20 Movie Sequels That Start Immediately After The First

And now for a brilliantly cheeky, self-aware example of this with 2014's Muppets Most Wanted.

The previous film ended with a delirious, triumphant song and dance number, "Life's a Happy Song," before the camera pans up to the sky and fireworks spell out "The End."

And in the very first shot of Muppets Most Wanted, we open back on The End, as the camera pans back down to reveal that the 2011 movie was a film within the universe of the Muppets.

Jason Segel and Amy Adams aren't back as our human leads this time around, and so as the camera pans back down to their characters, they're only seen from the back as very clearly played by body doubles.

If the tongue-in-cheek self-awareness couldn't be any more clear, the film then opens with the riotous musical number, "We're Doing a Sequel," which basically apologises upfront for this follow-up not being as good as its predecessor - which, truly, it isn't.