3 + 1 = Cashing in on Trilogies
Given enough time and dvd box set revenue, movie trilogies often fail to stop there.  And then the additional spawn often comes after considerable delay.  If these were siblings, you'd call the last one an accident.  In cinematic terms, sometimes these are accidents ("trainwreck," to be precise), though, admittedly, other times they've learned from their mistakes.  I just find the overall pattern of their occurence interesting: The gap between the end of the trilogy and the fourth installment is almost always greater (sometimes substantially) than the sum of the years spanning the original trilogy.  Check these out...

The Indy series returned last year after an astoundingly long break.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Gaps: 3, 5, 19
Like the Indy movies, the fourth Die Hard installment gives the aging hero a younger sidekick.
Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard 2 (1990)
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
Gaps: 2, 5, 12
Shortly after extending the Rocky series to its sixth film (16 years after the fifth one), Sly revisited his next most famous character.
First Blood (1982)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Rambo III (1988)
Rambo (2008)
Gaps: 3, 3, 20
The Karate Kid series didn't make it past its one sorry attempt at a reboot.
The Karate Kid (1984)
The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)
The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)
The Next Karate Kid (1994)
Gaps: 2, 3, 5
Some say similar should have occurred with the Star Wars saga, although you have to admit those did get better as the series progressed.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Gaps: 3, 3, 16
As with the Star Wars saga, the next LotR movie will be a jumping-off point to new series (i.e., The Hobbit will supposedly be a two-parter even though in my opinion, there's scarcely enough material in the source material to warrant even one film).  Also of note: In both these series, the next film after the trilogy is a prequel, much like the Wolverine spin-off to the X-Men series.  I'm not consider the Trek series in this discussion since there was never any implication of a trilogy, but note how they've gone the prequel route as well, first on tv with Enterprise, and now with the latest movie.
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Two Towers (2002)
The Return of the King (2003)
The Hobbit (2012)
Gaps: 1, 1, 9
Speaking of superheroes, Superman is guilty of the same, although we have to throw out the trilogy rule in a complicated internal chronology in which the most recent film is supposed to represent the third installment (i.e., they disown the original last pair).
Superman (1978)
Superman II (1980)
Superman III (1983)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Superman Returns (2006)
Gaps: 2, 3, 4, 19
They couldn't leave the Pirates of the Caribbean series be either, so apparently another one is in the works.  Personally, I'd rather them revisit The Matrix and do some damage control on what could/should have been a pretty decent series.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (2012)
Gaps: 3, 1, 5
The Lethal Weapon movies are the next most clustered of the lot.  Here's hoping there won't be a fifth chapter.
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
Gaps: 2, 3, 6
The Alien series is the one exception to this rule.  Seemingly never intended as a trilogy, each relatively stand-alone chapter has come a year faster than its predecessor.  There is ongoing talk even with Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver that they might still revisit this series.
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Alien³ (1992)
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Gaps: 7, 6, 5
The Omen series tried the same tactic as the Next Karate Kid in making a girl the revamped central character.
The Omen (1976)
Damien: Omen II (1978)
The Final Conflict (1981)
Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) (TV)
Gaps: 2, 3, 10
This one made me get around to updating this page.  The Scream series returned this year with another unnecessary sequel.  Or at least it was unnecessary to me.  I don't remember seeing anything past the first of these.

Scream (1996)
Scream 2 (1997)
Scream 3 (2000)
Scream 4 (2011)
Gaps: 1, 3, 11
You could argue that the 4th installment of the Jack Ryan/Tom Clancy series was actually more of a reboot than a sequel since the central character was re-cast, but it's drawn from the same pool of source material and was a new film continuing the series.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Patriot Games (1992)
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Gaps: 2, 2, 8
Yes, the last Omen movie was made-for-tv, but it still counts as a sequel.
The Omen (1976)
Damien: Omen II (1978)
Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)
Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) (TV)
Gaps: 2, 3, 10
I realize the Poison Ivy series went straight-to-video after the second part, but there's still that gap between #3 and #4 I'm talking about.
Poison Ivy (1992)
Poison Ivy II: Lily (1995)
Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997) (V)
Poison Ivy: The Secret Society (2008) (V)
Gaps: 3, 2, 11
I'm sorry it took the Robotech series this long to come back and continue the story.  Arguably, this isn't really a fourth movie, but it's hard to get your head around the chronology of this series in anything less than a thousand words once you start explaining the geneology of the Japanese series and how they were bundled.
Codename: Robotech (1985)
Robotech: The Movie (1986) (aka Robotech: The Untold Story)
Robotech II: The Sentinels (1987)
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles (2006)
Gaps: 1, 1, 19
I've never seen any of these.  I'm assuming they aren't the same kids in Part 4 since, well, they can't still be kids, right?
Spy Kids (2001)
Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011)
Gaps: 1, 1, 8
The Superman series I grew up with seemed to be on-again/off-again with the fourth movie.  There was talk of a fifth, but the last one was just so bad that no one wanted to revisit the series.
Superman: The Movie (1978)
Superman II (1980)
Superman III (1983)
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)
Gaps: 2, 3, 4
I haven't seen any of these, other than the American loose remake.  Terrible, by the way.
Taxi (1998)
Taxi 2 (2000)
Taxi 3 (2002)
Taxi 4 (2007)
Gaps: 2, 2, 5
Having never actually seen the fourth Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (or any of the others, incidentally), I assumed that this was a reboot (since it has a different look and all), but it's actually the fourth movie in the series in terms of continuity and all.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)
TMNT (2007)
Gaps: 1, 2, 14
The Terminator series is a case where it's sort of more like 2 + 1 and then a new (prequel?*) trilogy seemed to spring out of what became something of a trilogy after the fact.  No idea if it will actually pan out into a full trilogy, but there's certainly money to be made.
*I mean, I know it takes place in the future, but we're talking about time-travel, after all.
The Terminator (1984)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Gaps: 7, 12, 6
The Toxic Avenger series is something of a joke, but who can believe that there was a fourth installment this long after the fact?
The Toxic Avenger (1985)
The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989)
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989)
Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)
Gaps: 4, 0, 11

Well, there's on-again/off-again talk of the fourth movie.  If it happens, here's how it will likely play out.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
Beverly Hills Cop IV (2014)
Gaps: 3, 7, 20

Yes, this is technically something of a documentary series, but they've moved beyond the original concept of a trilogy as well.
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Powaqqatsi (1988)
Anima Mundi (1992)
Naqoyqatsi (2002)
Gaps: 6, 4, 10

I'm not really sure where this series is going, although it's missing the title character.  Go figure.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Gaps: 2, 3, 5

Personally, I really liked this series.  Haven't seen the fourth yet, so I don't know if I'll need to qualify that statement next year or whenever I get around to seeing the next one.

American Pie (1999)
American Pie 2 (2001)
American Wedding (2003)
American Pie: Reunion (2012)
Gaps: 2, 2, 9

And some films didn't even make it to a true trilogy before resigning themselves to a final straight-to-video offering.

The Addams Family series

The Ace Ventura series
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective (2009) (V)
Gaps: 1, 14
Don't even get me started on how fast this trend gets traction with Disney movies.
 
And then there's the all-time worst follow-up.
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Godfather: Part III (1990)
Gaps: 2, 16
Copyright 2009, 2011 Ale[x]plorer.
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