The Year of the Sequel Trivia Quiz

Answer: Second

The first 'Inside Out' film came out in 2015. An animated film, it displays the emotions of Riley, a young girl, as she deals with changes in her life. The sequel is called 'Inside Out 2', with Riley now a thirteen year old girl. Her emotions from the first film Joy, Disgust, Anger, Fear and Sadness have a new concept to deal with, called 'Sense of Self'.

The film depicts the conflicts in Riley's mind as she learns to cope with new feelings. These include the new emotions of Anxiety, Ennui, Embarrassment and Envy to depict the changes Riley is going through as a result of puberty. At various stages Joy is in command before Anxiety takes over. During the film a balance between the various emotions is established.

Both films were created by Pixar for Walt Disney Pictures. The first film was directed by Pete Docter with Kelsey Mann in charge for the second.

Answer: Second

Like the first film, released in 2000, 'Gladiator II' was directed by Ridley Scott. The cast was mostly new with only Derek Jacobi as Gracchus and Connie Nielsen as Lucilla appearing in the sequel.

The story is about Hanno, who turns out to be Lucius Verus Aurelius, the son of Lucilla and Maximus, the hero of the first film. His mother has sent him away for his own safety. He is captured by Roman soldiers, who kill his wife, and take him into slavery - reminiscent of the first film. Hanno also trains and excels as a gladiator, Lucilla realises his true identity and tries to reconcile with him. Both Lucilla and Gracchus die in the film while Lucius, played by Paul Mescal, is acknowledged as the Prince of Rome.

Among the other stars of the sequel are Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal.

Answer: Second

This follow-up to the 1996 film 'Twister' had no Helen Hunt nor Bill Pullman, a different writer and director, so wasn't exactly the normal type of sequel. It was described as a 'stand-alone sequel' with totally new characters, but set in the same area and with various nods to the original.

Like the first film, the setting is Arizona with a team of storm chasers. Their first appearance ends in disaster and several deaths before skipping forward by five years. Tornadoes are, of course, the focus of the film which introduces conflict with the arrival of a 'celebrity' tornado chaser.

The stars of the film are Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and Glen Powell.

Answer: Second

The title may have given you an extra clue as 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' is the sequel to the original 'Beetlejuice' film from 1988. Like the first film, the 2024 film was directed by Tim Burton and starred Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara. The Maitlands, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, did not return but new actors were introduced with Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux and Monica Bellucci joining the cast.

The second film is set thirty-six years later than the first, with Lydia (Ryder) who was a teenager originally now a mother. Her daughter, named Astrid (Jenna Ortega), refuses to accept that her mother has psychic abilities until she realises that she has inherited them. Betelgeuse remains unchanged in personality from the first film and lives in the Netherworld of the dead. Astrid accidentally opens the portal between the worlds of the living and dead, allowing Betelgeuse to wreak more havoc.

Answer: Third

The 2024 film is the third in the 'Sonic the Hedgehog' franchise, with the first two films being released in 2020 and 2022. I probably don't really need to mention that the characters are based on the video games of the same name. The films are described as comic action-adventure films and combine animation with live sequences. Ben Schwartz and Colleen O'Shaughnessey voice Sonic and Tails, as they did in the first two films, and Idris Elba is the voice of Knuckles the Echidna for the second time. Jim Carrey also returns to play Sonic's enemy, Dr Ivo Robotnik, known as Eggman.

The plot involves a meteorite crashing on Earth, bringing an alien hedgehog named Shadow (voiced by Keanu Reeves) with it. Fifty years later, Shadow, who has been kept in suspended animation, is released with Team Sonic (Sonic, Tails and Knuckles) recruited to capture him. Dr Robotnik is, of course, on the 'wrong side' but seems to redeem himself by saving the Earth.

Answer: Third

The third film in the series, 'A Quiet Place: Day One' is actually a prequel to the original two films, from 2018 and 2021, although it is listed on relevant websites as being the third instalment. As the title implies, it covers the arrival of the aliens in New York with most of the cast being completely new. The main stars are Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn.

The plot is about a terminally ill woman named Samira (Nyong'o) who goes to a theatre show as the alien attack begins. She is befriended by Eric (Quinn) who helps her to fulfil a couple of wishes. As in the earlier films, maintaining silence is the only way to evade the aliens and several characters die during the film. Sam eventually sacrifices herself, accepting her death is imminent anyway, allowing Eric and others to escape. She also entrusts her cat, named Frodo, to Eric.

Answer: Third

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is the third film in the 'Deadpool' series, following 'Deadpool' from 2016 and 'Deadpool 2', released in 2018. Ryan Reynolds starred as the title character in all three films while Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine in various 'X-Men' films, recreated the role opposite Reynolds.

The plot has Wade Wilson, the real name of Deadpool, working as a car salesman having given up acting as his alter ego. To save Earth-10005, Wilson is teamed up with Logan (Wolverine) which involves time travel and liaising with resistance groups.

The cast included several actors who reprised their roles plus new actors portraying characters from the earlier films.

Answer: Third

The first film, just called 'Paddington', came out in 2014 with 'Paddington 2' in 2017. The third film in the series saw most of the original cast returning with Hugh Bonneville playing Henry Brown, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin portraying the Brown children and Jim Broadbent back as Samuel Gruber. Ben Whishaw again provided Paddington's voice. Other roles were played by Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas and Ben Miller.

As the title indicates, the film sees Paddington and his family in his home country to see his Aunt Lucy. They discover that she has disappeared into the jungle, Matters become complicated as Banderos's character believes Paddington knows where the fabled El Dorado is located. Eventually, Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton) is found and Paddington finds his roots before returning to London with the Browns.

Answer: Fourth

The 2024 film is the fourth in the main series of 'Despicable Me' films and, like the other sequels, just has a number to denote where in the sequence it falls. The first film, 'Despicable Me' was released in 2010 with two previous sequels in 2013 and 2017. As these are animated films, actors supply their voices only. Steve Carell again voices Gru, as he did in the first and third films, while Kristen Wiig provides the voice for Lucy Wilde, who was also in the third film.

The plot involves the formerly villainous Gru as a member of the Anti-Villain League who meets an old enemy named Maxime Le Mal, voiced by Will Ferrell. As the name implies, Le Mal is a bad guy who turns people into hybrids with cockroaches, including Gru's son. Eventually, right prevails and Maxime is imprisoned.

Answer: Fourth

The previous films in the franchise are 'Beverly Hills Cop' (1984), 'Beverly Hills Cop II' (1987) and 'Beverly Hills Cop III' (1994). Helpfully, the fourth film broke the pattern and added the name of the main character to the title. Eddie Murphy starred as Axel Foley in all four of the films released between 1984 and 2024 as did Judge Reinhold as Billy Rosewood.

The plots involve the culture shock between the methods used by Foley, a policeman from Detroit, and the police in Beverly Hills, in California. The films are described as action comedy. In the fourth film, Foley is initially back in Detroit, but goes to Beverly Hills having been told that his estranged daughter, played by Taylour Paige, is in danger. He reunites with Rosewood, now a private detective, as they uncover a corrupt police officer, played by Kevin Bacon.

Answer: Fourth

The 'Bad Boys' franchise began in 1995 with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as detectives in Miami. The combination of comedy and 'buddy cops' proved popular with sequels in 2003 and 2020 as well as the fourth in the franchise, one of the 2024 sequels in the quiz. Smith and Lawrence appear in all four films, which isn't always the case with franchises.

The 2024 film has Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) attempting to clear the name of their dead captain, Conrad Howard, who has been smeared as being corrupt. Actor Joe Pantoliano appears as Howard in videos he has left, anticipating that the events would come to pass. The real villains are exposed and Howard is exonerated.

Answer: Fourth

This film is the fourth in the rebooted series, which began in 2011 with 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'. There were five films in the original series, between 1968 and 1973 before Tim Burton remade the original film in 2001, reviving interest in the concept.

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' stars Owen Teague and Kevin Durand as two of the apes while Freya Allan and William H Macy are among the actors portraying human characters. The plot is set a few generations later than earlier films in the franchise with the apes fully in control and humans feral. The apes are divided into various clans which vie for control. Humans and apes form an alliance to defeat Proximus Caesar (Durand) in his aim to obtain control of human technology.