List of film sequels by box-office improvement

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

[edit] Excluded films

Title	Gross (North America)	Title (original)	Original's gross (North America)	Improvement	Reason
Desperado	$25,405,445	El Mariachi	$2,040,920	1,170%	El Mariachi played in 88 theaters at the peak of its run, while Desperado was released in 2,027.
Clerks II	$24,148,068	Clerks	$3,151,130	677%	Clerks played in 96 theaters at the peak of its run, while Clerks II was released in 2,150.
The Color of Money	$52,293,982	The Hustler	$7,600,000	588%	The Color of MoneyThe Hustler. Adjusted for inflation, The Hustler's gross would equal approximately $36 million in 1986 dollars, giving The Color of Money a 45% increase in attendance. was released 25 years after

[edit] List of second sequels by box-office improvement

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

(From Wiki so not 100% official)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_sequels_by_box-office_improvement