t describe it as much as labelling it.

• Apocalypse II: Revelation (1999)
• Apocalypse III: Tribulation (2000)
• Apocalypse IV: Judgment (2001)

The Character - Add  the character’s name to the subtitle.  Typically because the haracter had gained more noteriety than the movie itself.

• First Blood (1982)
• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

The Statement - More like of a line of dialogue than a title.

•  Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die (1996) (V)

The Pun - Play off another movie’s title which has very little if anything  to do with the movie it is actually subtitled for. 

• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

The Production Year - Put the year of release in the title.  How awesome is that?  And it never gets dated!

•  Amityville 1992: It’s About Time (1992) (V)

The Original - There is nothing wrong with slapping a new title that has nothing to do with the title before it.  How is it possible that audience ever discovered the James Bond series without a Dr. No, Part 23?

• Dr. No (1962)
• From Russia with Love (1963)
• Goldfinger (1964)
• Thunderball (1965)
• Only Live Twice (1967)
• Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• Live and Let Die (1973)
• The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
• Moonraker (1979)
• For Your Eyes Only (1981)
• Octopussy (1983)
• A View to a Kill (1985)
• The Living Daylights (1987)
• Licence to Kill (1989)
• GoldenEye (1995)
• Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
• The World Is Not Enough (1999)
• Die Another Day (2002)
• Casino Royale (2006) (reboot)
• Quantum Of Solace (2008)

The Blend  - If you can’t decide between arabic numerals or a pun just combine them

• Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust (2008) (V)
• Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver (2009) (V)

The combinations are almost limitless.

 

Stay the Course – Don’t change up the title formula throughout the series.

• First Blood (1982)
• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) 
• Rambo III (1988)
• Rambo (2008)

Try not to be confusing…

• A Cry in the Wild (1990)
• White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II (1993)
• White Wolves II: Legend of the Wild (1995)
• White Wolves III: Cry of the White Wolf (2000)

 

• The Amityville Horror (1979)
• Amityville II: The Possession (1982) (prequel)
• Amityville 3-D (1983)
• Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes (1989) (TV)
• The Amityville Curse (1990) (V)
• Amityville 1992: It’s About Time (1992) (V) (re-released as Amityville:  It’s About Time)
• Amityville: A New Generation (1993) (V)
• Amityville Dollhouse (1996) (V)
• The Amityville Horror (2005) (remakequel)