While today, franchises are rife in Hollywood, many of the biggest classic films never got a sequel on the big screen, despite the story continuing elsewhere. There used to be a time when most people were in agreement that the original was always better than the sequel. Debates around film often led back to this truth, but today, the landscape of movies is very different.

When a studio has success with a given IP, it tends to dig deeper into the story, releasing sequels, spin-offs, prequels, and expanded universal stories. And these franchises have done some incredible things, building large-scale movie universes, but that wasn’t always the case. Despite some classic movies proving extremely popular, the best hope for a sequel often appeared to be continuing the story in another medium entirely.

10

Back To The Future Part III

Back to the Future enjoyed three theatrical releases, which was the standard for hugely popular sci-fi movies. Sci-fi and horror often had a trend of getting sequels, but even then, it was uncommon to keep pushing beyond a trilogy. So, when Doc Brown and Marty McFly wrapped up their third story in 1990, the franchise moved on to new formats.

This meant that just one year later, a Back to the Future animated TV show began airing. The show followed Emmet Brown and his wife and two sons as they traveled through time on wild adventures. It picked up after the third movie’s ending, and ran for two seasons. Beyond that, the story continued in comic books, which continued to add to the lore of the series.

9

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Much later, How to Train Your Dragon proved to be an incredible hit family film. The series featured three separate movies based on the characters created by Cressida Cowell, but the story grew much larger than the movies. Between the first movie and its sequels, How to Train Your Dragon was adapted into TV shows, depicting the life and times of Hiccup and the other Vikings living alongside dragons.

These shows crossed over and provided context for the films, but even after the theatrical movies ended, the story continued in The Nine Realms. This series was set 1300 years after the events of the final film, further expanding on the world of dragons and Vikings, and follows a descendant of Hiccup on his adventures with dragons.

8

The Lion King

The Lion King was one of the biggest releases from Disney in decades when it came out in 1994. The movie was successful enough that it helped to reinvigorate the franchise, and led to the studio creating an increasingly large array of animated тιтles in the years after that would continue to grow and expand exponentially to the point that it’s one of the biggest media franchises of all time. However, even that success wasn’t enough to get a sequel released in theaters.

In 1998, The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride was released directly to video, and it picked up where the original film left off. The movie had a lot in common with its predecessor, and it featured Simba’s daughter experiencing a plot that resembles William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, after the original The Lion King had a lot in common with Hamlet. While this movie almost certainly could have done well at the box office, it was never intended for a big screen release.

7

American Psycho

American Psycho was one of the most spectacular horror thrillers of the 2000s, but it was never intended to go beyond a standalone release. Despite this, just two years after the movie debuted, a standalone sequel was released, starring another high-profile actor, Mila Kunis. The film did not continue the story of Patrick Bateman, and in fact the script was not written with that film in mind, but in order to build on the excitement from that movie, it was reframed as a sequel.

Unfortunately, despite plans for a theatrical release, the movie ended up being made a direct to video and DVD release, which effectively buried it from the majority of the public. Perhaps this was better for the movie, as it was clearly made as a cash grab, selling out its unique narrative and talented cast for a chance to double down on a hit film.

6

Addams Family Values

The Addams Family are beloved icons of TV and film with their history extending all the way back to 1938 when they debuted as a newspaper cartoon. Since then, the characters have transitioned to TV and film, with live-action and animated projects. However, the most successful iterations were in the 1990s with Barry Sonnenfeld movies.

And after the success of Addams Family Values, the studio wanted to build it out into a potential TV series. In order to launch such a project, they created a direct-to-TV movie called Addams Family Reunion, starring Tim Curry as Gomez Addams. The actors who played Lurch and Thing did return, but otherwise, it was a brand-new cast. Curry does a fantastic job, as always, and the story was a fun follow-up, but it didn’t garner the same level of affection as the previous movies.

5

The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal was one of the most intense and terrifying children’s films ever made, but it did become a beloved classic of the 1980s. As such, the incredibly expansive world of Thra was ripe for expansion with various other mediums. Initially, there were plans for a sequel, but due to various issues, nothing managed to materialize for the best part of 30 years.

However, eventually the story was expanded with a series of prequel comics released in 2007. This led to a resurgence of interest in the project, which resulted in prequel novels building the world out even further. And then most recently, a prequel series тιтled The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance that debuted in 2019.

4

Limitless

In 2011, Bradley Cooper starred in an incredible mind-bending film called Limitless. The movie revolved around the idea that a small tablet could allow the person who consumes it to access and control their entire brain with extraordinary precision. This film was a hit, earning several times its budget, but for whatever reason, the movie did not warrant a sequel.

However, there were plans almost immediately for the story to continue in a television format. The show expanded on the world of Limitless, and brought Cooper back to appear as a guest star regularly, with a new protagonist who acquires the same drugs that unlock his potential. The story is compelling and exciting, though it was canceled after a single season with 22 episodes.

3

The Karate Kid

One of the greatest success stories in film franchise history, The Karate Kid movies were a huge hit in the 1980s and 1990s. The movies followed a young boy, Daniel LaRusso, as he learned karate in order to face his bullies and become a champion. The initial series had three movies, before the story was laid to rest.

Following this, there was an animated show which loosely adapted the story released in 1989, but the real sequel came years later. Cobra Kai debuted in 2018 on YouTube, before eventually finding a new home on Netflix. The series brought LaRusso back, alongside his old rival, Johnny Lawrence, in an epic six-season action series that revived the franchise, and led to another movie sequel being released in 2025 with LaRusso returning as a sensei.

2

Clueless

Clueless became a sensationally hit film in 1995, thanks to the incredible performance of Alicia Silverstone and the rest of the cast. And the studio wanted to expand on the success, which led them to create a spin-off TV series that followed a parallel set of stories about the main character just one year later. However, what was interesting about the spin-off is the fact that it included many of the actors from the original movie, including cameos from Paul Rudd.

It appears that Silverstone could have joined the series too, if not for the fact that she was contracted to work on another project. Regardless, the story did continue with novels and comics in subsequent years, expanding on the original movie and the series.

1

Clerks

Kevin Smith is well-regarded in the cult film space, producing and creating numerous projects that find a niche audience and are widely praised. Among them, Clerks stands out as Smith’s first big hit, being his feature directorial debut, and made on a shoestring budget. Despite the challenges and lack of experience, the movie was a mᴀssive hit, and launched Smith’s career to new heights, establishing him as an innovative and creative genius.

In addition to receiving two sequel films, Kevin Smith established the View Askewniverse, with numerous spin-offs and expansions to the world of his projects, such as Clerks. There was a pilot for a live-action TV show made based on the movies, an animated show, and even comics that all built out and expanded the series. As a result, it joins the list of sequels and expansions that were made for other mediums.