20 Best Movie Prequels of All Time, Ranked

Prequels tell stories that take place before earlier releases and fill in timelines that fans already know. They explore origins, show first meetings, and explain how key decisions set bigger plots in motion. Many also revisit characters at earlier stages in their lives and show the roads that led to later events.

This list focuses on feature films that come before at least one earlier release in continuity. You will find entries that connect directly into opening scenes, reveal the first version of iconic props, or map out the early rules of their worlds. Genres range from crime and westerns to science fiction and animation, and the settings stretch from ancient Sicily to distant planets.

‘Bumblebee’ (2018)

This entry in the ‘Transformers’ series is set in 1987 and follows Autobot B-127 as he hides on Earth and takes the name ‘Bumblebee’. It was directed by Travis Knight and stars Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena, with the story centering on a California coastal town, a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, and a Decepticon hunt that reaches a military base.

The production shifted the visual design toward classic Generation One shapes and chose practical locations around Northern California to ground the action. The soundtrack features period tracks and the opening sequence on Cybertron uses designs that match earlier animated looks while setting up events that lead into the first live action film.

‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ (2024)

This prequel to ‘Mad Max Fury Road’ traces Imperator Furiosa from her childhood abduction to her rise as a driver and fighter across the Wasteland. George Miller returned to direct, with Anya Taylor Joy playing Furiosa and Chris Hemsworth portraying a warlord named Dementus.

Large scale stunt work was staged in Australia with custom built vehicles and long chase corridors. The film connects to locations from ‘Fury Road’ including the Citadel and Gastown and shows how trade routes, fuel shortages, and biker factions shaped the balance of power before Max crossed the desert.

‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ (2018)

This space adventure shows how Han Solo meets Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian and how he first flies the Millennium Falcon. Ron Howard directed and Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, and Emilia Clarke lead the cast in a heist that involves the Kessel Run and a shipment of coaxium.

Production used the Falcon in its earlier configuration with a detachable escape craft and a cleaner interior. The story features the first use of the sabacc game that wins Han his ship and ends with a handoff that places the characters on the path that continues into the original trilogy.

‘Prometheus’ (2012)

Set in the universe of ‘Alien’, this story follows the crew of the ship Prometheus to the moon LV-223 to investigate the Engineers. Ridley Scott directed and the cast includes Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, and Charlize Theron, with the plot focusing on archaeological evidence that points to humanity’s creators.

The film introduces black fluid canisters, a different star chart, and a precursor form of the familiar creature while keeping the timeline decades before ‘Alien’. Extensive practical sets were built for the Engineer temple and the production used a mix of physical effects and computer graphics to stage the surgical pod sequence.

‘Pearl’ (2022)

This prequel to ‘X’ follows the character Pearl on a Texas farm in 1918 as she dreams of leaving while the influenza pandemic affects daily life. Ti West directed and Mia Goth co-wrote and starred, with the story set years before the events of ‘X’.

The film uses a saturated color palette and classical wipes that echo early Hollywood musicals to contrast with the violent plot. It was shot on the same location as ‘X’ and its end credits connect directly to that film, creating a chronological bridge that explains personal history and motivation.

‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ (2023)

This prequel moves the timeline to the Tenth Hunger Games and follows a young Coriolanus Snow as he mentors District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird. Francis Lawrence returned to direct, and the film shows the Games before later technology and pageantry were added.

The story details how early arenas functioned with limited broadcast support and how mentors were introduced as a control element. It also tracks the origin of Capitol institutions and songs that appear later in the series and places new characters into districts viewers already know from the main saga.

‘Red Dragon’ (2002)

This thriller adapts Thomas Harris’s novel that takes place before ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. Edward Norton plays FBI profiler Will Graham and Anthony Hopkins returns as Hannibal Lecter in a case involving a serial killer called the Tooth Fairy.

The plot shows how Graham originally captured Lecter and why he later consults him from prison, which sets up their relationship in the next film in the timeline. Locations include Baltimore and St Louis and the production recreates the glass walled asylum design so that visual continuity matches later entries.

‘Monsters University’ (2013)

This animated prequel to ‘Monsters, Inc.’ shows Mike Wazowski and James P Sullivan as college students who start as rivals in the scaring program. Directed by Dan Scanlon, the film introduces campus traditions, fraternities, and the Scare Games competition.

The story explains how company recruitment works and why the duo ends up as a team on the factory floor by the end of the timeline. The design team created new dorms, lecture halls, and stadiums that align with the factory machinery viewers see in the later set film.

‘Cruella’ (2021)

This origin story for the villain from ‘101 Dalmatians’ follows Estella’s entry into the London fashion scene in the 1970s. Craig Gillespie directed and Emma Stone and Emma Thompson star in a plot about mentorship, rivalry, and a rise through couture houses.

Costume designer Jenny Beavan created runway looks that mix punk references with high fashion construction that signal the character’s shift into the name Cruella. The production uses real London landmarks and places the character within the timeline long before the events involving the Dalmatian puppies.

‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984)

Set in 1935, one year before ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, this adventure sends Indiana Jones to India after an emergency landing. Steven Spielberg directed and the cast features Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, and Ke Huy Quan, with the story involving Sankara stones and a mine beneath a palace.

Shooting took place on sets at Elstree Studios and on location in Sri Lanka, with miniatures used for mine cart sequences. The prequel placement is confirmed by the opening date stamp and the film shows artifacts and relationships that precede Indy’s later encounters.

‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’ (1992)

This film serves as a prequel to the ‘Twin Peaks’ television series and covers the final days of Laura Palmer. David Lynch directed and Sheryl Lee and Ray Wise star, with the plot including an investigation in a neighboring town that ties into symbols and codes from the series.

Key locations like the Palmer home and the Roadhouse were rebuilt and the production added scenes inside the Black Lodge that expand the mythology. The timeline leads directly into the pilot’s discovery and features characters whose later actions in the show are foreshadowed through earlier meetings.

‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ (2011)

This science fiction prequel follows genetic experiments on chimpanzees that change cognition and trigger a chain of events that continue in later films. Rupert Wyatt directed and James Franco, Freida Pinto, and Andy Serkis lead the cast, with performance capture used to create Caesar.

Filming took place in Vancouver and San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge sequence shows the first organized ape breakout. The story includes an airborne virus that explains the decline in human populations and sets logical links to behavior and culture in the 1968 film.

‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ (2005)

This chapter completes the fall of the Galactic Republic and shows Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader. George Lucas directed and the film features events such as Order 66, the duel on Mustafar, and the birth of the twins who appear in the next chronological story.

Extensive digital environments were built for Coruscant and Utapau along with practical clone armor and prop lightsabers. The final minutes connect directly to the opening of the 1977 film by placing newborns, masks, and locations exactly where they will be found later.

‘X-Men: First Class’ (2011)

Set during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this film shows the early friendship and split between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. Matthew Vaughn directed and the cast includes James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult, with the story forming the first team.

The production recreated 1960s technology and built Cerebro and the X-Jet in their earliest configurations. The plot introduces training methods, codenames, and policy disputes that lead into the structure of the later school and the ideological divide seen in subsequent entries.

‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ (2016)

This mission movie follows a small team that infiltrates an Imperial facility to obtain the Death Star plans. Gareth Edwards directed and Felicity Jones and Diego Luna star as members of the Rebel Alliance, with Alan Tudyk voicing the droid K-2SO.

Filming used stages in the United Kingdom and locations in Iceland, Jordan, and the Maldives to represent different planets. The final sequence transitions into the opening moments of the 1977 film and the plot explains how a design weakness was placed into the battle station.

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (2012)

This adaptation of the opening portion of ‘The Hobbit’ follows Bilbo Baggins as he leaves the Shire with Thorin’s company to reclaim Erebor. Peter Jackson directed and Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, and Richard Armitage lead the cast, with the story covering the meeting with Gollum and the finding of the One Ring.

Shooting took place in New Zealand with native landscapes used for the Shire and the Misty Mountains. Some releases presented the film at forty eight frames per second and the production used large scale sets for Bag End, Rivendell, and Goblin Town.

‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ (2013)

The second part of the trilogy continues the journey through Mirkwood and Esgaroth and ends with the awakening of Smaug. Peter Jackson directed and the cast adds Luke Evans and Evangeline Lilly, with the story showing the barrel escape and the interior of Erebor.

The design team created a full sized lake town on water and a detailed treasure hall set for the dragon sequences. Visual effects crews developed animation systems for Smaug’s face and movement so that dialogue scenes could play against a large digital character.

‘Casino Royale’ (2006)

This film resets the spy’s timeline to his first mission as a double zero agent and adapts Ian Fleming’s debut novel. Martin Campbell directed and Daniel Craig, Eva Green, and Mads Mikkelsen star, with a plot that revolves around a high stakes card game and a banker to criminal organizations.

Opening scenes show the two kills that earn Bond his status and a foot chase introduces parkour to the series. Locations include the Bahamas and Montenegro with production work in the Czech Republic standing in for several settings, and the epilogue places the character on the trajectory viewers know from later stories.

‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966)

This western takes place earlier than the other entries in the Dollars Trilogy and shows how the Man with No Name acquires his clothing and gear. Sergio Leone directed and Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach star in a Civil War era hunt for buried gold.

The score by Ennio Morricone uses a three tone motif associated with each main character and the final cemetery sequence was shot at a location built specifically for the production. Historical events like the Battle of Glorieta Pass are woven into the route that leads the characters toward the final standoff.

‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974)

This film intercuts two timelines and includes an extended prequel story that follows young Vito Corleone from Sicily to New York. Francis Ford Coppola directed and Robert De Niro plays Vito in scenes set in the early twentieth century that show the founding of the family’s power.

The production filmed in Italian locations for the childhood sequences and in New York for Little Italy street scenes that reconstruct early storefronts and tenements. The structure places the prequel material alongside later events in the 1950s so viewers see how decisions in one era shape consequences in the next film in the series.

Share your own favorite movie prequels in the comments and tell us which ones you think deserve a spot.