List of films produced back-to-back explained

Sometimes, two or more films in a series are shot and produced "back-to-back", which means simultaneously or within a short space of time. This is usually done to eliminate the need to rebuild sets and re-hire actors for sequels, and maintain audience interest in the film series. Films produced this way usually have a well-planned pipeline, where the first film may be in post-production as the second is being shot.

While sometimes a trilogy such as The Lord of the Rings is shot with all three parts back-to-back, it is much more common for only two parts to be shot this way. Often, in a trilogy, the first film will be made on its own, and if it is a success, the remaining two parts will be produced back-to-back. This approach was pioneered by the second and third parts of the Sleepaway Camp trilogy, and has since been applied to the Back to the Future and The Matrix trilogies. Back to the Future Part II, and later, The Matrix Reloaded both ended with the words "To be concluded," a variant on the traditional "To be continued," and a trailer for their respective upcoming sequels.

The following is a list of films that have been produced this way:

List

• Les Misérables - Parts 1, 2 and 3 (1934)
• The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb (both 1938)
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1943)
• Roger la Honte and The Revenge of Roger (1946)
• Mandrin (1947 and 1948)
• The Battle of Stalingrad (1949)
• I tre corsari (1952) and Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair (1953)
• Stars Over Colombo (1953) and The Prisoner of the Maharaja (1954)
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1954)
• The Aztec Mummy (1957), The Curse of the Aztec Mummy, and The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (1958)^[1]
• And Quiet Flows the Don (1958)
• The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) and The Indian Tomb (1959)
• The Buddenbrooks (1959)
• Mistress of the World (1960)
• The Three Musketeers (1961)
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1961)
• (1963) and The Mystery of the Indian Temple (1964)
• (1964) and (1964)
• Back Door to Hell and Flight to Fury (both 1964)^[2]
• Der Schatz der Azteken (1965) and Die Pyramide des Sonnengottes (1965)
• Ride in the Whirlwind and The Shooting (both 1966)^[3]
• Wild, Wild Planet (1966), War of the Planets (1966), War Between the Planets (1966) and Snow Devils (1967)
• War and Peace (1966 and 1967)
• Die Nibelungen (1966 and 1967)
• Kampf um Rom (1968 and 1969)
• Red Lips Sadisterotica (1969) and Kiss Me Monster (1969)
• The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972)
• The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974), shot as one film but split into two during post-production
• 1900 (1976)
• Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980) (see also , released 2006)
• Petrovka, 38 (1980) and Ogaryova Street, Number 6 (1980), both films directed by Boris Grigoryev that were based on novels by Yulian Semyonov about Kostenko.
• Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), parts of the Pink Panther series
• The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983), both films directed by Francis Ford Coppola that were based on novels by S.E. Hinton.
• Missing in Action (1984) and (1985), the second film was filmed first, but released later as a prequel
• King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986)
• Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources (both 1986)
• (1988) and III: Teenage Wasteland (1989), sequels to the 1983 film Sleepaway Camp^[4]
• The Toxic Avenger Part II and (both 1989) were filmed as one movie but was later re-edited into two
• La Révolution française (1989)
• Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990), of the Back to the Future film series^{[5] [6]}
• Critters 3 and 4 (both 1991), two films of the Critters series
• The Lost World and Return to the Lost World (both 1992)
• Smoking/No Smoking (1993)
• The Three Colours trilogy: Blue (1993), White (1994) and Red (1994)
• Joan the Maiden (1994)
• Blue in the Face (1995) was conceived and filmed completely ad libbed immediately following production of Smoke (1995)
• Bullet to Beijing (1995) and Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996)
• Young and Dangerous, Young and Dangerous 2 and Young and Dangerous 3 (all 1996)
• and (both 1998)
• (2001) and (2002)
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003)^[7]
• The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003), parts of the Matrix series
• The Best of Youth (2003)
• (2003) and (2005), both were filmed in 2002.
• Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Volume 2 (2004), which were originally shot as one film and later edited into two
• and (2004), the second being a direct-to-video effort assembled from deleted scenes and outtakes of the first
• and (both 2004)
• and (both 2005)
• and (both 2005)
• and Rave to the Grave (both 2005), the fourth and fifth films in the Return of the Living Dead series
• (2006) and At World's End (2007), the second and third films in the Pirates of the Caribbean series
• Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima (both 2006)
• Arn – The Knight Templar (2007) and Arn – The Kingdom at Road's End (2008)
• Che Part 1: The Argentine and Che Part 2: Guerilla (both 2008)
• (2008) and (2009)^[8]
• and Pulse 3 (both 2008)
• (2008) and (2009)
• Mesrine (2008)
• Red Cliff, Part I (2008) and Red Cliff, Part II (2009)
• Shred (2008) and Revenge of the Boarding School Dropouts (2009)
• The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (both 2009)
• Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard (2009) and (2010); the films were edited into Arthur and the Great Adventure (2010) for release in the United Kingdom
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) and Part 2 (2011)
• Burnt by the Sun 2 (2010) and (2011)
• The 10 "chapters" of the Adams Apples film series (2011–2012)
• (2011) and Part 2 (2012)
• Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1 and Part 2 were originally shot as a single film measuring a total of 319 minutes, but because of its over-five-hour length, it was divided into two parts (160 mins and 159 mins, respectively) for the Indian market.
• Nymphomaniac (2013) was originally supposed to be only one complete entry; but, because of its over-five-hour length, Lars von Trier had to split the project into two separate films.
• The Hobbit trilogy: An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
• The Crossing, Part I (2014) and The Crossing, Part II (2015)
• (2014) and Part 2 (2015)
• (2015) and (2017)
• Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018)
• (2018) and (2019) as part of the conclusion of the Infinity Saga (the first 11 years) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
• (2018) and (2022)
• (2020) and (2021)
• The Kissing Booth 2 (2020) and The Kissing Booth 3 (2021)
• After We Fell (2021), After Ever Happy (2022) and After Everything (2023)
• The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021 and The Battle at Lake Changjin II (2022)
• Fear Street trilogy: Part One: 1994, Part Two: 1978 and Part Three: 1666 (all 2021)
• , Redemption (both 2022) and Independence (2023)^{[9] [10]}
• (2021) and (2024)
• X and Pearl (both 2022)
• Ivy + Bean, The Ghost That Had to Go and Doomed to Dance (all 2022)^[11]
• (2022) and II (2023)
• (2022) and (2025) alongside some footage for Avatar 4 (2029)^[12] and Avatar 5 (2031)^{[13] [14]}
• (2023) and (2023)
• (2023) and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (TBA)
• Beautiful Disaster (2023) and Beautiful Wedding (2024)
• (2023) and (2024)^[15]
• , Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 (all 2024)^{[16] [17]}
• (2024). A planned four-part film by Kevin Costner with the first two films being released in June and August 2024. Costner plans for two more films.^{[18] [19] [20]}
• Red Notice 2 and Red Notice 3 (TBA)
• (2026) and (2027)
• Avatar 4 (2029) and Avatar 5 (2031)

Though not shot entirely back-to-back, the final scene of was shot in Tunisia during the production of in order to avoid another trip to Tunisia for a single scene.^[21]

See also

• Back-to-back film production
• List of films split into multiple parts

Notes and References

1. Hardy, Phil (1995). The Overlook Film Encyclopedia Horror. Overlook Press. . Page 109
2. News: Back from orient. Feb 12, 1965. Los Angeles Times. .
3. [Danny Peary|Peary, Danny]
4. Book: Stine, Scott Aaron . 8 July 2003 . The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s . . McFarland & Company . 277 . 978-0786415328.
5. Bob Gale, Robert Zemeckis . Back to the Future Part III. Special Features: Making the Trilogy: Chapter Three . DVD . Universal Studios Home Entertainment . 2002. etal.
6. Web site: Back To The Future Part II: looking back at the film. Den of Geek. Simon Brew. 21 October 2015. 15 December 2016.
7. News: When directors shoot movies back-to-back, who wins?. Luke Holland. The Guardian. 30 April 2015. 16 November 2016.
8. Web site: David Hasselhoff To Star in Anaconda Sequels 3 and 4. Beyond Hollywood. 7 October 2007. 16 December 2016.
9. Web site: Christmas Knight & Devil's Knight With Bruce Willis Block Shooting in Vancouver This Fall . Hollywood North Buzz . Susan . Gittins . November 9, 2021 . October 21, 2022.
10. Web site: Detective Knight: Rogue – Did Bruce Willis make a trilogy no one knew about before retiring? . . Tangonan . EJ . September 20, 2022 . October 21, 2022.
11. Web site: 'Ivy and Bean' Cast on Working With Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jane Lynch, Singing Tik Tok Songs and Howling on Set. Variety. Zee. Michaela. August 30, 2022. January 21, 2024.
12. Web site: Libbey . Dirk . 2021-12-16 . James Cameron Reveals How Much Of Avatar 3 And 4 Has Already Filmed . 2022-07-03 . CINEMABLEND . en.
13. Web site: Singer . Matt . James Cameron Is Already Shooting 'Avatar 4' and '5' . 2022-07-03 . ScreenCrush . 29 October 2018 . en.
14. Web site: Sharf . Zack . 2020-03-09 . 'Avatar' Villain Stephen Lang Says Filming Four Sequels at Once 'Gets a Little Confusing' . 2022-07-03 . IndieWire.
15. Web site: 2023-06-06 . Zack Snyder Goes Galactic: Exclusive First Look at ‘Rebel Moon’ . 2023-09-27 . Vanity Fair . en-US.
16. Web site: EXCLUSIVES'The Strangers' – THREE New Sequels in Production Next Month?! [Exclusive]]. Bloody Disgusting. Miska, Brad. August 8, 2022. August 8, 2022.
17. Web site: 'The Strangers' – Renny Harlin Directing At Least One of the Upcoming Sequels! [Exclusive]]. Bloody Disgusting. Miska, Brad. August 9, 2022. August 10, 2022.
18. Web site: Fixsen . Rachel . August 4, 2022 . "Horizon" filming this fall: Big budget movie to hire locals as extras . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220814011134/https://moabsunnews.com/2022/08/04/big-budget-movie-to-hire-locals-as-extras/ . 14 August 2022 . 13 August 2022 . Moab Sun News.
19. Web site: Filming begins in St. George for Kevin Costner's 'Horizon, an American Saga'. Egan. Ladd. Swenson. Madison. KSLTV.com. May 2, 2023. May 24, 2023. en.
20. Web site: Couch. Aaron. October 5, 2023. Kevin Costner's Two-Part 'Horizon: An American Saga' Sets Summer 2024 Dates. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20231005211354/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/kevin-costners-horizon-an-american-saga-1235609666/. October 5, 2023. October 5, 2023. The Hollywood Reporter.
21. We Didn't Go to the Desert to Get a SuntanEpisode II DVD Special Feature, [2002].