Sequels and prequels - recreating box-office magic

The moment a movie hits gold at the box office, its makers instinctively start thinking about doing a sequel using the ingredients of the same formula. But, very often, a sequel may not have the polish of the original film and ends up as a damp squib. Audiences also go to watch it with far greater expectations and so it is often difficult to live up to the hype generated by the first one. In most cases, a sequel is made in a rushed manner and the end product may pale in comparison when compared with the original.
A classic example of the failed sequel was Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). The original Exorcist (1973) was a seminal movie, which set the benchmark for many horror films. But the immediate sequel, despite having a stellar cast, received such bad reviews that the distributors were forced to pull it out of theatres within days of its release!
In many cases, strangely, there might be another sequel and very often, the third film in the series turns out to be far better than the second one - a good example is the Jurassic Park series. The original was a huge global hit in 1993 while the 1997 sequel, also directed by Steven Spielberg, was a crashing bore. But, to everyone's surprise, Jurassic Park III (2001) turned out to be an entertaining thrill ride.
In very rare cases, a sequel goes on to earn the reputation of being as good or even better than the original which inspired it. The prime example of the great sequel is Godfather II (1974), that was made following the enormous critical and box-office success of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather in 1972. Many critics regard the original Godfather as an almost perfect movie but its immediate follow-up matched it in every regard and some Godfather fans even rate Godfather II as the superior of the two. But Godfather III (1990) - also directed by Coppola - couldn't sustain the magic touch and turned out to be the weakest entry in the series.
Strangely, India's Hindi-film industry, which is notorious for copying successful Hollywood hits and "Indianising" them to local tastes, doesn't seem to believe in making too many sequels. The sequels to mass hits like Munnabhai MBBS and Dhoom were rare events. However, modern-day Hindi filmmakers are now getting more interested in sequels and one of those in the works is Sarkar Raj, the sequel to the hit Sarkar (2005) - which was itself a desi homage to the Godfather films.
Some movies generate sequel after sequel and it becomes a franchise in its own right. The Pink Panther movies, starring Peter Sellers, worked well as long as the great Sellers and director Blake Edwards were around; after Sellers died, the makers still didn't give up and even made a dire Panther movie using unused old footage of Sellers as the immortal Inspector Clouseau! In more recent years, the character of Captain Jack Sparrow (brilliantly portrayed by Johnny Depp) in The Pirates of the Caribbean movies has become such an enormous pop-culture phenomenon that sequel after sequel has come out - but even the versatile Depp was looking rather washed out by the time the third installment set sail.
A recent trend in Hollywood is the creation of prequels, rather than sequels - hence the sudden entry of movies like Batman Begins (2005) and Hannibal Rising (2007). Many sequels have already been made with the primary characters of these flicks and, at some stage, the filmmakers decide to go back in time and get a prequel done showing the back stories for the hero (or the "villain-hero", as in the case of Dr Hannibal Lecter). Of course, the most famous prequels are the ones in the Star Wars saga; it can even be argued that they started the "prequel craze" in many ways.
The strongest sequels have been those which are good enough to stand up in their own right - a classic example is the Jason Bourne series. All the three movies starring Matt Damon as as the amnesiac super-spy have been equally good and the most recent one - The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) - has spectacular stunts (not CGI ones, mind you) that could easily match even those in a contemporary James Bond film like Casino Royale. The Mission: Impossible movies have also maintained their high standards with each outing so far.
A sequel that is made with care and patience has far more chances of doing well when compared to one that is rushed out to cash in on the success of the original. That remains a primary rule, whether the sequel is made in ultra-professional Hollywood or in any other movie industry.