20 Movie Sequels That Start Immediately After The First

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is admittedly one long, continuous epic fantasy story, with both sequels continuing more-or-less where the previous one left off.

The first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, ends with Gandalf (Ian McKellen) confronting the Balrog and being dragged into the darkness, before the Fellowship goes their separate ways, with Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) heading through the Emyn Muil towards Mordor.

Sequel The Two Towers resumes from this point, showing the outcome of the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog in Moria, as is then revealed to be a dream of Frodo, as he and Sam continue their perilous trek across the Emyn Muil.

There's no notable time skip to speak of - the journey simply continues in the next chapter of the trilogy, just as it does in J.R.R. Tolkien's source material. 

And again, Return of the King picks up immediately following The Battle of Helm’s Deep and fall of Isengard at the end of The Two Towers.