History SpiritualSuccessor / Film

* Screenwriter Terence Winter and director Creator/MartinScorsese have essentially noted that ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' does with white-collar crime what ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' and ''Film/{{Casino}}'' do with organized crime. ''Wolf of Wall Street'' has also been compared with ''Film/WallStreet'' and ''Film/WallStreet:MoneyNeverSleeps'' , with many calling Jordan Belfort a modern day Gordon Gekko, this being a trilogy called by fans as The Wall Street Trilogy

* Screenwriter Terence Winter and director Creator/MartinScorsese have essentially noted that ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' does with white-collar crime what ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' and ''Film/{{Casino}}'' do with organized crime. ''Wolf of Wall Street'' has also been compared with ''Film/WallStreet'', with many calling Jordan Belfort a modern day Gordon Gekko.

* ''Film/MeanStreets'', ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' and ''Film/{{Casino}}'' are all directed by Creator/MartinScorsese, featuring a number of members from his ProductionPosse, and the final two films are both based on nonfiction books by Nicholas Pileggi. Scorsese has said that the three films form a ThematicSeries of increasingly elevated steps on the mafia hierarchy.

* ''Film/{{Zathura}}'' to ''Film/{{Jumanji}}''--both feature a differently-themed board game (space and the jungle, respectively) that brings those elements to life, often to the danger of the players, who are aided by a grown up player who was trapped inside the game for years. Incidentally, the original ''Zathura'' book was a sequel to ''Jumanji''.

* Creator/TimBurton's version of ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' could be the spiritual successor to ''Film/SleepyHollow'' - When Creator/JohnnyDepp's character brings his gorgeous blonde wife back to the city things [[FromBadToWorse go horribly wrong, and then they get worse]].

* Before ''Film/{{Taken}}'' had actual sequels, there was the film ''Film/{{Unknown 2011}}'' which also starred Creator/LiamNeeson as a badass fighting his way through a European city to try and save a family member and during the marketing phase seemed to actually be often mistaken for a ''Taken'' sequel.

* The Kid 'n Play movie ''Film/ClassAct'' is really just ''Film/HouseParty'' without the house party, with most of the movie taking place in school instead.
* ''Film/StreetKings'' to ''Film/TrainingDay''. In fact, if you just alter the final 20 minutes of ''Training Day'', it would be a direct sequel.
* ''Film/HarshTimes'' and ''Film/TrainingDay'' are both about a single day in which a dangerous man employed by the government (soldier/cop) drives around town with a less-than-willing partner on the pursuit of a less-than-legal goal. The're both written by David Ayer, and ''Harsh Times'' was Ayer's directorial debut.
* ''Film/{{Colombiana}}'' to ''Film/TheProfessional'' to ''Film/{{Nikita}}''.
* ''Series/ParkerLewisCantLose'' is seen as the SpiritualSuccessor to the movie ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff''; aside from the obvious grammatical parallels in the titles, both feature the [[HighSchoolHustler same type of protagonist]]. In fact, it captured the feel and spirit of the movie much better than the mercifully short-lived series which was the official TV follow-up to the movie.

* Film/NineLives2016 is one to the '''''bizarre''''' Creator/ChevyChase movie Film/OhHeavenlyDog in being talking animal comedies suffering from UncertainAudience involving a human dying [[BackFromTheDead and]] [[BalefulPolymorph becoming]] [[KarmicTransformation a]] pet
* ''Series/TheWonderYears'' is reasonably seen as a SpiritualSuccessor to the movie ''Film/StandByMe'', both coming-of-age tales about boys on the cusp of adolescence, with voice-overs by the adult versions of the protagonists.
** It's also seen as a successor to ''Film/AChristmasStory''.
** And don't forget ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' which stars Ben Savage, the younger brother of Fred Savage, who was the main character in ''The Wonder Years'', though without the voice-overs but similar concept.
** ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'' could be seen as the African-American version of ''The Wonder Years''.
** Don't forget ''Film/TheSandlot'', either.
* ''Series/HappyDays'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/AmericanGraffiti''.
** ''Film/DazedAndConfused'' is another successor to ''American Graffiti''.
** Likewise, ''Series/That70sShow'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/DazedAndConfused'', perhaps even ''Series/HappyDays'' rebooted for a new generation in a different decade.
* ''Film/ToLiveAndDieInLA'' is this to ''Film/TheFrenchConnection''. Most notably, both films have the same [[Creator/WilliamFriedkin director]], feature lengthy car chases and have protagonists determined to take the villain down no matter the cost.
* ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' has been considered by some by some reviewers as a spiritual successor to ''Film/ForrestGump''. The films share a screenwriter.
** ''Film/BigFish'' is also kinda similar to ''Forrest Gump''. Both are set in Alabama and are about an innocent Everyman telling stories about his life in the past to people in the present; both also have a hint of the supernatural about them; and both have a prominent female character named Jenny!

* The 2007 movie ''Film/KnockedUp'' is considered by many to be a spiritual sequel to ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin''. It was originally intended to be a direct sequel.
** And now a direct sequel of sorts to ''Knocked Up'' is ''Film/ThisIs40''.
* 1997's ''Film/FierceCreatures'' featured the same core cast and much of the same crew as 1988's ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'', and includes at least one explicit ShoutOut to the earlier film, although they are in no way connected to each other.
** The actors also play more-or-less similar characters, with Creator/KevinKline as a dimwitted egomaniac, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis as seductive and manipulative, Creator/JohnCleese as a stuffy square, and Creator/MichaelPalin as a weird guy with a bit of a [[SpeechImpediment talking]] [[Main/MotorMouth problem.]]
** ''Film/{{Jabberwocky}}'' to ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', both films featuring Monty Python members set in TheDungAges.
* ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' is a spiritual sequel to ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', in so far as both films feature the puppeteering of the Creator/JimHenson corps, scenarios co-authored by Henson himself, and production design by Brian Froud. Creator/GeorgeLucas was also reportedly involved in the making of both films, though only credited in ''Labyrinth''.
* ''Film/{{Mirrormask}}'' was designed to be the spiritual successor to ''Labyrinth'' and, to a lesser extent, ''Film/TheDarkCrystal''. When the Hanson Company hired Creator/NeilGaiman they told him to ”Give us a script in whatever genre ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' was in”. The original plan was to get Music/DavidBowie to play the Prime Minister of the White City, but scheduling conflicts forced them to just have Rob Brydon play the PM ''and'' Helena's father.
* The Dee Wallace Stone comedy ''Film/InvisibleMom'' had both a spiritual successor, ''Invisible Dad'', and an official sequel, ''Invisible Mom 2''. More confusingly, it had a second spiritual successor, released a year earlier than the sequel, named ''Mom's Outta Sight'', written by the same people (although the director [[AlanSmithee used an assumed name]]), and which can occasionally be found masquerading as ''Invisible Mom 2'', right down to using the other film's title instead of its own.
* ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', ''Film/HotFuzz'' and ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'' form a ThematicSeries called the Film/BloodAndIceCreamTrilogy. They're written and directed by the same people, feature similar cast members (drawing from an extended ProductionPosse), and combine violence and "genre" storylines with comedy. Most importantly, they each feature a prominent Cornetto ice cream flavor.
* ''Film/Scream1996'':
** It can be considered the spiritual successor to the obscure '80s slasher film ''Film/ReturnToHorrorHigh''. Not only does the killer in both movies have a black cloak and a white featureless mask, but ''Return to Horror High'' was very post-modern for a film of its age: it is about a director making a horror movie about a series of unsolved murders happening in a high school, set in that same school, where the actors playing the parts of the students are getting murdered in "real life"; there's the conflict between the scriptwriter of the film and the director who only wants tits & blood, and the actresses that complain of being used only as fanservice...
** It was a more overt successor to ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'', a 1994 slasher by ''Scream''[='=]s director Creator/WesCraven that explored similar [[PostModernism metatextual ideas]] about the relationship between horror movies, their fans, and their creators. Both are about a massacre straight out of an '80s SlasherMovie happening in [[ThisIsReality the "real world"]], though ''Scream'' was a more grounded, GenreSavvy take on the concept compared to the supernatural, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou fourth-wall-breaking]] ''New Nightmare''.
* ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' is the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy'' (and indeed was described by Ferrell as the third of his "[[SmallNameBigEgo unreasonably confident people]]" series).
* ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' was hotly anticipated by fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''. In fact, with his distinctive style and usual repertory cast, you could consider the entire Creator/TimBurton oeuvre outside the more science fiction stuff one big de facto franchise.
** Henry Selick's ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' could also be seen as {{Spiritual Successor}}s to ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'', considering that Selick directed it. In fact, Jack Skellington makes a cameo in ''Peach'' as an undead pirate.
* ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'', directed by Joe Wright and starring Creator/KeiraKnightley, was highly touted and received a couple of Oscar nods. The two got together for ''Film/{{Atonement}}'', [[OscarBait a serious attempt at the awards]].
* ''Date Movie'', ''Epic Movie'', ''Meet the Spartans'', and ''Disaster Movie'' (the only real link being [[Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg their directors]], their inability to actually parody the genre they claim, and their total lack of quality), though this dubious quartet probably couldn't come across as more contrived and crass by being a series of ''actual'' sequels.
* Creator/DavidLynch's latest and supposedly last movie, ''Film/InlandEmpire'', is very much a spiritual successor to ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', itself a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/LostHighway''.
** Meanwhile, Lynch intended for ''Film/MulhollandDrive'' to be a spiritual successor to Creator/BillyWilder's ''Film/SunsetBoulevard''.
* ''Film/{{Ishtar}}'' was intended to be a spiritual successor to the ''Film/RoadTo'' series, but failed.
** The animated ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'', on the other hand succeeded admirably.
** ''Film/SpiesLikeUs'' was, during production, described as a Road movie, and even features Creator/BobHope in a cameo ... hitting a golf ball into the same tent as the characters in the middle of Afghanistan.
** And, of course, the "Road to..." episodes of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' take this to the level of straight-up {{Homage}}.
* The western comedies ''Film/SupportYourLocalSheriff'' and ''Support Your Local Gunfighter'' were made by more-or-less the same production crew and cast, and share much in terms of theme and tone, but the second is not a sequel to the first, and no characters reappear.
** Replace those titles with ''Film/FleshForFrankenstein'' and ''Film/BloodForDracula'', and the statement is still valid.
* ''Film/FromBeyond'' shares ''Film/ReAnimator'''s over-the-top approach to [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]] source material, as well as a significant chunk of the cast and crew. Both star Creator/JeffreyCombs as a MadScientist (borderline) VillainProtagonist.
* ''Film/BestInShow'', ''Film/AMightyWind'', and ''Film/ForYourConsideration'' are all spiritual successors to ''Waiting for Guffman'', which in itself was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap''.
* A lot of Creator/JackieChan movies can be considered spiritual successors of each other, especially his earlier works. You could argue this extends at least some extent to other martial arts movie starts like Creator/BruceLee and Creator/JetLi.
* 1997's ''Film/LAConfidential'', despite being made by a totally different cast and crew, is considered by many fans to be the spiritual successor to 1974's ''Film/{{Chinatown}}'', as both are set in Los Angeles, both were made 40 years after the time period in which they are set, and both feature themes of betrayal, corruption of public institutions and officials, and "neo-noir" values. Oh, and both have scores by Music/JerryGoldsmith.
* There is some discussion over whether ''Confidence'' is a SpiritualSuccessor or an updated remake of ''Film/TheSting''. Both feature a team of small-time conmen accidentally ripping off an underling of a crime boss and getting out of it by pulling a much larger and more elaborate con on him.
* ''Film/PineappleExpress'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/{{Superbad}}''. Both being written by Evan Goldberg and Creator/SethRogen, produced by Creator/JuddApatow and Shauna Robertson, and distributed by Columbia pictures. In fact, ''Pineapple Express'' was greenlit based off of the early positive reaction to ''Superbad'' footage.
* ''Film/WarInc'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/GrossePointeBlank''. They both feature Creator/JohnCusack as a hitman having doubts about his career choice with Creator/JoanCusack as his assistant and Creator/DanAykroyd in a supporting role.
* ''Film/GrossePointeBlank'' itself is a spiritual successor to ''Film/SayAnything'' - although there are some important differences in the backstory, Martin Blank feels in many ways like an alternate history version of Lloyd Dobler 10 years later, with the point of departure being when he joins the army out of high school instead of hooking up with the girl. They're both played by John Cusack (and they both kickbox).
* ''Film/DefinitelyMaybe'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/LoveActually''.
* Creator/RichardLinklater's ''WesternAnimation/WakingLife'' is at least a visual companion to ''Literature/AScannerDarkly''.
** Though it is a spiritual successor to Linklater's 1990 film, ''Film/{{Slacker}}''.
* ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/RoboCop1987''. Released ten years apart from each other, both are directed by Creator/PaulVerhoeven, share similar themes and are structured around mock broadcasts of news and information.

* ''Film/MeanStreets'', ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' and ''Film/{{Casino}}'' are all directed by Creator/MartinScorsese, featuring a number of members from his ProductionPosse, and the final two films are both based on nonfiction books by Nicholas Pileggi. Scorsese has said that the three films form a ThematicSeries of increasingly elevated steps on the mafia hierarchy.
* Screenwriter Terence Winter and director Creator/MartinScorsese have essentially noted that ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' does with white-collar crime what ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' and ''Film/{{Casino}}'' do with organized crime. ''Wolf of Wall Street'' has also been compared with ''Film/WallStreet'', with many calling Jordan Belfort a modern day Gordon Gekko.
* In South Korea, the film ''Windstruck'' is considered to be the spiritual successor to the wildly popular romantic comedy ''Film/MySassyGirl''. Both were written and directed by Kwak Jae-Yong and starred Jeon Ji-Hyun. Of course, ''Windstruck'' should almost be considered a spiritual prequel, as [[spoiler:its end is a painfully obvious allusion to its predecessor, with two future lovers meeting at a train station]].
* ''Film/YouveGotMail'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'', both featuring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan moving toward a romance in spite of a physical separation.
* ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'', ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'', and ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' are all SpaghettiWestern films by Creator/SergioLeone, with Creator/ClintEastwood as one of the stars. They form a ThematicSeries, often called "The Man With No Name," and some promotional material states that they exist in the same world.
* Other Clint Eastwood westerns, including ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'', ''Film/PaleRider'' and ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' are considered to be spiritual successors to his earlier films with Leone, with the style and his character drawing obvious inspiration. ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' in particular was created as a spiritual sequel and deconstruction of his Man With No Name character.
* ''Film/RunawayBride'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/PrettyWoman'' (shared lead couple, same director).
* ''Film/FoxyBrown'' was the successor to ''Film/{{Coffy}}''. It was originally meant to be a sequel titled ''Burn, Coffy, Burn'', but the [[ExecutiveMeddling producers changed it at the last minute]]. As a result, we have two films with similar plots and very similar protagonists, both played by Creator/PamGrier.
* Creator/TimBurton's version of ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' could be the spiritual successor to ''Film/SleepyHollow'' - When Creator/JohnnyDepp's character brings his gorgeous blonde wife back to the city things [[FromBadToWorse go horribly wrong, and then they get worse]].
* ''Film/EXistenZ'' is essentially ''Film/{{Videodrome}}'' for the new millennium.
* It could be said that ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow''.
* Both ''Film/{{Babel}}'' and ''Film/TwentyOneGrams'' which were directed by Creator/AlejandroGonzalezInarritu are considered the spiritual sequels of the Mexican film ''Film/AmoresPerros'' (also directed by him). The three films also share a screenwriter. The director and screenwriter consider the three films a trilogy.
* Mexican director Luis Estrada has made a series of satirical films depicting the country's ailments, starting with ''La Ley de Herodes'' depicting the political corruption, continuing with ''Un Mundo Maravilloso'' portraying the poverty of the people and finishing the trilogy with the upcoming ''Infierno'' that will deal with the violence of the drug cartels. All of them cast the actor Damián Alcázar (aka:''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Lord Sopespian]])'' as the lead.
* A sequel was planned for ''Film/BladeRunner'', and after the script was rewritten and handed down through several different creative teams, it eventually reached the screen as ''Film/TotalRecall1990''. The same process led from ''Film/TotalRecall1990'' to ''Film/MinorityReport''. The ''actual'' direct sequel to ''Blade Runner'', ''Film/BladeRunner2049'', would not come out until 2017. All three movies are based on works by ''Creator/PhilipKDick''.
* Another attempt at a ''Blade Runner'' sequel (written by Creator/DavidWebbPeoples, co-writer of ''Blade Runner'') became the blueprint for the Creator/KurtRussell film ''Film/{{Soldier}}''.
* ''Film/TalesFromTheDarksideTheMovie'' is regarded as the spiritual successor to the ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'' series (while ironically, ''Creepshow 3'' is disavowed by fans as an InNameOnly work). After all, it's a macabre horror anthology with writing by Creator/StephenKing and George Romero, and work by Creator/TomSavini (who in fact went on record as saying that ''Film/TalesFromTheDarksideTheMovie'' is the "real" ''Creepshow 3''), and was originally going to be the third ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'' installment until producers decided to cash in on the ''Series/TalesFromTheDarkside'' name.
* The film ''Literature/RevolutionaryRoad'' is an interesting subversion of SpiritualSuccessor status. It's set in America, it starred Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio and Creator/KateWinslet (as husband in wife) in their first film together after they'd co-starred in ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}''. Some people initially thought it therefore as ''Titanic'''s spiritual successor. The storyline, however, is, if anything, entirely the opposite of ''Titanic'' and only gets worse from there. Plus, it's based on a completely unrelated novel.
* The 2015 film ''Get Hard'' is this to ''Trading Places'' (1983), but with the 2008 financial crisis as a backdrop: Both films feature a snooty white financier whose fortunes take a hit after being accused of fraud (or more precisely, being framed by his mentor/father-in-law) and eventually joins forces with a street-smart black character.

* ''Film/Mandy2018'' is essentially ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' set in [[FantasyAmericana 1980s California]]. Both films follow a musclebound BarbarianHero with a ''VERY'' large bladed weapon hunting down and taking [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge violent revenge]] on an insane cult leader and his minions who are responsible for the death(s) of [[spoiler: a woman close to the protagonist.]] Many of the characters have close analogues: Red is Conan, Jeremiah is Thulsa Doom, Carruthers is Subotai, The Chemist is the Wizard of the Mounds, and Mandy is Valeria, and the scene where Red smelts his giant axe in the workshop is shot very similarly to the iconic ForgingScene from ''Conan.''
* From the TimeTravel, to the MisterSandmanSequence, to standing up to the bully and his toadies, to the [[ALittleSomethingWeCallRockAndRoll A Little Something We Call Hip-Hop]] scene, to the search for the AppliedPhlebotinum in order to get back, to the minor part played by Creator/CrispinGlover, ''Film/HotTubTimeMachine'' is ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' for a new generation... or more like the same generation, but inverted.
* ''Film/MysteryOfTheWaxMuseum'' is the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/DoctorX''; both are horror films shot in two-strip Technicolor, directed by Creator/MichaelCurtiz, and with a number of the same crew members and actors (including Fay Wray). ''Wax Museum'' is actually more like ''Doctor X'' than is the latter's official sequel, which was [[DolledUpInstallment based on an unrelated short story]] and shot only in black and white.
* ''Film/AHauntedHouse'' is the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/ScaryMovie''. Both films were written by the Wayans brothers and spoof various contemporary horror movies.

* 15 years before ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' came along, the ''Film/StreetFighter'' movie was far more GIJoe than it was ''Franchise/StreetFighter''.
* ''Film/TheLionInWinter'' is a spiritual successor to the earlier film ''Film/{{Becket}}'' in that they're both historical dramas starring Creator/PeterOToole as Henry II playing him as an old man in ''Lion'' and younger in ''Becket''.
* ''Film/TheSevenUps'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/TheFrenchConnection'' in that it stars Roy Scheider as a New York detective similar to the one he played in the latter movie and had the same producer and composer and even had a car chase like the one in ''The French Connection''.
* ''Film/TheCannonballRun'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit''. It also has much in common with ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld''.
* ''Film/SpeedZone'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/TheCannonballRun''.
* Right after directing ''Film/TheOutsiders'' Creator/FrancisFordCoppola made a movie based on another SE Hinton novel, ''Literature/RumbleFish'' with many of the same cast and crew. The movie came out months after ''Film/TheOutsiders''.
* ''Film/{{Zathura}}'' to ''Film/{{Jumanji}}''--both feature a differently-themed board game (space and the jungle, respectively) that brings those elements to life, often to the danger of the players, who are aided by a grown up player who was trapped inside the game for years. Incidentally, the original ''Zathura'' book was a sequel to ''Jumanji''.

* ''Film/CarlitosWay'' to ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}''. Both are about Latino crime bosses and have the same director (Creator/BrianDePalma) and star (Creator/AlPacino).
* ''Film/{{Made}}'' starring Creator/VinceVaughn and Creator/JonFavreau is a spiritual successor to their previous movie playing best friends, ''Film/{{Swingers}}''. Both are written by Favreau.
* ''Film/WhereTheSidewalkEnds'' is very much this to ''Film/{{Laura}}''. Both directed by Creator/OttoPreminger and starring Creator/DanaAndrews as a disillusioned New York cop named Mark who falls in love with characters played by Creator/GeneTierney. Mark Dixon in ''Where the Sidewalk Ends'' could easily be Mark [=McPherson=] from ''Laura'', ten years later and now more jaded, cynical, and violent.
* Preminger's ''Film/{{Whirlpool}}'' was described by Jose Ferrer as "like a sequel to ''Laura'' -- it had the same star, the same mood and atmosphere."
* Creator/WalterMatthau and Creator/JackLemmon made a handful of movies that were all spiritual successors to the original ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'' film. The spiritual successors began with ''Film/GrumpyOldMen'' and included ''Film/GrumpierOldMen'' and ''Out To Sea''...the actual sequel was largely considered a lesser effort than all of the above.
* Notably there is also ''Film/MyFellowAmericans'' which was a buddy comedy political thriller that was originally supposed to star the two of them during that period in the 90s. It still has Creator/JackLemmon as one of the leads and arguably had a pretty similar sense of humor, but due to health complications at the time Creator/WalterMatthau wound up being replaced with James Garner as the co-star.
* The box office disaster ''{{Film/Torque}}'' was a spiritual successor to ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'', even having the same producer and featuring the crime and racing genres.
* ''Film/{{Zookeeper}}'' to ''Film/PaulBlartMallCop''.
* ''Film/RedSonja'' to ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer''.
* ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' to ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''. Just replace the search for a legendary witch with a demon haunting a young couple and they pretty much are the same movie.
* Creator/DarrenAronofsky has stated that ''Film/BlackSwan'' was a "companion piece" to his previous film ''Film/TheWrestler''. In a way, the former is the latter's foil: ''The Wrestler'' is about finding beauty in a brutal sport while '' Black Swan'' is all about the brutality of a beautiful artform.
* The movie ''Film/{{Tomboy}}'' can be seen as a SpiritualSuccessor to the ''Film/MaVieEnRose'' movie released 14 years earlier. They both center around transgender children (one about a [=MtF=] 8 year old and the other around a possibly [=FtM=] 10 year old), are French language, and have the "Just moved to a new town" premise.
* ''Film/HorribleBosses'' to ''Film/OfficeSpace''. Both feature three men getting revenge on a boss and have Creator/JenniferAniston in a supporting role.

* ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/{{Psycho}}''. Not only does [[Creator/JamieLeeCurtis Janet Leigh's daughter]] play the FinalGirl, but the hero of the movie, Sam Loomis, has the [[NamesTheSame same name]] [[ShoutOut as Marion's lover]]. Many stylistic choices are clearly influenced by Hitchock, like the simple {{Leitmotif}} theme music, and the camera work in Michael's first kill, where we never see knife penetrate flesh.
* ''Film/TommyBoy'', a disastrous road trip starring a mismatched OddCouple and the gradual destruction of a car, owes a lot to ''Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles''.
* ''Film/BlackSheep1996'' is the spiritual successor of ''Film/TommyBoy'', both starring Chris Farley and David Spade with very similar characteristics and antics.
* The indie film ''Meek's Cutoff'' is an accidental [[TheMovie film adaptation]] of ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail'' series.
* ''Film/StrangeDays'' is essentially an unofficial sequel to ''Film/{{Brainstorm}}'', showing the effect on society after the thought-recording technology invented in ''Brainstorm'' becomes mass-produced.
* The 1980 musical film ''Film/{{Xanadu}}'' is a spiritual successor to the 1944 movie ''Film/CoverGirl''. In ''Xanadu'', Creator/GeneKelly plays an older version of Danny Mcguire (his character in ''Cover Girl''). His character doesn't make any direct references to the story or characters in the older movie except for the mention of once owning a nightclub. Danny also remembers meeting Kira before somehow. Creator/RitaHayworth's role in the older film doesn't really suggest any connections to Kira or the muses. But In the 1947 film ''Down to Earth'' (the direct inspiration for Xanadu), Hayworth actually does play the muse "Terpsichore". And ''Down to Earth'' does make references to ''Cover Girl'', however.
* ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'' is Disney's spiritual successor to their adaptation of ''Film/MaryPoppins'', right down to sharing a lead actor (Creator/DavidTomlinson).
* ''Film/StreetsOfFire'' to ''Film/TheWarriors''. Both are directed by Creator/WalterHill and feature heavily stylized versions of street crime at night.
* Some fans have argued that ''Film/{{Solo}}'' is a better successor to ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' than the actual [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull most recent]] Franchise/IndianaJones film. Both movies open with a Creator/HarrisonFord character in his teenage years and show us how he got to be who he is, and feature him allying with an older father figure (Henry Jones/Beckett), his brave and warm-hearted sidekick (Sallah/Chewie), and his lovely female companion (Elsa/Qi'ra) to retrieve something priceless for a villainous rich guy (Donovan/Dryden), while being pursued by an elite band of brigands who [[spoiler:turn out to be [[GoodAllAlong good guys]]]] (Kazim and the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword/Enfys Nest and the Cloud-Riders.) There's an action sequence on a train at one point, and both films end with [[spoiler:the girl killing the rich guy, who turns grey as he dies, the father figure being shot, and the hero [[DidNotGetTheGirl not getting the girl]] when she ultimately abandons him too]].
* ''Film/ComingToAmerica'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/TradingPlaces''. Both films were made by Creator/JohnLandis, feature Creator/EddieMurphy, and both deal with [[SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty issues of wealth and poverty]]. ''Coming to America'' even includes a cameo by [[spoiler:Creator/DonAmeche and Creator/RalphBellamy as the still-poor Duke Brothers.]]
* According to director Creator/DannyBoyle there's a sly connection between ''Film/ShallowGrave'' and ''Film/{{Trainspotting}}''. Keith Allen portrays a drug dealer in both films -- with the intention that we think he may be the same character in both, as Trainspotting was suppose to take place in the late 1980s ''before'' the occurrences in ''Shallow Grave''.

* The fact that child actress Patty [=McCormack=] went from playing an EnfantTerrible to an EvilMatriarch 40 years later is the reason why the low-budget thriller ''Mommy'' is considered the spiritual successor to ''Film/TheBadSeed''.
* ''Film/TheRoad'' can be seen as an unintentional spiritual successor to ''Film/RoadToPerdition'' as they share many similar themes (apart from the title involving "road" that can easily be confused). Both center around the relationship between a father and son who have nothing left but each other (in both cases he had a wife but she's dead) who through events beyond their control are forced to travel down a "road" both literally and metaphorically trying to survive whilst bringing up questions about morality- the father trying to be a good man doing what's best for his son, trying to find a place for themselves and running into problems on the way, including people who want to kill them. [[spoiler: Even the endings are similar, as they both involve them coming to the end of their journey with the father dying but the boy seemingly going off to a better life (although how much better his life becomes in ''Film/TheRoad'' is debatable, given the apocalyptic setting)]].
* ''Film/TheGreenMile'' is a great film on its own, but it's also an interesting spiritual successor to ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' (made by the same director). Both are period dramas inspired by Stephen King stories, but instead of going the usual route of looking at his horror stories, Frank Darabont instead looked to some of his unusual works- neither of which was part of the horror genre and one of which had no supernatural elements whatsoever. Both are period dramas set in American prisons during the 20th century dealing with themes of injustice (one involves a man being sentenced for a crime he didn't commit, the other involves a man who tries to comfort prisoners on death row... and then having to carry out their executions). It's also interesting to note the point of view changes between them- ''Shawshank'' is told from the point of view of a prisoner, ''Green Mile'' is from the perspective of a guard, both of whom are subjected to injustices and try to make the best of their situations with help from a few friends.
* The 2004 film ''Film/{{Crash}}'' to the 1991 film ''Film/GrandCanyon''. Both movies feature the interconnected lives of and then tensions between people of different races and classes in Los Angeles.
* The miniseries ''Series/FromTheEarthToTheMoon'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'', as an in-depth look at the Apollo program from the late '60s and early '70s. Both were produced by Creator/RonHoward and Brian Grazer, with Creator/TomHanks onboard, only in the capacity of narrator (except in the last episode). ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'' is itself a spiritual successor to ''Film/TheRightStuff''.
* Seeing how the subject matter of an ambitious but flawed man struggling with his inner demons and addiction are similar, ''Film/{{Flight}}'' could very well be a higher-budgeted and more graphic update of ''Film/TheLostWeekend''.
* ''It's Always Fair Weather'' is a spiritual successor to Creator/{{MGM}}'s film version of ''Film/OnTheTown'', both being written by Creator/ComdenAndGreen, co-directed by Stanley Donen and starring Creator/GeneKelly as one of three military buddies.
* Despite being based on a book series that was previously adapted as ''Film/PointBlank'' and ''Film/{{Payback}}'', ''Film/{{Parker}}'' could be seen as an ultra-violent remake of the Creator/AudreyHepburn film ''Film/HowToStealAMillion'' as the two films share similar elements of a heist of priceless artifacts, the pairing of a gentleman thief with a female accomplice and stylish locales as their backdrops (Paris in ''How To Steal a Million'', West Palm Beach in ''Parker'').
* ''Film/MeanGirls'' is a LighterAndSofter spiritual successor to the [[CultClassic cult]] BlackComedy ''Film/{{Heathers}}''. ''Heathers'' screenwriter Dan Waters is the brother of ''Mean Girls'' director Mark Waters.
* ''Film/{{PCU}}'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/AnimalHouse''.
* ''Film/ThePlaceBeyondThePines'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/{{Drive}}'': Both characters were stuntmen who used vehicles as part of their employment, both were taken in and given a job in a low paying mechanic job where they found them selves doing a crooked sideline to make extra cash, they were also pretty soft spoken but had an air of understated charisma, they both ended up in a precarious predicament due to their criminal activity as well as getting angry with their boss/friend.
* ''Film/TheRocketeer'' is the spiritual successor to the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' series.
** Due to both being superhero period pieces by the same director, ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' could be this to ''Film/TheRocketeer''.
* Creator/MelGibson's ''Film/ThePatriot'' is this to his previous film ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''.
** ''Film/WeWereSoldiers'' is another such historical war film with Gibson as the lead where he was reunited with the writer of ''Braveheart'' Randall Wallace who would also serve as the director that time around.
** ''The Patriot'' is also one to ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' from the perspective of being an American-themed war film by Robert Rodat and was also scored by Music/JohnWilliams.
* ''Film/AustinPowers'' is a spiritual successor to all the Film/JamesBond spoofs of TheSixties, particularly ''Film/OurManFlint'' and ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967''.
* Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/{{Hook}}'', where an iconic literary character returns to a fantastical land after many years away to face old adversaries.
* ''Film/{{Elysium}}'' is the movie ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'' only wishes it could have been.
* For ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'', there's the direct-to-video "Johnny 2.0", which isn't a sequel but seems to intentionally present itself as one.
* Moving backwards, ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise'' is considered by many to be a spiritual predecessor to ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' and ''Film/ShockTreatment'', both of which it shares quite a large number of similarities with.
** Though "Phantom" came first - just barely - its scene of a muscular, gay Frankenstein monster with a blond pudding-bowl haircut being born inside a tank is so similar to "Rocky Horror" that some screenings of the latter have edited this sequence into the film as a joke.
** A small number of fans feel that ''Film/ShockTreatment'' was intentionally harking back to "Phantom" - in a number of ways, the new Brad and Janet ARE Winslow and Phoenix, complete with Creator/JessicaHarper damn near playing the same role again.

* ''Film/TheDevilsCarnival'' to ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera''. The film was made instead of a sequel to Repo! after creators Terrance Zdunich, Darren Smith, and Darren Lynn Bousman lost the rights to it. As well them both being rock-horror musicals, they both star Terrance Zdunich, Alexa Vega, Nivek Ogre, Bill Moseley and Paul Sorvino.

* ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/MaryPoppins''. Both films starred Creator/DickVanDyke with music by Music/TheShermanBrothers and set in TheEdwardianEra. Dick Van Dyke even quipped "This will out-Disney Creator/{{Disney}}." on the eve of its release.
* The 1995 animated film ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' is cited by the Wachowskis as a direct influence on ''Film/TheMatrix'' films, so much so that it's practically The Matrix's spiritual predecessor.
* Creator/RobReiner made ''Film/{{North}}'' with the intention of it being the spiritual successor to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. [[CreatorKiller It wasn't]]. To add insult to injury, many critics pointed out Reiner already had his spiritual successor with ''Film/ThePrincessBride''.
* ''Film/RatRace'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld''.
* ''Film/DayOfTheAnimals'' to its director William Girdler's previous film ''Film/{{Grizzly}}'', since it has a similar location, plot, and shares some of the cast.

* A good number of online reviewers, including WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, have argued that the true spiritual successor to ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' is ''Film/WonderWoman2017''. Both are highly idealistic DC Comics superhero films about a dark-haired, non-human protagonist who is sent to the world of men from "the world of the gods" by a parent or parents to fulfill their destiny as a savior of mankind, and both take steps to emphasize that the hero's true power is their idealism and belief in the goodness of human beings. The main character disguises their identity with [[ClarkKenting a pair of glasses]], has a snarky BadassNormal love interest, and there's even a scene where Diana catches bullets fired at Steve as a [[MythologyGag direct]] [[ShoutOut reference]] to ''Superman: The Movie''. A major theme involves the protagonist learning humility and shedding their naivete while confronting a campy middle-aged man as the villain (with a female sidekick), and the climax has features [[spoiler: the love interest dying]], although unlike Superman, Diana [[spoiler: is unable to turn back time to save Steve Trevor.]]
* Despite being a Godzilla movie, ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'' (2014) comes across as this to the other Reboot of his rival franchise, Film/GameraGuardianOfTheUniverse. The main monster being a hero in a way that it doesn't really care for humanity but merely protecting it without realizing it? Check. The enemy monster having a Flying creature with Batlike wings with it's mate threatening to kill humanity, not be flat out destroying them, but by spawning more monsters? Check. An attempt to reboot the franchise in a way that's somewhat Darker and Grittier then how most people remember the Titular Monster? Check.
* ''Film/{{Highwaymen}}'' is one to director Robert Harmon's earlier film ''Film/TheHitcher''. Both heavily feature car chases, pursuit along the highways, and a serial killer with a fixation on the male protagonist.
* ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'' is, in many ways, a very similar story to ''Film/TheWitch'', but set in the 21st century. Both are horror movies that were produced and distributed by Creator/A24 and are centered around a grieving family being haunted by a witch-like supernatural entity, and both of them end with [[spoiler: the eldest child, the only survivor of the family, being possessed by a demon and welcomed into a supernatural cult.]]
* ''Film/{{Gravity}} (2013)'' is the SpiritualSequel to ''Film/{{Apollo 13}} (1995)'', as it is a 'serious' space disaster film based on current technology and starring astronauts rather than a straight sci-fi. Ed Harris [[ShoutOut even resumes]] [[CastingGag his role]] as MissionControl.
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' gained a lot of comparisons to both ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' and ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', due to many similarities in aesthetic, characters, and tone.
* Multiple academic articles have been written about how Creator/GeorgesMelies's films are the spiritual successors of the ''féerie'', a spectacular theatrical genre popular in 19th-century Paris.
** And hardly any film theorist has been able to talk about the work of the mid-20th-century filmmaker Creator/KarelZeman without either implying, or flat-out stating, that Zeman is the spiritual successor of Méliès.
* ''Film/WhatWeDidOnOurHoliday'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Series/OutNumbered''. It was created by the same people - Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin - and features three adorable and unwittingly wisecracking children (with a generous helping of HarpoDoesSomethingFunny and ThrowItIn to their dialogue), put-upon parents, and comedy from unexpected situations.

* ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' has a couple of films that serve as spiritual successors to it...
** ''Film/RobinHood2010'' is often considered a spiritual successor to ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' because of how both are historical battle epics starring Creator/RussellCrowe and directed by Creator/RidleyScott. This is the one that is most often talked about in this light.
** ''Film/KingArthur'', ironically enough another film that serves as a more grounded and gritty retelling of a renowned figure in British folklore, also qualifies as a spiritual successor to ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' just as much. Both stories were initially conceived by David Franzoni, Music/HansZimmer provided the scores for both, and the two films are Roman era historical battle epics that center around a great and respected officer in the Roman military who has never been to Rome but holds an idealized image of it in his head as the light in a dark and cruel world. An image that becomes effected as their stories go on.
** ''Film/ExodusGodsAndKings'' is also pretty obviously one as well. Both films are directed by Creator/RidleyScott, the trailers getting a lot of mileage with the "From the Director of ''Gladiator'' tagline", and both are prominently advertised as the story of "One man facing the might of an empire". The parallels are further compounded by how the main antagonist in either film is the lead character's royal surrogate brother (though that comes with the territory given how things go down in the Biblical book of Exodus) but also in how Moses is being portrayed as a military commander before he goes into exile and becomes an agent of God. (Though it was an idea touched upon in ''Film/TheTenCommandments'')
** ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' also could have a case made for qualifying as one. ''Gladiator'' often coming up in the marketing. Naturally there are the connections concerning them both being directed by Ridley Scott and both being in the same historical epic/swords-and-sandals genre but there are some other things to note. Like how the lead hero in each film is set on his main journey after the deaths of his wife and child which naturally takes a toll on him emotionally, their main mission is tasked to them by a father-figure who planned to pass their power to them and wind up being killed earlier on, the hero in one way or another begins a new life where he becomes a hero to the people, he gets a new love interest in the form of an upstanding princess, the princess has a son that she's devoted to who is in the royal line of succession, the lead villain is a man who holds the woman in some form of bondage to him, connives to ensure he becomes the ruler, and follows up a more idealistic king. Both films in terms of locations feature journeys starting in frosty European woodlands, move into scorching deserts, and end up in sprawling major cities of the ancient world.
** It could be argued that ''Film/RobinHood2010'' is just as much a spiritual successor to Scott's other preceding historical epic ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' as it is to ''Gladiator''. As both are epics set in the Middle Ages, and touch on the corruption and politics of the time. What makes the connections all the more interesting however is the fact that one of the last scenes in ''Kingdom'' had that film's lead Balian comes across King Richard the Lionheart on his way to go on the crusade to retake the Holy Land from Saladin. In ''Robin Hood'' the film opens up with King Richard and his men on their return journey from his decade long crusade. They even have the lead character Robin Longstride when asked criticize Richard's crusade as well as a massacre of Muslims in the city of Acre. Harkening back to some of the major themes of ''Kingdom of Heaven''.
* ''Film/FindingForrester'' is often considered to be a spiritual successor to ''Film/GoodWillHunting''. Both are films directed by Gus Van Sant that center around a low-class young man who turns out to be prodigy in a certain field and winds up finding a mentor who helps him explore his potential.
* Anthony Mann's ''Film/ElCid'' starring Creator/CharltonHeston has multiple films that qualify as spiritual successors.
** When it comes to films that involve some of the same players involved in their making you have...
*** ''Film/FiftyFiveDaysAtPeking'' qualifies as it was the immediately following Samuel Bronston epic mega-production also based on a historical event/conflict. And like ''El Cid'' it touts Heston as the leading hero, the film being made when it was because of his interest in its script over the already in production ''The Fall of the Roman Empire'', and it somewhat similarly relays a message about unity and peace. Both featuring a diverse group with tenuous relationships that have to come together to help them stave off a powerful threat in a group of radicals that are in a sense seeking to lash out at the "Western World".
*** ''Film/TheFallOfTheRomanEmpire'' is the one most often considered to be a spiritual successor to ''El Cid'' as both are historical epics produced by Samuel Bronston, directed by Anthony Mann and featuring Creator/SophiaLoren as the leading female. Heston was even originally planned to play the lead role. However because of his tenuous relationship with Loren as well as dissatisfaction with the script, in part because he felt it was too similar to ''Ben-Hur'', he wound up declining the part. And after genre veteran Creator/KirkDouglas turned down the part it wound up going to Heston's ''Ben-Hur'' co-star Stephen Boyd. Both films also deal largely with the themes of tolerance and honor. They both also have a leading character who is a high-ranking warrior that seeks to bridge his people with their long-standing enemies and contends with his stubborn ruler who they try to remain loyal to in spite of their growing tension as he continually refuses to listen to pleas for unity and peace. However, ironically enough, things end up in near opposite manners. It is also notable that the English actor Douglas Wilmer is in both films.
*** ''Film/TheWarLord'' was a subsequent Medieval epic starring Heston as a knight.
*** ''Film/{{Khartoum}}'' like ''El Cid'' is a large-scale historical epic that has Heston play a successful and revered historical figure and military commander as well as a devoted and stalwart Christian. One however who has managed to gain the respect and loyalty of members of both the Christian and Muslim faiths. The conflicts of these films having them square off against a fanatical fundamentalist Muslim leader with an eye for conquest. Along the way he must also contend with the corruption within the system he serves. Each film also prominently features, and comes to end with, the battle for a key city. And both stories ultimately end with [[spoiler:the lead heroes becoming martyrs]]. It is also notable, like for another example listed, the English actor Douglas Wilmer also appears in both movies.
** And when it comes to films that came out a good deal later and don't involve the same cast or crew, but were definitely influenced by it to a sizable degree you have three of the most well known modern Medieval based historical epics...
*** ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' was influenced by it and was a film Mel Gibson grew up with and admired. Both are historical epics set in the Middle Ages that centers around a European country's national hero. Both films centering around their battle to try and keep their countries free and stable. Having to deal with a corrupt outside force trying to take control over them as well as the corruption in his nation's own hierarchy. Both ultimately manage to inspire unity in their people but [[spoiler:die as martyrs in the process]]. It is also notable that the arcs for the young royals Alfonso VI of León & Castile and Robert the Bruce as well as their relationships to the lead heroes are quite comparable up to a point.
*** ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' like ''El Cid'' is a Medieval based historical battle epic centering around a conflict between Christians and Muslims, wanting to teach a lesson about tolerance to the audience. And it has been said that Ridley Scott was first inspired to wanting to make a crusader movie after having seen ''El Cid'' in the theater when he was a young man. Both films center around a historical noble who seeks to create stability in his land of residence, and manages to win the admiration and loyalty from people of both faiths. Both because of his honor, as well as displays of mercy.
*** ''Film/RobinHood2010'' is a film to also take into consideration given the previously mentioned affinity the film's director Ridley Scott has for ''El Cid''. Both films are Middle Ages set historical epics that center around a famous hero from a European nation. (though whether or not Robin Hood actually existed is still in question) The main conflict in either film centers around a foreign ruler trying to conquer the lead hero's nation. Both plan on first making it easier by sowing discord among the nobles of that country who already have tenuous relationships with each other before coming in with his invasion force. The assassination of his brother as a part of this plan leads to a younger and more questionable noble to taking the throne as king. The leading hero manages to bring his nation together as the foreign power is starting its invasion on the coast, with of course a grand battle ensuing.
* ''Film/{{Duplex}}'' has been called a spiritual successor to ''Film/ThrowMommaFromTheTrain''. Both are black comedies directed by Creator/DannyDevito that center around a character's (or characters') fixation on murdering an old lady. However the comparison is often used as point of derision, as even the Rotten Tomatoes Critic's Consensus blurb does: "It was funnier when it was called Throw Momma from the Train".
* ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' has no less than three films that fit the bill of being spiritual successors...
** ''Film/DoctorZhivago'': The film's producer Carlo Ponti deliberately wanted the film to be as grand as ''Lawrence of Arabia''. And thus he went on to recruit that film's team. Including director Creator/DavidLean, screenwriter Robert Bolt, cinematographer Freddie Young, production designer John Box and composer Maurice Jarre. Creator/PeterOToole was even Lean's initial choice to play the leading role, but he turned it down based upon his gruelling experiences making ''Lawrence of Arabia'' that created a rift between the two. The role would subsequently go to O'Toole's ''Lawrence'' co-star Omar Sharif. Also, Creator/AlecGuinness is featured in both films.
** ''Literature/LordJim'': A film released three years later, the same year that ''Zhivago'' came out ironically enough, that again sees O'Toole play the role of a British officer who winds up "Going Native" and becoming a leader among a group of foreigners, which leads to him coming to blows with the government he had served.
** ''Film/{{Khartoum}}'': A film released four years after that is another historical epic that is centered around another famous British military leader that was, ironically enough, even mentioned by Prince Feisal in ''Lawrence of Arabia'' with the line, “I think you are another of these desert-loving English – Doughty, Stanhope, Gordon of Khartoum.” In this case it is Gen. Charles "Chinese" Gordon who like Lawrence was eccentric, became something of a loose canon who would go beyond his orders, and felt more comfortable in Arab culture. Both films are also critical of imperialism. Reportedly Creator/AlecGuinness, the actor of ''Feisal'', was the original choice to play Muhammad Ahmad. He declined and the role went to Creator/LaurenceOlivier. Which is very ironic, as Olivier had actually been the first choice for the role of ''Feisal'' before Guinness was cast. While the film has been generally well received on its own terms many feel that the comparisons to ''Lawrence'', which came out only a few years earlier, are inevitable.
* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' has been said to be so to ''Film/IngloriousBasterds''. Both films were directed by Creator/QuentinTarantino, and feature members of an oppressed group striking back violently against their oppressors. (Jews against Nazis and a slave against Antebellum South Slave Owners) Both also feature Creator/ChristophWaltz in a major supporting role that garnered him an Oscar win.
* ''Film/TheHatefulEight'' is, on closer examination, a spiritual successor in many ways to the ''Film/TheThing1982''. Both are paranoid, suspenseful thrillers about an almost entirely male group of shady characters [[note]] ''The Thing'' 's cast is entirely male except for the voice of the computer, while ''Eight'' has one woman in the main cast for TheSmurfettePrinciple, and a couple others in flashbacks [[/note]] trapped in a snowbound location by the blizzard and are totally unable to trust one another or figure out who's dangerous or not. Sam Jackson's character identifies and disposes of the threats in much the same way as [=McCready=], and both movies are also ''extremely'' [[{{Gorn}} gory.]] Music/EnnioMorricone scores both films, and he even got to re-use some of his unused tracks for ''The Thing'' in ''Hateful''. They also both end in almost exactly the same fashion: [[spoiler: the only two survivors, a black guy and a white guy, who previously had an antagonistic relationship, sharing a moment of companionship as they both realize that neither of them is likely to survive.]]
* ''Film/{{Defiance}}'' could be considered one to ''Film/{{Glory}}''. Both are war films that were directed by Edward Zwick and, at least somewhat like the last pair of film ironically enough, center around members of an oppressed group striking back as well as fighting for their freedom.

* Perhaps it would be better to call both films (''Braveheart'' and ''Gladiator'') the newer carriers of the torch for the genre, as both feel in many ways like tributes to the Hollywood Epics of yesteryear as a whole. The other film that Creator/RidleyScott cited as an influence on ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', and he as a filmmaker in general, was William Wyler's acclaimed epic ''Literature/BenHur''. Another Roman Era epic, that similarly centers around a well to do and morally upright man who is old "friends" with the film's main antagonist. (Perhaps the biggest difference being that Messala's feelings for Judah were genuine, whilst Commodus only ever put on a happy face as a façade) After the hero refuses the antagonist's request to join up with and help him his life is subsequently torn apart and he is made a slave. Though he eventually manages to "rise from the ashes" so to speak and go for justice and repair his life.
* ''Film/TheProphecy'' series can be seen as a spiritual successor to the ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' franchise. As it like its predecessor was created by Gregory Widen and has a mythos that centers around a secret conflict between immortals of mystical power not known to the masses. (Immortals and Angels respectively) Not to mention that there is only one very specific way that any members of these groups can be killed that involves removing a key body part. (heads and hearts respectively)
* ''Film/The6thDay'' to ''Film/TotalRecall1990''. Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger star vehicles that are high concept sci-fi films. Schwarzenegger even originally wanted Creator/PaulVerhoeven to return to the director's chair.
* ''Film/WhiteChristmas'' serves as this to ''Film/HolidayInn''. Both are classic holiday centric musicals that star Bing Crosby as an established musical performer who finds love. And both films have an inn serve as a primary location, as well as music by Irving Berlin. Both prominently feature the song ''White Christmas''. The connections were fully intentional, and Crosby's ''Holiday Inn'' co-star Fred Astaire was actually offered the part as the other male lead but declined. Leading to the role going to Danny Kaye. And it would even turn out that the two films use the same set for their respective inns.
* ''Film/HappyGilmore'' and ''Film/TheWaterboy'', even more than the rest of Creator/AdamSandler's mid-[[TheNineties 90s]] "abrasive man-child" ''oeuvre'', are this to ''Film/BillyMadison''. Sandler even named his production company "Happy Madison" after the first two films.
* ''Film/SnowDogs'' could be considered such to ''Film/CoolRunnings''. Both are live-action family films from Disney that are fish out of water tales that involve one or more people going from their warm/comfortable environment to a cold and snowy place where they engage in some sort of winter sport. Both films also share some screenwriters. Those being Tommy Swerdlow and Michael Goldberg.
* Time to talk a little Creator/ErrolFlynn...
** His breakout film was ''Film/CaptainBlood'', and that is a film with what can be considered two spiritual successors:
*** ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'' like ''Captain Blood'' is a swashbuckler directed by Creator/MichaelCurtiz and also has Creator/OliviaDeHavilland and Creator/BasilRathbone as co-stars. The former as his upstanding love interest, and the latter as a major supporting villain who clashes blades with Flynn by the end.
*** ''Film/TheSeaHawk'' is again a swashbuckling adventure film starring Flynn as a charismatic pirate captain. And once again Curtiz is in the director's chair.
** Next up is ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'' itself, which is possibly his most famous and popular film:
*** ''Film/TheMarkOfZorro1940'' while the only film in this bunch not to star Errol Flynn, the lead here being Tyrone Power, it is also a swashbuckler about a famous classic hero taking on corruption in his homeland. Both Creator/BasilRathbone and Eugene Pallette, actors who played supporting characters from ''Robin Hood'', are also featured in strikingly similar roles. The former again as the main antagonist's chief enforcer and rival to the lead, whilst the latter again plays a tough-as-nails holy man who serves as a close ally to the hero.
*** ''Adventures Of Don Juan'' is once again another swashbuckler starring Flynn. He here is once again playing a classic European hero who fights against a corrupt man of power in his nation who is trying to take over and woos a woman of royalty. Even the title seems to be deliberately trying to harken back to that film.
* ''WesternAnimation/AChristmasCarol2009'' directed by Creator/RobertZemeckis serves as this to his preceding CGI-animated Christmas film ''WesternAnimation/ThePolarExpress''. Both films are based on a classic book centered around the holiday and are about a person whose perspective on life and attitude towards the holiday are changed as he goes through a supernatural journey started by beings who want to help them "open their eyes" so to speak.. Each also has a leading actor who plays several roles in the film. Ironically enough a marionette puppet of Ebenezer Scrooge appears in the film during the scene where they are in a car filled with abandoned/misfit toys being used by the hobo ghost. The Scrooge played by Jim Carrey in the subsequent film has a strikingly similar appearance/design.
* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' to ''Film/{{Contact}}''. Both films set out to examine popular sci-fi tropes through a realistic lens, both are based on the writings of RealLife astrophysicists (Creator/CarlSagan for ''Contact'', Kip Thorne for ''Interstellar''), both involve space flights through wormholes and spaceships built in secrecy, both end with [[spoiler: the protagonist journeying to a pocket dimension and revisiting an important incident from his/her past]], and both feature Creator/MatthewMcConaughey in a starring role.
* ''Film/ConAir'' to ''Film/TheRock''. Both are "''Franchise/DieHard'' [[DieHardOnAnX on an X]]" type films (on a prison transport plane and the prison Alcatraz Island respectively) that were produced by Creator/JerryBruckheimer and star Creator/NicolasCage.
* ''Film/{{Paddington}}'' to ''Film/MaryPoppins'' and ''Film/NannyMcPhee''. Instead of a magic nanny bringing harmony to a British family, it's a little bear from Peru looking for a new home, and he stays.

* ''[[Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1923 The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' from 1923 starring Creator/LonChaney has two films that can be considered spiritual successors. All of these films were made by Universal Studios and produced to some capacity by German born filmmaker Carl Laemmle.
** ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera1925'' like ''Hunchback'' stars Lon Chaney with groundbreaking make-up effects in the form of a deformed Parisian who falls in love with a "normal" woman. With conflict ensuing between the multiple parties associated with and desiring her. Both are also based on classic stories from well known French authors.
** ''Film/TheManWhoLaughs'' from 1928 starring Creator/ConradVeidt is like ''Hunchback'' based upon a Creator/VictorHugo novel. Both centering around a malformed but misunderstood man who is mistreated by others and falls in love with, again, a regular woman. Both characters are also known for their iconic make-up effects that brought them to life.
* ''Film/LegendsOfTheFall'' could be considered such to ''Film/ARiverRunsThroughIt''. The most obvious thing being that both star Creator/BradPitt in strikingly similar roles among other similarities in their stories. Including but not limited to that both movies take place in Montana. Both father figures play/played a predominant role in the community (Respected General & Priest). Pitt's character dates an Indian girl who's strongly discriminated against. His character is also openly the family favorite. Both movies have brotherhood as a central theme. The older brother is the more educated/successful one. Weak mother figure presence and importance in both movies. And Pitt's character is the member of the family who is the most 'wild' and who is most unbound by society's rules and expectations.
* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' to ''Film/KickAss''. Both have the same director and are DeconReconSwitch of a specific genre (superheroes stories for ''Kick-Ass'', early Creator/RogerMoore era ''Film/JamesBond'' movies for ''Kingsman''), with generous amounts of BlackComedy.
* ''Film/{{Slither}}'' is essentially a CGI-era version of ''Film/NightOfTheCreeps'' in a more rustic setting.
* When it comes to Disney...
** Disney's ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' to ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'', from title to character design to setting. This led many to believe it was just going to be [[RecycledInSpace ''Tangled'' IN SNOW]] before the film proved them very wrong.
** ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' could be considered one to ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''
** Disney's ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' would qualify as such to their preceding animated film ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''. Both films are based on classic pieces of literature based in France. The main players being a misunderstood/tortured man thought of as a monster by the outside world that lives in a monolithic building (Quasimodo and The Beast), his sidekicks in the form of legless anthropomorphic objects (the castle's denizens turned into household objects like Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts from ''Beast'' and the Notre Dame gargoyles Victor, Hugo, and Laverne from ''Hunchback''), the strong and compassionate woman that defends him who he falls for (Esermelda and Belle), a villainous man with influence in his hometown that is deeply arrogant and lusts after the female lead who ultimately dies in a final confrontation when he besieges the aforementioned monolithic building where he falls to his death (Frollo and Gaston). Both films had the same pair of directors with Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. And both, naturally, were animated Disney musicals with music by Music/AlanMenken.
** Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' would qualify as such to their preceding animated film ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''. Both films are based on classic myths/folk-tales set in the ancient world. The main players include a well meaning frowned-upon outsider with confidence issues that wants to feel acceptance/respect who come to embrace themselves for who they are by the end (Hercules and Aladdin), a conniving and snarky man of power (Hades and Jafar) within the inner circles of a jovial king he seeks to supplant (Zeus and the Sultan) with the aid of sealed away ancient beings of immense power (the Genie and the Titans) who ultimately is punished by being trapped in a dark place without the use of his power when beaten by the hero, the feisty woman the hero loves who is trapped in a life position she seeks to break free from (Meg and Jasmine), among others such as in the various comedic sidekicks. (Such as the heroes' anthropomorphized modes of transportation, the villains' comedic sidekicks who are regularly abused by their masters and do a lot of the grunt work) Both films had the same pair of directors with Ron Clements and John Musker. And both, naturally, were animated Disney musicals with music by Music/AlanMenken.
** ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' is one to ''Disney/RobinHood''. In fact, ''Zootopia'' director Byron Howard's love for ''Robin Hood'' was the reason why the idea for ''Zootopia'' was pitched in the first place, [[http://variety.com/2013/film/news/d23-expo-disney-reveals-animated-zootopia-for-2016-1200576434/ since he wanted to do a film similar to one of his favorite toons]].
* The 2015 disaster film ''Film/SanAndreas'' is essentially the first act of ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' stretched out into a feature film, even containing many of the tropes that Creator/RolandEmmerich used in his disaster flicks.
* ''Film/TheBabadook'' to ''Film/TheExorcist''. Their respective premises and executions are remarkably similar, though ''The Babadook'' largely replaces ''The Exorcist'''s overtly religious themes with an emphasis on the broader theme of storytelling. Both of them feature a single mother struggling to help her child cope with a [[AmbiguousDisorder mysterious mental illness]] that forces them into complete isolation, both of them prominently feature DemonicPossession, and both of them [[ClosedCircle take place almost entirely in the family home]]. Much like ''The Exorcist'', ''The Babadook'' is generally agreed to be all the more effective as a horror film because [[AdultFear it focuses more on the breakdown of the family than on the monster that causes it]].

* The obscure 1966 film ''After the Fox'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963'': a caper movie with a fast-moving AnimatedCreditsOpening featuring a FunnyAnimal based on the title and starring an outrageously accented Creator/PeterSellers. Only in ''After the Fox'', Sellers is the thief, not the detective.
* In some key respects, ''Film/GranTorino'' is to the ''Film/DirtyHarry'' series what ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' was to the ''Dollars'' trilogy above.
* ''Film/MoneyTrain'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/WhiteMenCantJump'', as both films star Creator/WesleySnipes and Creator/WoodyHarrelson in the main roles, and each have a Latina actress as the love interest. The female lead in ''White Men Can't Jump'' was Rosie Perez while ''Money Train'' featured Music/JenniferLopez.
* As the story goes, Creator/StevenSpielberg once casually mentioned to Creator/GeorgeLucas that he’d always wanted to direct a Film/JamesBond movie. Lucas said “I have a character even better than Bond”, and that's where Franchise/IndianaJones came from. Given that both series have a habit of cavalier wit, action prologues, beautiful women and exotic locations (and [[Creator/SeanConnery the first of the movie Bonds]] plays Indy’s father), you can certainly see the resemblance.
* ''Film/GoodMorning'' is this to a previous film named ''Film/IWasBornBut''. They were done by the same director. They both feature similar dressing brothers wearing baseball caps causing mischief in early 20th century Japan (the 1950s and the 1930s respectively).
* ''Film/TheSecretOfMySuccess'' can be seen as a sequel to ''Series/FamilyTies'', since Brantley is pretty much the same character as Alex P. Keaton. Brantley's family can be seen as a severely {{Flanderized}} version of the Keatons. (In fact in Family Ties' take on ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' it's revealed that in one possible future the Keatons actually became farmers after a downturn in the economy.) It helps that the last episode of ''Family Ties'' ends where ''The Secret of My Success'' begins (even though the movie was released two years before the last episode aired!)
* There is the Creator/PeterBerg and Creator/MarkWahlberg, right now, trio of films about modern-day disasters and the people who rose to the occasion as heroes in the face of them. Whether they be a military mission gone awry that leads to soldiers trapped in enemy territory, a malfunction on an oil-right that leads to a massive inferno, or a terrorist strike and the ensuing manhunt. Those films being ''Film/LoneSurvivor'', ''Film/DeepwaterHorizon'', and ''Film/PatriotsDay'' respectively.
* In Creator/RogerEbert's review of ''Film/TheSandlot'', he proposes that the movie is this to ''Film/AChristmasStory''. A real sequel, ''It Runs In The Family'' came out the next year, and most people don't even know its exists. ''The Sandlot'', on the other hand, is considered a classic.

* ''Film/EnterTheVoid'' definitely comes across as ''some'' sort of successor to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', featuring the same kind of exploratory existentialism and drawn-out, trippy sequences. It's even harder to sit through due to the addition of [[WretchedHive general human degeneracy]] and [[FreudWasRight psychosexual issues]], however.
* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' is an interesting example, in that it's a literal sequel one film, but also a SpiritualSuccessor to another film set in [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse the same universe]]. It's the third in a trilogy with ''Film/{{Thor}}'' and ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', but it has much more in common with ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' in terms of tone and aesthetic. It has the colorful SpaceOpera setting, the RagtagBunchOfMisfits cast, the plot involving space travel to [[UsedFuture the seamier corners of the galaxy]], and the retro soundtrack full of 70s and 80s rock hits (complete with original synth music by Music/MarkMothersbaugh of Music/{{Devo}}).
* ''Film/MysteryOfTheWaxMuseum'' is a spiritual successor to ''Film/DoctorX''. The two films aren't part of the same continuity, but they overlap in genre (though ''Mystery of the Wax Museum'' lacks most of ''Doctor X'''s comedy elements), share [[ProductionPosse the same director and several cast and crew members]], and are filmed in the same visually-distinctive Technicolor process. In addition, both films include morgue scenes, wax statues (though they only appear briefly in ''Doctor X''), multiple characters portrayed as having disabilities (including [[spoiler:a villain who is more able than he lets on]]), and a plot based on investigative reporting.
* Bart Layton's second film ''Film/AmericanAnimals'' splits the difference between his first film ''The Imposter'' (a documentary) and a fully dramatic [[TheCaper caper]]. They're both about a real crime, feature talking head interviews from the real people involved, include at least one UnreliableNarrator, and leave lingering questions about what really occurred.
* ''Film/SteveJobs'' to ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', another {{biopic}} written by Creator/AaronSorkin about an [[InsufferableGenius abrasive]] tech pioneer with a troubled love life, who has a falling-out with a close friend who accuses him of {{stealing the credit}} for his big breakthrough. Funnily enough, the two films were [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost]] directed by the same person, but Creator/DavidFincher passed on directing ''Steve Jobs''.
* ''Film/HarbingerDown'' was made by two of the special effects technicians who did the PracticalEffects on ''Film/TheThing2011''. They were disappointed to see their work painted over in post-production with CG, a sentiment shared by people who saw their behind-the-scenes footage of the effects they had worked on, and so they decided to create a ''Thing''-like film of their own.
* ''Film/NonStop'' has one in the form of the 2018 movie ''Film/TheCommuter''. Both of them star Creator/LiamNeeson and are directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and are also DieHardOnAnX movies. The only difference is that ''Non-Stop'' takes place on a plane while ''The Commuter'' takes place on a train.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' is arguably the spiritual successor to ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'', which ran for a single season on Creator/{{MTV}} in the summer of 2003. Like ''Spider-Verse'', it featured stylized cel-shaded computer animation, though the limitations of the time meant the graphics weren't quite as clean as the movie's. Nonetheless, it's fun to think that the middle-aged Spider-Man from the movie is the same one from the tv show.
** It can also be seen as this to ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie'', mainly due to being a tongue-in-cheek (but otherwise a very affectionate) love letter to everything great and iconic about Spider-Man to the point of referencing old movies and cartoons along with having the [[Creator/PhilLordAndChrisMiller producers]] involved.
** It's also seen as this to ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', especially due to utilising elements of the scrapped fourth instalment for Peter B.'s story arc such as his marriage with Mary Jane being collapsed though the reasoning is different as in the scrapped film, he would've [[YourCheatingHeart had an affair]] and thus [[TookALevelInJerkass becoming a jerk and leaving his wife and child behind]], while in this film, he underwent a mid-life crisis that went FromBadToWorse after Aunt May's death, causing him to act in an impulsive and self-destructive manner that ruined his marriage and [[spoiler: fortunately ends in a more happier tone with him regaining his resolve and trying to patch things up with MJ]].
* Creator/DavidCronenberg's ''Film/TheDeadZone'' and ''Film/TheFly1986'' came one after the other in his filmography, and both are literary adaptations featuring several members of Cronenberg's ProductionPosse (casting director, cinematographer, film editor, and production designer) and a minor role played by Les Carlson. But on top of that, Cronenberg and the latter film's lead actor Creator/JeffGoldblum have pointed out that both films are about a man who gains extraordinary abilities in an accident, but in the process ends up unable to be with the woman they love. And though the route each movie takes to it is ''very'' different, both end on a floor-level shot of [[spoiler: the woman grieving the death-by-gunshot of their beloved]].
* ''Film/{{Circle}}'' is one to ''Film/{{Cube}}''. An OntologicalMystery of people from different walks of life who were abducted by mysterious forces and placed into a confined DeathTrap where they start dying one by one unless they somehow find a way out. Also, the circle itself can be seen as a different form of SinisterGeometry.
* ''Film/{{The Rookie 1990}}'' is essentially this to ''Film/DirtyHarry''. In both movies, Creator/ClintEastwood plays a veteran cop whose partners are killed. The movie is also directed by Clint Eastwood.

* ''Film/DaysOfThunder'' to ''Film/TopGun''. Creator/TomCruise controls (pilots) an extremely fast piece of machinery, deals with a [[HeroicBSOD crisis]] about 2/3's of the way in following a traumatic accident involving a friend, only to come out of it at the end and win the heart of his [[UptownGirl higher-class love interest]]. All with a power ballad soundtrack. Both of them are also directed by the late Creator/TonyScott.
* To those who have seen both, ''Film/EventHorizon'' (1997) is considered the successor to Disney's ''Film/TheBlackHole'' (1979). Both are about the crew of a space ship investigating a much bigger derelict ship, only to find out that something horrible happened to the crew, and that the ship was designed to travel somewhere outside of normal reality [[spoiler: which both times turns out to be, if not literally Hell, somewhere that easily resembles Hell]].
* ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}'' (2019) to ''Film/TheKingOfComedy'' (1982). Both feature a deranged aspiring comedian obsessed with a popular late-night host. The host in ''Joker'' is played by Creator/RobertDeNiro, who played the LoonyFan role in ''King'', whose director Creator/MartinScorsese gave his blessing.
* While the 2019 ''[[Film/CharliesAngels2019 Charlie's Angels]]'' movie is a continuation of [[Series/CharliesAngels the '70s TV series]] and [[Film/CharliesAngels2000 the 2000 film]], a lot of fans of the ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'' films have also argued for it being an unofficial [[DistaffCounterpart girl-team]] SpinOff. The Townsend Agency is portrayed less as a PrivateDetective agency like on the show and more as a private ''spy'' agency in full TuxedoAndMartini mode (or in this case, Cocktail Dress and Martini), doing the jobs that government intelligence services are portrayed as [[ObstructiveBureaucrat too constrained by bureaucracy to get done]], with a heavy focus on the protagonists' lavish lifestyles -- a description that also just about perfectly applies to the Kingsmen.
* ''Film/DragMeToHell'' could just as easily have been called ''Franchise/EvilDead 4'', and nobody would have batted an eye. Not only was it written and directed by Creator/SamRaimi and billed as his return to horror, it has virtually all the characteristic elements of the prior films: the emphasis on BloodyHilarious carnage, the mix of demonic horror with slapstick comedy, a demon-possessed man acting like a Deadite, and the protagonist Christine coming across as more of a DistaffCounterpart to Ash (at least from [[Film/TheEvilDead1981 the first movie]]) than the actual [[GenderFlip gender-flipped]] version of Ash from [[Film/EvilDead2013 the remake]]. Even the PG-13 rating doesn't take ''that'' much away from the mayhem. It can also be considered this to ''Literature/{{Thinner}}'', [[WholePlotReference which also involves]] an upper class protagonist in a RaceAgainstTime to remove a gypsy curse from them before their time is up. Interestingly enough, the music composer for ''Thinner'' Daniel Licht was a protege of Christopher Young, the music composer for this film. Both Licht's and Young's ensemble orchestras performed for those movies were even the Northwest Sinfonia.

* ''Film/DragMeToHell'' could just as easily have been called ''Franchise/EvilDead 4'', and nobody would have batted an eye. Not only was it written and directed by Creator/SamRaimi and billed as his return to horror, it has virtually all the characteristic elements of the prior films: the emphasis on BloodyHilarious carnage, the mix of demonic horror with slapstick comedy, a demon-possessed man acting like a Deadite, and the protagonist Christine coming across as more of a DistaffCounterpart to Ash (at least from [[Film/TheEvilDead1981 the first movie]]) than the actual [[GenderFlip gender-flipped]] version of Ash from [[Film/EvilDead2013 the remake]]. Even the PG-13 rating doesn't take ''that'' much away from the mayhem. It can also be consider this to ''Literature/{{Thinner}}'', [[WholePlotReference which also involves]] an upper class protagonist in a RaceAgainstTime to remove a gypsy curse from them before their time is up. Interestingly enough, the music composer for ''Thinner'' Daniel Licht was a protege of Christopher Young, the music composer for this film. Both Licht's and Young's ensemble orchestras performed for those movies were even the Northwest Sinfonia.

* ''Film/DragMeToHell'' could just as easily have been called ''Franchise/EvilDead 4'', and nobody would have batted an eye. Not only was it written and directed by Creator/SamRaimi and billed as his return to horror, it has virtually all the characteristic elements of the prior films: the emphasis on BloodyHilarious carnage, the mix of demonic horror with slapstick comedy, a demon-possessed man acting like a Deadite, and the protagonist Christine coming across as more of a DistaffCounterpart to Ash (at least from [[Film/TheEvilDead1981 the first movie]]) than the actual [[GenderFlip gender-flipped]] version of Ash from [[Film/EvilDead2013 the remake]]. Even the PG-13 rating doesn't take ''that'' much away from the mayhem.

* ''Film/HarbingerDown'' was made by two of the special effects technicians who did the PracticalEffects on ''Film/TheThing2011''. They were disappointed to see their work painted over in post-production with ConspicuousCG, a sentiment shared by people who saw their behind-the-scenes footage of the effects they had worked on, and so they decided to create a ''Thing''-like film of their own.

* While the 2019 ''[[Film/CharliesAngels2019 Charlie's Angels]]'' movie is a continuation of [[Series/CharliesAngels the '70s TV series]] and [[Film/CharliesAngels the 2000 film]], a lot of fans of the ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'' films have also argued for it being an unofficial [[DistaffCounterpart girl-team]] SpinOff. The Townsend Agency is portrayed less as a PrivateDetective agency like on the show and more as a private ''spy'' agency in full TuxedoAndMartini mode (or in this case, Cocktail Dress and Martini), doing the jobs that government intelligence services are portrayed as [[ObstructiveBureaucrat too constrained by bureaucracy to get done]], with a heavy focus on the protagonists' lavish lifestyles -- a description that also just about perfectly applies to the Kingsmen.

* ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}'' (2019) to ''Film/TheKingOfComedy'' (1982). Both feature a deranged aspiring comedian obsessed with a popular late-night host. Said host in ''Joker'' is played by Creator/RobertDeNiro, who played the LoonyFan role in ''King'', whose director Creator/MartinScorsese gave his blessing.

* ''Film/MeanStreets'', ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' and ''Film/{{Casino}}'' are all directed by Creator/MartinScorsese, featuring a number of members from his ProductionPosse, and the final two films are both based on nonfiction books by Nicholas Pileggi. Scorcese has said that the three films form a ThematicSeries of increasingly elevated steps on the mafia hierarchy.

* ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}'' (2019) to ''Film/TheKingOfComedy'' (1982). Both feature a deranged aspiring comedian obsessed with a popular late-night host. Said host in ''Joker'' is played by Creator/RobertDeNiro, who played the LoonyFan role in ''King'', whose director Creator/MartinScorcese gave his blessing.

* ''Joker'' (2019) to ''Film/TheKingOfComedy'' (1982). Both feature a deranged aspiring comedian obsessed with a popular late-night host. Said host in ''Joker'' is played by Robert De Niro, who played the LoonyFan role in ''King'', whose director Martin Scorcese gave its blessing.

----

* To those who have seen both, ''Film/EventHorizon'' is considered the successor to Disney's ''Film/TheBlackHole''. Both are about the crew of a space ship investigating a much bigger derelict ship, only to find out that something horrible happened to the crew, and that the ship was designed to travel somewhere outside of normal reality [[spoiler: which both times turns out to be, if not literally Hell, somewhere that easily resembles Hell]].

* Film/NineLives2016 is one to the '''''bizarre''''' Creator/ChevyChase movie Film/OhHeavenlyDog in being talking animal comedies suffering from UncertainAudience involving a human dying [[and BackFromTheDead]] [[becoming BalefulPolymorph]] [[a KarmicTransformation]] pet

* Film/NineLives2016 is one to the '''''bizarre''''' Creator/ChevyChase movie Film/OhHeavenlyDog in being talking animal comedies suffering from UncertainAudience involving a human dying and becoming a pet

* Film/NineLives2016 is one to the '''''bizarre''''' Creator/ChevyChase movie Film/OhHeavenlyDog in being talking animal comedies suffering from UncurtainAudience involving a human dying and becoming a pet

* Film/NineLives2016 is one to the '''''bizarre''''' Creator/ChevyChase movie Film/OhHeavenlyDog in being talking animal comedies suffering from UnceartainAudience involving a human dying and becoming a pet

* ''Good Morning'' is this to a previous film named ''Umarete Wa Mita Keredo''. They were done by the same director. They both feature similar dressing brothers wearing baseball caps causing mischief in early 20th century Japan (the 1950s and the 1930s respectively).

* Screenwriter Terence Winter and director Martin Scorsese have essentially noted that ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' does for white-collar crime what ''Goodfellas'' and ''Casino'' do for organized crime.

* ''Film/MoneyTrain'' is the spiritual successor to ''Film/WhiteMenCantJump'', as both films star Creator/WesleySnipes and Creator/WoodyHarrelson in the main roles, and each have a Latina actress as the love interest. The female lead in ''White Men Can't Jump'' was Rosie Perez while ''Money Train'' featured Creator/JenniferLopez.