Movies That Are Prequels And Sequels Simultaneously

"Operation Condor" is a strange case of a film being considered either a prequel or sequel depending on where in the world you watch it. In the strictest sense, the series began with "Armour of God" released in 1986. Jackie Chan stars as Asian Hawk, a treasure-hunting adventurer and essentially Chan's spin on the Indiana Jones archetype. "Armour of God" didn't have full international distribution and wasn't released in the U.S. and various other countries right away. However, things got confusing five years later when the sequel was released.

"Armour of God II: Operation Condor" hit theaters in 1991 and had a far larger international reach, premiering in Hong Kong and the U.S. simultaneously. The only problem was, the U.S. still hadn't gotten the first "Armour of God" yet, so they had no idea what the movie was a sequel to. For the U.S. and certain other territories, the title was changed to just "Operation Condor," removing any indication that the movie was a sequel. To make matters significantly more confusing, 1986's "Armour of God" was eventually released in the U.S. — at which point its title was changed to "Operation Condor 2" — making each movie both a sequel and prequel to the other conditionally.

Chan plays the same character in each film, but they are largely self-contained adventures, so the swapped order doesn't alter much, though "Armour of God" does look significantly older than "Operation Condor." Chan eventually turned the series into a trilogy in 2012 when he reprised the Asian Hawk character for "Chinese Zodiac," which was mostly marketed as a standalone film rather than a sequel.