Editing Sequel (section)

{{short description|Part of a linear narrative that continues the story of a previous work}}
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[[File:Return of Tarzan.jpg|thumb|''[[The Return of Tarzan]]'', official sequel to ''[[Tarzan of the Apes]]'']]
A '''sequel''' is a work of [[literature]], [[film]], [[theatre]], [[television]], [[music]], or [[video game]] that [[continuity (fiction)|continues the story of]], or [[expanded universe|expands upon]], some earlier work. In the common context of a [[narrative]] work of [[fiction]], a sequel portrays events set in the same [[fictional universe]] as an earlier work, usually [[chronological]]ly following the events of that work.<ref>{{cite news|title= Sequels of Hit Films Now Often Loser|work= The New York Times|date=March 12, 1991|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/12/movies/sequels-of-hit-films-now-often-loser.html?scp=9&sq=robocop&st=cse|access-date=2010-08-09 | first=Geraldine | last=Fabrikant}}</ref>

In many cases, the sequel continues elements of the original story, often with the same characters and settings. A sequel can lead to a [[film series|series]], in which key elements appear repeatedly. The difference between more than one sequel and a series is somewhat arbitrary.

Sequels are attractive to creators and publishers because there is less risk involved in returning to a story with known popularity rather than developing new and untested characters and settings. Audiences are sometimes eager for more stories about popular characters or settings, making the production of sequels financially appealing.<ref>{{cite news|title= Creative Bankruptcy|work= Call It Like I See It|date= June 15, 2011|url= http://www.callitlikeiseeit.com/?p=230|first= David|last= Rosen|access-date= June 23, 2011|archive-date= December 3, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131203065748/http://www.callitlikeiseeit.com/?p=230|url-status= dead}}</ref>

In film, sequels are very common. There are many name formats for sequels. Sometimes, they either have unrelated titles or have a letter added to the end. More commonly, they have numbers at the end or have added words at the end.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Word Sequel |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordSequel |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=TV Tropes}}</ref> It is also common for a sequel to have a variation of the original title or a subtitle. In the 1930s, many musical sequels had the year included in the title. Sometimes sequels are released with different titles in different countries, because of the perceived brand recognition. There are several ways that subsequent works can be related to the [[chronology]] of the original. Various [[neologism]]s have been coined to describe them.