‘American Pie 2’
While forever changing the way people look at pie holes, American Pie grossed $102.6 million in 1999. Two years later, the sequel brought in an even more impressive $145.1 million.
While forever changing the way people look at pie holes, American Pie grossed $102.6 million in 1999. Two years later, the sequel brought in an even more impressive $145.1 million.
Set and released nine years after 1995’s Before Sunrise, Before Sunset brought back Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy for another chance romantic encounter. The second outing added the two leads as screenwriters and grossed $300,000 more than Before Sunrise’s $5.5 million.
Die Hard 2 died harder and grossed $34.5 million more than Bruce Willis’ $83 million action hit from 1988. The upward trend didn’t continue with Die Hard 3, however.
The second Bond film to hit theaters and feature Sean Connery as 007 one-upped Dr. No’s $16 million, bringing in $24.8 million. Goldfinger went on to double that success with $51.1 million.
After Harold and Kumar went to White Castle in 2004, the stoner duo racked up $38.1 million — up from the first film’s $18.2 million — while escaping from Guantanamo Bay four years later.
Based on Suzanne Collins’ acclaimed book of the same name, 2012’s The Hunger Games brought to life the terror of a world where children fight to the death for others’ entertainment. The film brought in $408 million, and its hot sequel, Catching Fire, found even bigger success, grossing $424.7 million.
1984’s The Karate Kid came kicking into theaters, amassing just over $5 million in its opening weekend and ultimately taking in $90.8 million. Two years later, the film’s sequel “waxed on” big-time, grossing $115.1 million.
Danny Glover and Mel Gibson co-starred in the 1987 cop film, Lethal Weapon, which grossed $65.2 million. The duo reprised their roles for the 1989 sequel, Lethal Weapon 2, which made more than double the original’s profits, with $147.3 million at the domestic box office.
In the 1982 action hit First Blood, Sylvester Stallone played John Rambo, a violent and emotionally fragile Vietnam War veteran who, upon his return home, engages in a series of racy encounters with local law authorities. The film amassed $47.2 million, and when Stallone reappeared as Rambo in 1985’s Rambo: First Blood Part 2, the sequel grossed a whopping $150.4 million.
In his 1984 role as a cyborg assassin from the future, Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered a line that would recur throughout The Terminator franchise: “I’ll be back.” The first film grossed $38.4 million, and seven years later, its sequel followed through on the protagonist’s promise with a bang, earning an impressive $204.8 million — nearly five times the first film’s revenue.
In 1995, Disney magic brought toys to animated life in Toy Story, which grossed $191.8 million. Four years later, the toys made a comeback in Toy Story 2, grossing $245.9 million in a 35-week run.
In 1983, the comedic horror film Evil Dead debuted and grossed $2.4 million. Evil Dead II premiered in 1987 and garnered $5.9 million during its seven weeks in theaters.
Highlander, whose story is adapted from a UCLA student’s script of the same name, domestically grossed $5.9 million in 1986. The movie’s sequel, which starred Sean Connery, racked up $15.6 million in a three-week period in 1991.
Mad Max — which starred Mel Gibson in his third film, if we're counting his TV movie in 1979 — was a sci-fi and action movie that grossed $8.8 million in 1980. Mad Max 2 premiered in 1985 with $36.2 million, more than quadrupling the original film’s domestic gross.
The introduction of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery in 1997 brought in $53.8 million domestically. Two years later, Austin Powers needed no introduction, and The Spy Who Shagged Me scored $206 million at the domestic box office.
Batman Begins introduced Christopher Nolan's Batman to the world in 2005. Garnering $206.8 million, the film sits at No. 133 on the list of all-time domestic gross totals. In contrast, the 2008 sequel ranks No. 4, grossing a total of $534.9 million domestically.
Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News Team raked in $85.3 million domestically with the release of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Burgundy’s legend continued nine years later with the release of Anchorman 2 in 2013 and surpassed the original film, grossing $127.4 million.
2011 saw the introduction of the God of Thunder to the Marvel cinematic universe in Thor, which grossed $181 million. Following up with Thor and friends in 2013, Thor: The Dark World grossed $206.4 million.
The original Ice Age first came out in 2002 debuting the animated voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary and successfully grossed $176 million at the box office. The sequel, Ice Age: The Meltdown, despite receiving mixed critical reaction, grossed more than $195 million in theaters.
Bad Boys, starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and Tea Leoni, hit theaters in 1995 and was Michael Bay’s directorial debut. It domestically grossed $65.8 million. The sequel, which premiered in 2003, grossed a little more than two times that amount, with $138.6 million during its 18-week stint.
In 2002, Matt Damon became the American Bond when he signed onto become Jason Bourne in the hit action film, The Bourne Identity. The film successfully grossed $121 million domestically, leading to the film's sequel The Bourne Supremacy. The sequel outdid the original critically-acclaimed film by making over $176 million at the box office.
Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans as Captain America, was Marvel's fifth film in their Cinematic Universe and went onto make around $176 million in the U.S. Captain America: The Winter Soldier came back with a bang in 2014 with a domestic gross of $259 million.
The original animated film starring the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segal and Miranda Cosgrove hit theaters in 2010 and made an outstanding $251 million domestically, despite a $69 million budget. The franchises' sequel, Despicable Me 2, came even stronger with an addition of the voices of Kristen Wiig and Russell Brand, which lead them to a gross of $368 million.
The animated, fantasy comedy, Hotel Transylvania, starring the voices of Selena Gomez, Adam Sandler and Kevin James debuted in theaters in 2012 and earned a total of $148 million at the box office. Hotel Transylvania 2's opening weekend became the biggest for leading star, Adam Sandler, with a gross of $48.5 million. The sequel did an overall domestic gross of $169 million.
The 2002 reality, comedy film Jackass: The Movie hit theaters with the tagline "Do not attempt this at home." The film, which features the Jackass T.V. show cast, grossed $64 million domestically and $79 million worldwide, returning the film's original investment 16 times over. The sequel to the stunt and prank-filled MTV production, Jackass: Number Two, beat out it's original gross with an $72 million domestic gross on an $11.5 million budget.
Tom Cruise was the original action star when he starred in the first Mission: Impossible, which grossed $180 million domestically when it debuted in 1996. Cruise then returned four years later with Mission: Impossible II and it made $215 million in the U.S. and is still the highest, lifetime grossing film in the action franchise.
Jerry Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl has been the most critically acclaimed film in the franchise, winning lead actor Johnny Depp a Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor and starting the franchise with a gross of $305 million domestically. But the sequel, Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest sets the record for the highest grossed film out of the five, earning an impressive $423 million in the U.S. alone.
The female-packed film about a university acapella group competing and finding their way made $65 million domestically. Pitch Perfect 2, which brought back Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson also came back bigger than ever by almost tripling the original film with a $184 million domestic gross.