Editing Academy Award for Best Picture (section)

===Sequel nominations and winners===
Ten films that were presented as direct sequels have been nominated for Best Picture: ''[[The Bells of St. Mary's]]'' (1945; the sequel to the 1944 winner, ''[[Going My Way]]''), ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'' (1974), ''[[The Godfather Part III]]'' (1990), ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'' (2002), ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'' (2003), ''[[Toy Story 3]]'' (2010), ''[[Mad Max: Fury Road]]'' (2015)'', [[Avatar: The Way of Water]]'' (2022), ''[[Top Gun: Maverick]]'' (2022), and ''[[Dune: Part Two]]'' (2024).

''Toy Story 3'', ''Mad Max: Fury Road'', and ''Top Gun: Maverick'' are the only sequels to be nominated without any predecessors being nominated. ''The Godfather Part II'' and ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' are the only sequels to have won the award, and their respective trilogies are the only series to have three films nominated. [[The Godfather (film series)|''The Godfather'' series]] is the only film series with multiple Best Picture winners, with the [[The Godfather|first film]] winning the award for 1972 and the [[The Godfather Part II|second film]] winning the award for 1974.<ref name="filmsite2" />

Another nominee, ''[[Broadway Melody of 1936]]'', was a follow-up of sorts to previous winner ''[[The Broadway Melody]]'', but beyond the title and some music, the two films have mutually independent stories. ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs]]'' was adapted from the sequel novel to ''[[Red Dragon (novel)|Red Dragon]]''. The latter had been adapted for film as ''[[Manhunter (film)|Manhunter]]'' by a different studio, and the two films have different casts and creative teams and were not presented as a series.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 27, 2022 |title=The only sequels to have won Best Picture Oscars |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-only-sequels-to-have-won-best-picture-oscars/ |access-date=January 22, 2023 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US |archive-date=January 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122071930/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-only-sequels-to-have-won-best-picture-oscars/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Conversely, 2024's ''[[Wicked (2024 film)|Wicked]]'' uses iconography and characters who appeared in 1939's ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]'' and other ''Oz'' films, but is not a direct prequel to any film. 

''[[The Lion in Winter (1968 film)|The Lion in Winter]]'' features [[Peter O'Toole]] as [[Henry II of England|King Henry II]], a role he had played previously in the film ''[[Becket (1964 film)|Becket]]'', but ''The Lion in Winter'' is not a sequel to ''Becket''. Similarly, ''[[The Queen (2006 film)|The Queen]]'' features [[Michael Sheen]] as [[Tony Blair]], a role he had played previously in the television film ''[[The Deal (2003 film)|The Deal]]''. [[Christine Langan]], producer of both productions, described ''The Queen'' as not being a direct sequel, only that it reunited the same creative team.<ref>Wells, Matt (August 30, 2004). "[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/aug/30/media.arts Helen Mirren poised for royal role] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307163813/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/aug/30/media.arts |date=7 March 2016 }}". Guardian Unlimited (Guardian News and Media). Retrieved on January 15, 2022.</ref>

[[Clint Eastwood]]'s ''[[Letters from Iwo Jima]]'' was a companion piece to his film ''[[Flags of Our Fathers (film)|Flags of Our Fathers]]'' that was released earlier the same year. These two films depict the same battle from the different viewpoints of Japanese and United States military forces; the two films were shot back-to-back.

In addition, ''[[Black Panther (film)|Black Panther]]'' is a continuation of the events that occurred in ''[[Captain America: Civil War]]'' and the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]].