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Dumb and Dumber To is to be released later this year, 20 years after the original Dumb & Dumber.

This motivates me to ask what is the longest gap between release date of a movie and its sequel. Here, by sequel, I consider only movies where characters are portrayed by the same actors as in the original.

Some other examples of long gaps that come to mind are

16 years - The Godfather: Part II (1974) and The Godfather: Part III (1990)

30 years - The Odd Couple (1968) and The Odd Couple II (1998)

But what is the longest gap?

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  • 4
    Not 20, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd came in 2003 making the gap of only 11 years.
    – Ankit Sharma ♦
    Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 11:52
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    That was a prequel without original cast
    – user0820
    Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 12:37
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    Star Wars had some time between them as well, but probably not a record breaker.
    – DustinDavis
    Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 17:58
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    You need to put your specific criteria in your question. Are you looking ONLY for sequels (no prequels? What about reboots?) and ONLY original cast? (ALL of the original cast? Partial?)
    – DA.
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 6:53
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    @JoeTaxpayer OP specifies "characters played by the same actors". As far as that goes, I would measure from Jedi to VII. They've both got Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford. I suppose you could make a case for Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker the go from III to VII. But episode III is a prequel, not a sequel.
    – Ben Plont
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 21:30

13 Answers 13

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47

TVTropes unimaginatively calls this Sequel Gap, and has a fairly extensive list.

The longest gap they have with actors in common in the Live-Action Film section are the Brazilian films Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver (1967) (a.k.a. This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse) and Encarnação do Demônio (2008) (a.k.a. Embodiment of Evil) which both star José Mojica Marins as The Gravedigger, Zé do Caixão (loosely translated to Coffin Joe) which is an astonishing 41 year gap.

Though this is debatable as it's not a direct sequel, but parts 2 and 3 of a trilogy which began with À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma (1964) (a.k.a At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul).

Another shorter option from the same list is The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and its direct sequel An Englishman in New York (2009) which both star John Hurt as Quentin Crisp which is a 34 year gap.

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  • 25
    Oh, a TVTropes link. I'll just quickly read that one page and then get back to work.
    – Cephalopod
    Commented Aug 22, 2014 at 8:11
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This might be considered cheating, but there's the The Nutty Professor from 2008 which is a sequel to the 1963 comedy. It's a 45 years gap, and Jerry Lewis reprised his role as Julius Kelp in it. However, it's animated and the original was live action.

Also noteworthy is Belle toujours from 2006, the sequel to Luis Bunuel's Belle de jour from 1967 in which Michel Piccoli reprised his role as Henri Husson 39 years later.

You can find more suggestions on Wikipedia: List of the longest gaps between film sequels.

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My favorite is The Hustler (1961), where Paul Newman reprises the role of "Fast" Eddie Felson 25 years later in The Color of Money (1986).

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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice might be the new record

This old question (originally asked a decade ago) produced some interesting answers, though some were beset by issues about what unequivocally counts as a sequel and one that uses the same actors for the same characters. And many of the answers were very obscure.

2024 saw the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice which is unambiguously a direct sequel to Beetlejuice which was released in 1988, a gap of 36 years. Many of the original cast return to play the same characters (notably Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton). It even has the same director, Tim Burton.

It is a direct sequel to the original (not a latest release in a chain of other sequels).

This seems to be the new record for a well-known mainstream hollywood production. And possibly the record for direct sequels.

PS As pointed out Gendolkari, There is another clear recent example that equals the Beetlejuice record in years: Top Gun: Maverick. It was released in 2022, also 36 years after the original movie it is a direct sequel to. But on US release dates (HT iandotkelly), Beetlejuice 2 wins by about 5 months.

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    Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick was the same gap, at least going off of release years.
    – GendoIkari
    Commented Sep 16 at 2:01
  • 3
    Taking US release dates, Beetlejuice beats Top Gun by 149 days.
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Commented Sep 16 at 20:25
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Czech films "Sněženky a machři" (1982) and "Sněženky a machři po 25 letech" (2008), translated as "Snowdrops and Aces" and "Snowdrops and Aces, 25 years after", share a lot of the original cast. That did not help the sequel much, though.

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In Mollywood (India):

Irupatham Nootandu (Twentieth Century) -1987 :: Sagar Alias Jacky - 2009 - 22 years

Mannar Mathai Speaking - 1995 :: Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 - 2014 - 19 years

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Depending on your perspective, one could make a argument about the documentaries 7 Up and 56 Up, which are 49 years apart. These were the first and eighth installations of this series, though, where each subsequent sequel was only 7 years later.

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  • 3
    If there was one every 7 years, that's really no 49 year gap.
    – magnattic
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 20:50
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For Main Steam movies: Star wars was 1977 next year Episode 7 will be released so that will be 38 year gap

Since you did not include 'Dumb and Dumberer" number 2 I will assume you mean from first movie to last in series.

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    well his example of Dumb & Dumber did not illustrate that
    – Daveo
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 4:36
  • 3
    "I will assume you mean from first movie to last in series." - No, he doesn't, he simply didn't include that Dumb and Dumber sequel because it didn't feature the original actors, but Return of the Jedi did very well, which makes your answer only 32 years.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 7:30
  • Episode 6 was already released. 7 is the new one.
    – Buge
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 13:26
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53 years: The Killer Shrews (1959) and Return of the Killer Shrews (2012), both starring James Best as the lead character.

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41 years: I Spit on Your Grave (1978) and I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu (2019)

I believe the current longest gap between a movie and its sequel, where the same actor reprises their role, is 41 years between I Spit on Your Grave in 1978 and its direct follow-up in 2019, I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu.

Both films were written and directed by Meir Zarchi, with Camille Keaton returning to her original role as Jennifer Hills in the 2019 sequel.

It's worth noting that intervening films don't affect this time gap. The 2010 I Spit on Your Grave is actually a remake of the 1978 original, not a sequel. Similarly, I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013) and I Spit on Your Grave III: Vengeance Is Mine (2015) are continuations of the 2010 remake's storyline, rather than being connected to the 1978 film or its 2019 sequel.

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Ten years is a long gap for a contemporary kids' movie sequel

Surf's Up is a 2007 American animated mockumentary comedy film which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 80th Academy Awards.

A sequel, Surf's Up 2: WaveMania, was released direct-to-video in 2017. Most key roles were recast and WWE professional wrestlers made up the rest of the cast.

The critics said:

The original Surf's Up is one of the most underrated animated films of the 2000s, employing a highly unique sports mockumentary style combined with a stellar animation style that still holds up to this day. Surf's Up 2: WaveMania, however, strips away just about everything that made the original film great, leaving behind only a cheap commercial for the WWE superstars of the era. While it was standard practice for the era for WWE stars to voice themselves in straight-to-DVD animated movies, this film's sequel status makes it an insult compared to the amazing original.

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  • It's not really that long of a gap. Pixar has a handful with gaps as long as or longer. Animated movies have the advantage that the voice actors can visually age and still reprise a role for the same character with no in-universe time skip.
    – Laurel
    Commented Sep 19 at 17:40
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I believe some Disney movies might hold this record. Bambi was over 60 years, Cinderella and Peter Pan around 50 years or so.

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    Yes, but the OP is after movies where "characters are portrayed by the same actors as in the original".
    – Walt
    Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 2:20
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    If they got the same voice actors to reprise their roles, that might qualify.
    – Bobson
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 13:21
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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

19 years

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    There are already other answers with proven, longer periods of time. Please refrain from making additional answers that amount to nothing more than a list of answers.
    – MattD
    Commented Aug 21, 2014 at 19:46

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