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Movies you didn’t know were recycled sequel ideas

Like so many aluminum cans or plastic bottles, Hollywood will often recycle story ideas. It  turns out that a lot of the movies we all thought to be standalone originals actually began as sequels to totally different movies. Movies such as...

"Minority Report" began as "Total Recall 2"

Minority Report/Total Recall
Minority Report/Total Recall

Before Steven Spielberg got his mitts on it, Philip K. Dick’s short story “The Minority Report” was being developed as a sequel for Paul Verhoeven’s “Total Recall,” which itself was based on one of Dick’s stories.

While the two stories were unrelated, the plot of “Total Recall” flowed somewhat nicely into the plot of “Minority Report,” with the psychic martian mutants (three-breasted or otherwise) becoming the Pre-Cogs that can predict future crimes.

Unfortunately, the studio went bankrupt, and the rights to “The Minority Report” reverted to Fox, who were forced to jettison the sequel angle in their adaptation, which became the famous Tom Cruise version we all know.

"E.T." began as "Close Encounters 2"

E.T./Close Encounters of the Third Kind
E.T./Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Beloved family film/Reese’s Pieces commercial “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” began as a sequel of sorts to Spielberg’s other alien epic “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” which the studio had been clamouring for ever since that film’s success.

Titled “Watch the Skies,” then later “Night Skies,” the horror spin on the “Close Encounters” universe was eventually whittled down to just one story element about a small boy befriending an alien. Supposedly because after “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Spielberg wanted to veer away from violence and towards cuddliness. Which explains why no one’s face gets melted off in "E.T."

"Predator" began as "Rocky V"

Predator/Rocky IV
Predator/Rocky IV

Apparently there was a joke circulating in Hollywood after “Rocky IV” that the only opponent left for Rocky to fight was an alien. Inspired by that idea, the screenwriters of what would eventually become “Predator” penned a script called “The Hunter,” which was basically “Rocky meets Alien.”

"Halloween" began as "Black Christmas 2"

Halloween/Black Christmas
Halloween/Black Christmas

A lot of people point to “Halloween” as the first real slasher movie, raising the ire of movie aficionados who single out “Black Christmas” as the first. What most people don't know is that "Halloween"’s holiday-themed horror similarities to “Black Christmas” aren't coincidental.

According to “Black Christmas” director Bob Clark, John Carpenter’s idea for “Halloween” stemmed from a conversation the two had about a hypothetical sequel idea for “Black Christmas,” in which the killer escapes from an asylum on the next logical major holiday: Halloween.

"Oliver & Company" began as "The Rescuers 2"

Oliver & Company/The Rescuers
Oliver & Company/The Rescuers

Tricking children into enjoying a classic work of literature, Disney’s cartoon riff on Dickens’ “Oliver Twist,” “Oliver & Company,” was originally supposed to be a sequel to Disney’s earlier animated feature “The Rescuers."

“Oliver & Company” was going to follow Penny, the young girl rescued by two titular mice in “The Rescuers,” with her new adoptive parents in New York City. Filmmakers eventually changed “Penny” to “Jenny,” and abandoned the whole sequel idea.

"High School Musical" began as "Grease 3"

High School Musical/Grease
High School Musical/Grease

If Disney’s decision to produce a musical about a star-crossed pair of high school students doesn’t sound all that original, it’s because it’s not. At all. “High School Musical,” the TV movie starring Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, and Zac Efron’s hair, began as a sequel to “Grease”-- or more specifically, as a sequel to “Grease 2."

The Disney Channel commissioned screenwriter Peter Barsocchini to write “Grease 3,” which would follow Sandy and Danny coming back to Rydell high for a class reunion. Since kids these days don’t care about John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, the movie would focus on their offspring, rumored to be played by young upstarts like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and even Kylie Minogue.

"Stripes" began as "Cheech and Chong Join the Army"

Stripes/Cheech and Chong in Up in Smoke
Stripes/Cheech and Chong in Up in Smoke

While it helped solidify Bill Murray’s movie star status, “Stripes” was originally written by Ivan Reitman as a Cheech and Chong movie in which the famous comedy team join the army.

Negotiations with the stoner duo fell through, and the script was re-written into the comedic classic we know and love. Reitman retained the central premise of two slackers joining the army, and cleverly shifted all of the pre-existing pot jokes to Judge Reinhold’s character Elmo.

"Columbiana" began as "Leon: The Professional 2"

Colombiana/Leon: The Professional
Colombiana/Leon: The Professional

It should have been super-evident to the world that “Columbiana,” the story of a young female assassin with a tragic backstory (co-written by Luc Besson), was intended as a sequel to “The Professional.” Said intended sequel would focus on Natalie Portman’s now-grown character, Mathilda.

Although several obstacles, including the limited availability of a now very famous Portman, prevented filmmakers from making an actual sequel, it didn’t stop them from re-writing the script, giving it a new vaguely exotic-sounding title, and releasing it as its own movie.

"Kull the Conqueror" began as "Conan 3"

Kull the Conqueror/Conan the Barbarian
Kull the Conqueror/Conan the Barbarian

Screenwriter Charles Pogue worked with Universal in writing a third installment of Conan the Barbarian's cinematic adventures. According to Pogue, when Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t reprise the titular role, producers refused to make a Conan flick without him.

Rather than toss a perfectly good script, and waste the opportunity to put a bunch of attractive movie stars in skimpy loincloths, producers modified the script to be about one of Conan creator Robert E. Howard's other characters: Kull the Conqueror.

"Nighthawks" began as "The French Connection 3"

Nighthawks/The French Connection
Nighthawks/The French Connection

Eighties thriller “Nighthawks” was originally conceived as a third “French Connection” movie, pairing Gene Hackman’s Popeye Doyle with a comedic sidekick, possibly played by Richard Pryor (a second sequel strategy later employed by “Superman III").

When Gene Hackman declined the part, the script was rewritten as a standalone vehicle for Sylvester Stallone, who someone apparently considered to be the go-to replacement for Gene Hackman.