1. ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Familiarity breeds success, so even though it will cost you, lure
back the original stars. Lethal Weapon 3 not only reteams Mel Gibson
and Danny Glover, but also cobills Joe Pesci, who stole the
show in Lethal Weapon 2. 1982's Grease 2, however, starred
then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer and still-unknown Adrian Zmed in lieu
of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. It flunked out fast.
2. DON'T DAWDLE
Sequels shouldn't be confused with high school reunions — if you
wait too long to get the gang back together, memories may well have
faded. The Two Jakes, released 16 years after 1974's
Chinatown, couldn't rekindle the old passions. A three-year
separation is ideal: The first movie will be out on video, the
contracts for No. 2 will finally have been negotiated, and there will
be just enough time left to rush a sequel through production.
3. UP THE ANTE
Sequels must repeat the winning formula of their parent movies,
but since audiences still want to fell they're getting something new,
goose up the effects. Director James Cameron played the idea of
pitting two terminators — a good Schwarzenegger and a bad
Schwarzenegger — against each other in T2, but then he came up with the
liquid t-1000, a dazzling special-effects creation that made
something old seem new again.
4. DON'T GET ARTY
Francis Coppola's Godfather II was one of the few sequels that was
artistically superior to its inspiration. Resist the temptation to
try to do the same. Executive producer George Lucas' More American
Graffiti went bust when it experimented with four different film
styles, and William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist III stiffed
by offering a philosophical debate on good and evil when all folks
wanted was more pea soup.
5. REMEMBER, VIDEO HELPS
Even if a movie doesn't rake in huge bucks, it's still a
sequelizer candidate if it does well on video. How else to explain
this summer's Aces: Iron Eagle III, except to say that Iron Eagle II sold $21 million worth of tapes? Don't ignore video's promotional
value, either: The new Alien/Aliens Triple Pack, with the first two
movies (that's No. 1) plus a peek at Alien 3, is an ad waiting
to be rented.
6. BE PREPARED TO PAY MORE...
As talent, effects, and locations get pricier, the budgets for
sequels soar. Consider the Rocky saga. Made for just $1 million,
1976's Rocky was a lean, mean contender. Rocky II in 1979
weighed in at $7 million; 1982's Rocky III at $17 million; 1985's
Rocky IV at $30 million; and 1990's finale, Rocky V (for which
Stallone knocked down $20 million), $42 million. That's right-42
times the original.
7. AND EARN LESS
Just as the cost of making a sequel rises, the box office returns
can be expected to decrease. Don't be greedy: Lucky is the sequel
that grosses 50 percent of its original. And many don't even do that:
Three Men and a Little Lady did 32 percent of the box office toted up
by Three Men and a Baby; Gremlins 2: The New Batch did 28
percent of Gremlins' business; and Look Who's Talking Too did a mere
20 percent of No. 1.
8. DON'T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS
Most contracts include provisions for possible sequels, and most
endings leave the door open for further adventures. But don't buy
that Montana ranch until you see how the original performs. Just ask
Dino De Laurentiis, who thought he was birthing a Star Wars dynasty
with the impenetrable Dune. Or Kathleen Turner, who figured
she'd crack case after case as V.I. Warshawski. Case closed.
