6月10日首映的《侏罗纪世界3》，大家去看了吗？片名为“统治”，是《侏罗纪世界》系列的完结篇。

据实时数据显示，截至6月14日，影片内地票房突破4亿，暂列2022年引进片票房冠军。

不过，今天的 Buzzword 不讲电影桥段，而是来聊聊，当一部电影火了第一部，拍了第二部续集“Sequel”，“扛”到第三部了，它叫什么？

这个词就是Threequel.

Threequel

It's a blend of the words "three" and "sequel" that has been in use since the late 1990s.

Word Origins

说“续续集”之前，先来说说“续集”的来由。

The word sequel originates from the Latin ‘sequella’, based on the term ‘sequi’, meaning 'follow'“跟着”的意思。

When we are talking about movies, “sequel” simply means the second movie following the original story.

说电影的时候“sequel”指的就是续集/续章.

而所谓的Threequel就是指续集后面的续集, 比如说三部曲里的第三部。

说个题外话，系列电影里，我们不是还常常看见XX前传，比如《超人前传》《X战警前传》什么的，就是在前面加前缀Pre-, 叫做Prequel.

是该系列电影第一部时间线之前发生的故事。

神奇数字“3”

在好莱坞电影界，“3”是个神奇的数字。

好像只要电影出了续集，不往下再拍个“续续集”都没法交代似的， 简直可以称作“薛定谔的'threequel'”。

That's why there are lots of trilogies.

This is usually the original movie followed by sequel, and then followed by a threequel, the third movie in the series.

Now there are many examples of high profile threequels, for example, The Godfather Part III,

影史上有很多有名的电影系列都出到了第三部, 比如说《教父3》.

《教父》三部曲

《虎胆龙威3-纽约大劫案》Die Hard – With a Vengeance；《终结者3：机器的觉醒》 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 等等。

And the latest threequel in the Jurassic Franchise – Jurassic World Dominion.

刚刚上映的《侏罗纪世界3》自然也是。

确实是有不少threequel取得了票房的成功，特别是像《指环王》这样本来就计划做三部曲的电影系列.

Many threequels have enjoyed box office success, especially those ones that are based on stories originally conceived as trilogies, such as The Lord of the Rings.

又或者星球大战3：绝地归来什么的。

However, despite the box office success they may enjoy, threequels are often seen as disappointing.

“逢3必殇”的诅咒？

当然，也有票房毒药的“threequel”.

比如第一部7.7分，到第二部6.6分，再第三部5.6分的《唐探》啦；

被网友评价为狗尾续貂、剧情乱七八糟的《大话西游3》啦；

国外的就更多了，"狗尾"可能还不止三条。

“知名烂片”《夺命双头鲨》的续集分别是三头鲨、四头鲨鱼、五头鲨和六头鲨...

部部评价3分以下，而且还有可能出现更多的头，反正我一整个“鲨雕”了。

即使那些很有名的电影系列, 很多时候也逃不过第三部烂尾的诅咒.

Some people even talk about the curse of the threequels.

And it's not just the terrible ones, some of the most critically acclaimed trilogies also suffer from the threequel curse.

One of the commonly understood rules when it comes to movies is that: the third film in a trilogy almost always sucks.

Some people even talk about “the curse of the threequels”.

And it's not just the terrible ones. Some of the most critically acclaimed trilogies also suffer from the threequel curse.

And it got us wondering, what's really happening here?

为啥“三儿”最拿不出手？

There are two factors that come into play here: formula and necessity.

The reason why film trilogies have been around for so long is that they're a really great structure to tell a long story, with each film serving as a beginning, a middle, and an end.

This also means that each film should serve a very specific purpose.

其实“三儿”也挺难的。

无论是哪种类型的电影，都藏着一个“公式”。

因为如果要把一个很长的故事讲完整, 三部曲的分工正好是beginning, middle, and an end, 各占其位, 各司其职。

影史传奇《蓝白红三部曲》：命运让我们相遇，相爱，相互折磨

第一部, 通常是介绍整个故事的大背景以及主人公。

然后到续集的时候, 因为前面已经打好了框架, 就可以专注来讲主人公面临的某一个巨大的挑战或者一个大反派。

No matter the genre, the first film always serves as an origin story that introduces us to our heroes and the world they live in.

The sequels always tend to enjoy more freedom, since their characters and worlds are already established for them. For this reason, the second film is all about heroes facing the greatest challenge they've faced yet.

美国西部片镖客三部曲

作为第三部, 也是最后一部的threequel, 不光要讲好故事本身, 要超越前面两步；

而且还要去填前两部所埋下的坑, 而且最后还要有一个比较有说服力的结局。

This is where the problem with threequels comes in.

There isn't really a formula for a successful threequel, at least not yet.

Because threequel have a lot more to accomplish, they not only have to tell a great story that tops the films before it, but they also need to tie every loose end, and somehow bring a satisfying conclusion to the whole story.

And the threequel needs to do all of this in almost exactly the same length as the other films.

《爱在》三部曲分别是：95年的《爱在黎明破晓前》；04年的《爱在日落黄昏时》；13年的《爱在午夜降临时》。

每隔9年一部，这个系列总计18年才成就今天的经典

Studios often try to solve this problem with a bigger budget to visually raise the stakes. But it often just comes off as repetitive.

And this is exactly how I felt about Jurassic World Dominion.

虽然有这么多的事情要处理, 但是第三部的片长, 还要跟前面的两部差不多。

所以为了赢得观众, 很多的threequel都会投入更大, 专注去做更加“哇塞”的视觉效果, 但故事线本身就难免会有很多的问题或者重复.

有一些threequel干脆就是换一个新反派, 直接原封不动的照搬前一部电影的剧情.

Some threequels actually repeat previous successes as a strategy, like how "Spider-Man 3," which crams so many villains into one film, just replicates pretty much the same plots as its previous film.

就说蜘蛛侠三，真的有必要把那么多反叛塞进一部电影吗？套路情节怎么看怎么觉得眼熟。

接着来说第二个因素，necessity.

关于三部曲里第三部的另外一个问题, 就是究竟有没有必要拍threequel？

明明看电影就有种导演“水电影”的感觉，明明一部就够了，再二再三的，为的啥呢？

Trilogies suffer the most when they are just not needed at all.

Look at some of the worst rated threequels, the majority of them really didn't need to be made.

为啥“接二连三”？

So, despite all of this, why does Hollywood keep making terrible threequels?

The answer seems obvious. Money, right? On average, that third movie still makes four times more than its budget.

And as long as we continue to watch them, the problem will likely never be resolved.

第一部打响的情况下，很难不出续集。只要观众愿意买单，口碑啥的又算什么呢？

例句示范

Example 1：

-Most viewers believe the new threequel will end the Jurassic franchise as a whole.