10 Movies Everyone Thought Were Sequels (But Weren't)

2007's Judd Apatow-directed comedy Knocked Up was viewed by many as a spiritual successor to Apatow's previous smash hit The 40-Year Old Virgin, though some went so far as to believe that it was a direct sequel.

And honestly, it wasn't that tough to believe at a brief glance, given the movies' near-identical tone, the fact that Seth Rogen appears in both films as a schlubby stoner, and they share several supporting cast members (Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill).

Though it's easy to assume that these films both exist within the same universe, they're clearly not featuring the same characters, given that Rogen's Knocked Up character is named Ben Stone, while his 40-Year-Old Virgin role is simply Cal.

Considering that The 40-Year-Old Virgin was a huge box office smash, though, you couldn't really blame anyone involved for not speaking up about the mistaken association. 

It sure didn't harm the film's commercial prospects, as it went on to out-gross its spiritual predecessor by a huge margin.