I don't know about you, but I find it a little annoying when people misuse basic movie terminology. It's not bad for common people, but there are professionals out there who mess this stuff up when they're reporting about certain movies, and as a result, they really don't sound like they know what they're talking about. Instead of being a jerk and just calling people who don't get it stupid, I've decided to do this article explaining 4 commonly misused terms used to describe movies. Sequel, Prequel, Remake, Reboot. (If you already have a firm grasp of what all these mean, use this as a tool to teach people you know who just don't seem to get it)
Sequel: This is probably the easiest one to understand because it's a very straightforward concept that has been used for a long time. If a movie continues the story of another movie, then it is called a sequel. Sequels are usually easy to spot because they often have a number in the title. Some are basic like Spider-man 2. Others have cheesy puns like 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Get it? Two and too are homophones! So the 2 shows that it's the second movie and that it's just too fast and furious, unlike its predecessor which was appropriately fast and furious. With the recent 3-D craze, it's not uncommon for movies to put that into the title of the 3rd movie in the series like Spy Kids 3-D.
See? The 3 shows that it's the third movie in the series AND that it's in 3-D. Oho! Isn't that clever? No, not really. Some sequel choose to add a subtitle to the original title instead of a number. For example, the sequel to Fantastic Four is called Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. (Fantastic Four 2 sounds kind of stupid, doesn't it?)Then there are sequels with titles that have nothing in common with the title of the movie that came before them. The Dark Knight is the sequel to Batman Begins. Both titles make sense in regards to the story of the movie, but someone who knows absolutely nothing about Batman probably wouldn't be able to figure out the relationship. Some other examples are Chronicles of Riddick, the sequel to Pitch Black, and U.S. Marshalls, the sequel to The Fugitive. Finally there are sequels with titles that are just stupid variations of the original title. Once again, the Fast and the Furious series comes to mind. The first one is called the Fast and the Furious. The fourth is called Fast and Furious.
It's the same title minus the 'The's'. Then there's the Final Destination series, which does the opposite. The first is called Final Destination. The fourth is called THE Final Destination.
So just in case you're confused the first was like some random final destination. This is THE final destination here, people. It's like, totally different. I'd also like to make note of the fact that the "The" on the poster is so small, it almost looks like the same title. Anyway, that's more than enough about sequels. Let's move on.
Prequel: A prequel is a movie with a story that takes place before the story of another connected movie. The term is usually used to refer to movies released after a related movie, but set in the time before the earlier movie occurred. The best example I can think of is the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The original Star Wars trilogy ran from 1977-1983. The prequel trilogy ran from 1999-2005 and served as the story before the original trilogy. I tend to use the terms sequel and prequel as relative terms when describing movies of a series. For example I think of the original Star Wars, which is now called episode 4, as the sequel to episode 3 and the prequel to Episode 5: Empire Strikes Back. I'm not sure how proper this is, but the basic gist of it is, sequel means after, prequel means before.
Remake: Remake is generally used to describe a movie that uses an earlier movie as its main source material. Remakes have a similar premise to the original movie, but they often make significant changes to the characters, setting, and plot and tone. Some remakes don't even have the same title as the original movie. Psycho, Planet of the Apes, King Kong, and The Karate Kid are some examples of movies that have been remade. Remakes are not to be confused with rip-offs, which are movies that copy other movies without admitting it and hope you don't notice.
Reboot: Reboots are the main reason I decided to make this movie, because they seem to be a source of confusion for a lot of people. Reboots are movies that discard the story and continuity of earlier movies in order to start something new. Reboots have become increasingly common with the popularity of super hero movies. People often confuse reboots with remakes. I've heard people refer to The Dark Knight as a remake of the movie Batman made in 1989. There are some people who even refer to Christopher Nolan's Batman series as a whole as a remake series. Batman Begins was a reboot of Batman, discarding the story of the previous 4 Batman movies that came before it. Although it follows the same main character and is set at an earlier point in his life, it is not a prequel. The Dark Knight is the sequel to Batman Begins, and also has no connection to the older Batman movies. The argument some people make for the reason that The Dark Knight is a remake of 1989's Batman is that both movies feature Batman as the protagonist and the Joker as the main antagonist. While The Dark Knight is more similar to Batman than many remakes are to the movies they're based on, the thing that creates the distinction is that 1989's Batman is not the main source material for The Dark Knight. Both movies are interpretations of characters who have been around in comic books for decades. The comic books are the place where these characters originally came from so they are the main source material. Another example of a reboot is the new Spider-man movie. The movie is set during the high school years of Peter Parker which means it takes place at an earlier point in Peter Parker's life than what was covered in most of Sam Raimi's Spider-man trilogy. However, it's a new interpretation of the Spider-man comic books, making it a reboot, not a prequel.
As usual, I've got the video version of the article here. It's the same content, but it's a good alternative for those of you who don't feel like reading. And it has more pictures! (there's a fun intro, but if you're not interested you can skip to the content at about 1:37)
Thanks for reading!