The Best Movie Spinoffs in Movie History

 

The Best Movie Spinoffs

Introduction

It's a little-known fact that when it comes to movie franchises, spinoffs can be better than the original. In fact, some of the most successful movies of all time were based on existing properties—and they even managed to get sequels that were better than their predecessors! However, not every movie spinoff is a success (we're looking at you, Fantastic Four). But let's face it: sometimes it's just fun to see what happens next in our favorite stories. 

Here are 15 examples of movies where a sequel was more successful than its predecessor:

"Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)

"Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)

The classic tale of Luke Skywalker and the evil Darth Vader continues with this sequel to the original Star Wars film. In this movie, our heroes face off against their biggest threat yet: Emperor Palpatine's army of clones. But will they be able to stop him before he takes over the galaxy?

"Blade Runner 2049" (2017)

Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel to the 1982 film Blade Runner, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Ryan Gosling as K (played by Harrison Ford in the original) and Ana de Armas as Joi. The film received positive reviews, earning an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing over $240 million worldwide with 5 Oscar nominations and 4 wins: Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing (5th win), Best Visual Effects (3rd win), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration. It also won 6 BAFTA Awards including Best Film at Cannes Film Festival 2017

"Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015)

"Mad Max: Fury Road" was a spinoff of the Mad Max series, and it's the fourth film in that franchise. It was directed by George Miller, who had previously helmed "The Road Warrior," which is considered one of the best action movies ever made. The film starred Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky, an ex-cop who has become trapped in a desert wasteland after his wife and child were killed by marauding gangs of bikers.

With such stars as Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Keays-Byrne also on board for this project (and more coming soon), you can be sure that this will be one helluva ride!

"The Godfather Part II" (1974)

The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American crime film. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay by Mario Puzo and Coppola. The film was produced by Albert S. Ruddy and stars Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone and Robert De Niro as Sonny Corleone; they play members of the Corleone crime family during the 1930s through 1945 era in New York City.

The movie won six Academy Awards—Best Picture, Director for Coppola, Supporting Actor for De Niro (who also won Best Supporting Actress), Adapted Screenplay (which included his performance) for Puzo's book which was based on Mario Puzo's novel entitled "The Family", Art Direction/Set Decoration (for its sets), Editing

"Alien: Covenant" (2017)

"Alien: Covenant" is the first film in a series of spin-offs from the franchise that began with 1979's "Alien." Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston and Billy Crudup, this new film follows a colony ship called Covenant as it travels to colonize a new planet. However, something goes horribly wrong when they land on LV-223—the same planet where Ripley crash-landed nearly 40 years earlier.

The crew encounters hostile alien lifeforms who have been waiting for them there; meanwhile David (Michael Fassbender) has visions about where he came from before being discovered by the Company (the organization behind all things relating towards aliens). The story also features Danny McBride playing an android named Walter who helps out around camp while also trying to understand what happened back when he was first discovered at embryonic stage inside his original body casing after being injected into one of their labs prior to creating him...

"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982)

"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Nicholas Meyer and written by Philip Kaufman. It is the second movie in the Star Trek film series, preceded by Star Trek (and followed by Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). The film was released on May 8, 1982 and grossed over $114 million at box office on its initial release, making it one of biggest hits during that year's summer season.

It received mixed reviews from critics but was praised for its story line and technical aspects including special effects and music score (which won five Academy Awards). It also became one of highest-grossing films up until then with $116 million worldwide grosses ($104 million domestic), making it one of few movies to exceed $100 million internationally; however this does not include non-U.S./Canada territories such as Japan which had already surpassed North America's total tally several years earlier with Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985).

"Logan" (2017)

"Logan" is a 2017 American superhero film directed by James Mangold and written by David James Kelly. It is based on the Marvel Comics character Wolverine and stars Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine. The film follows an aging Wolverine who travels from Japan to Mexico, where he must protect a young girl with mutant powers named Laura from villains seeking to weaponize them for their own purposes.[4]

The first in what became known as the "Wolverine trilogy", it marked director James Mangold's first time working with Hugh Jackman after they worked together on 2003's "Girl 6". Although it was released between two other X-Men films (X2: X-Men United), this 16th film takes place before any of those movies start or end.[5]

"Superman II" (1980)

• Superman II is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester, based on the DC Comics character Superman.

• The film stars Christopher Reeve in the title role, and marks the first appearance of the villainous Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman).

• It also features Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), Jimmy Olsen (Ned Beatty) and Perry White (Jackie Cooper).

"Ramyun Shop" (2011)

Ramyun Shop (also known as Ramyun Shop: The Movie) is a Korean movie, released in 2011. It's a comedy that follows the plot of the original Ramyun Shop, which was released in 2008 and tells us about how two friends open their own ramen shop together.

The story starts when we meet Kim Hyun-sook (played by Han Ji-min), who has just graduated from college and wants to open her own restaurant business. She meets Cha Dong-won (played by Yoo Seung-ho), who works at an insurance company and decides that they should work together to start this new venture

Many spinoffs have been more successful than the original!

Many spinoffs have been more successful than the original!

• The original was a success, but the spinoff was even more successful.

• The spinoff was more focused on its own story, so it didn’t need to be as big or expensive as its predecessor.

It’s also worth noting that these movies often had bigger budgets than their predecessors—and better casts, scripts and directors too! That means they could afford to take risks with their content and tone in ways that the first one might not have been able to do (or maybe did).

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this list of the best movie spinoffs! I think it's interesting to see how some of these films were adapted into other media, and how they fared in comparison. We'll also be looking at more spinoffs as they come out throughout the year so stay tuned!