List of film sequels by box-office improvement

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Title	Gross (North America)	Title (original)	Original's gross (North America)	Improvement
Terminator 2: Judgment Day	$204,843,345[1]	The Terminator	$38,371,200[2]	434%
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	$206,040,086[3]	Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery	$53,883,989[4]	282%
Rambo: First Blood Part II	$150,415,432[5]	First Blood	$47,212,904[6]	219%
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior	$23,667,907[7]	Mad Max	$8,750,000[8]	170%
Highlander II: The Quickening	$15,556,340[9]	Highlander	$5,900,000[10]	164%
The Dark Knight	$533,345,358[11]	Batman Begins	$205,343,774[12]	160%
Evil Dead II	$5,923,044[13]	The Evil Dead	$2,400,000[14]	147%
Lethal Weapon 2	$147,253,986[15]	Lethal Weapon	$65,207,127[16]	126%
Bad Boys II	$138,608,444[17]	Bad Boys	$65,807,024[18]	110%
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	$38,108,728[19]	Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	$18,250,550[20]	109%
Next Friday	$57,328,603	Friday	$27,467,564	108%
Transporter 2	$43,095,856[21]	The Transporter	$25,296,447[22]	70%
Meet the Fockers	$279,261,160	Meet the Parents	$166,244,045	69%
Shrek 2	$441,226,247	Shrek	$267,665,011	65%
The Matrix Reloaded	$281,576,461	The Matrix	$171,479,930	64%
Rush Hour 2	$226,164,286	Rush Hour	$141,186,864	60%
Saw II	$87,039,965	Saw	$55,185,045	58%
From Russia with Love	$24,796,765	Dr. No	$16,067,035	54%
New Moon	$296,623,634	Twilight	$192,769,854	54%
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls	$108,360,063	Ace Ventura: Pet Detective	$72,217,396	50%
The Chronicles of Riddick	$57,761,012	Pitch Black	$39,240,659	47%
The Bourne Supremacy	$176,241,941	The Bourne Identity	$121,661,683	45%
American Pie 2	$145,103,595	American Pie	$102,072,987	42%
Die Hard 2	$117,540,947	Die Hard	$83,008,852	42%
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	$423,315,812	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	$305,413,918	39%
X2: X-Men United	$214,949,694	X-Men	$157,299,717	37%
For a Few Dollars More	$15,000,000	A Fistful of Dollars	$11,000,000	36%
The Devil's Rejects	$17,044,981	House of 1000 Corpses	$12,634,962	35%
The Mummy Returns	$202,019,785	The Mummy	$155,385,488	30%
Toy Story 2	$245,823,397	Toy Story	$191,796,233	28%
Hellboy II: The Golden Army	$75,986,503	Hellboy	$59,623,958	27%
The Karate Kid, Part II	$115,103,979	The Karate Kid	$90,815,558	27%
Hannibal	$165,092,056	The Silence of the Lambs	$130,742,922	26%
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	$402,111,870	Transformers	$319,246,193	26%
Resident Evil: Apocalypse	$51,201,453	Resident Evil	$40,119,709	25%
Ernest Saves Christmas	$28,202,109	Ernest Goes to Camp	$23,509,382	20%
Underworld: Evolution	$62,318,875	Underworld	$51,970,690	20%
Mission: Impossible 2	$215,409,889	Mission: Impossible	$180,981,886	19%
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge	$29,999,213	A Nightmare on Elm Street	$25,504,513	18%
Blade II	$81,676,888	Blade	$70,095,974	17%
Jackass: Number Two	$72,778,712	Jackass: The Movie	$64,255,312	13%
Magnum Force	$39,768,000	Dirty Harry	$35,976,000	11%
Ice Age: The Meltdown	$195,321,662	Ice Age	$176,387,405	11%
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear	$86,930,411	The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!	$78,756,177	10%
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	$341,786,758	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	$314,776,170	9%
Aliens	$85,160,248	Alien	$78,944,891	8%
Shanghai Knights	$60,476,872	Shanghai Noon	$56,937,502	6%
Before Sunset	$5,820,649	Before Sunrise	$5,535,405	5%

Limited releases

Title	Gross (North America)	Title (original)	Original's gross (North America)	Improvement	Note
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day	$10,161,557[23]	The Boondock Saints	$30,471[24]	33,248%	The Boondock Saints played in five theatres for one week only, The Boondock Saints II played in 524 theatres at its peak.
Desperado	$25,405,445	El Mariachi	$2,040,920	1,170%	El Mariachi played in 88 theaters at the peak of its run, while Desperado was released in 2,027.
Clerks II	$24,148,068	Clerks	$3,151,130	677%	Clerks played in 96 theaters at the peak of its run, while Clerks II was released in 2,150.

Lengthy time gaps

Title	Gross (North America)	Title (original)	Original's gross (North America)	Improvement	Note
The Color of Money	$52,293,982	The Hustler	$7,600,000	588%	The Color of Money was released 25 years after The Hustler. Adjusted for inflation, The Hustler's gross would equal approximately $36 million in 1986 dollars, giving The Color of Money a 45% increase in attendance.
Tron: Legacy	$171,590,201	Tron	$33,000,000	420%	Tron: Legacy was released 28 years after the original Tron. Tron grossed $89 million adjusted to 2010 dollars.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	$52,474,616	Wall Street	$43,848,069	20%	Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was released 23 years after the original Wall Street. Adjusted for inflation Wall Street would have outgrossed its sequel by $35 million.

List of second sequels by box-office improvement

Title	Gross (North America)	Title (Predecessor)	Predecessor's gross (North America)	Improvement
Once Upon a Time in Mexico	$56,359,780	Desperado	$25,405,445	122%
Goldfinger	$51,081,062	From Russia with Love	$24,796,765	106%
Army of Darkness	$11,502,976	Evil Dead II	$5,923,044	94%
Friday the 13th Part III	$36,690,067	Friday the 13th Part 2	$21,722,776	69%
Toy Story 3	$413,913,145	Toy Story 2	$245,852,179	68%
Scary Movie 3	$110,003,217	Scary Movie 2	$71,308,997	54%
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome	$36,230,219	Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior	$23,667,907	53%
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors	$44,793,222	A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge	$29,999,213	49%
Rocky III	$125,049,125	Rocky II	$85,182,160	47%
Clear and Present Danger	$122,187,717	Patriot Games	$83,351,587	47%
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation	$71,319,526	National Lampoon's European Vacation	$49,364,621	45%
The Godfather: Part III	$66,666,062	The Godfather: Part II	$47,542,841	40%
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over	$111,761,982	Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams	$85,846,429	30%
The Bourne Ultimatum	$227,471,070	The Bourne Supremacy	$176,241,941	29%
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly	$19,000,000	For a Few Dollars More	$15,000,000	27%
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith	$380,270,577	Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones	$302,191,252	26%
The Enforcer	$46,236,000	Magnum Force	$39,768,000	16%
Final Destination 3	$54,098,051	Final Destination 2	$46,961,214	15%
Batman Forever	$184,031,112	Batman Returns	$162,831,698	13%
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	$377,027,325	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	$341,786,758	10%
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	$197,171,806	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom	$179,870,271	10%
X-Men: The Last Stand	$234,362,462	X2: X-Men United	$214,949,694	9%
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi	$309,306,177	Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back	$290,475,067	7%
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth	$12,534,961	Hellbound: Hellraiser II	$12,090,735	4%
Austin Powers in Goldmember	$213,307,889	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	$206,040,086	4%