Sequel Bits: ‘Alien’, ‘Spider-Man’, ‘Wedding Crashers’, ‘Mallrats’, ‘Scream’, ‘The Invisible Man’, ‘My Name Is Bruce’
In this edition of Sequel Bits:
TheAlienfranchise is in a weird place right now. Ridley Scott still wants to make his prequel movies, while some fans pine for the return of Ellen Ripley. At one point, director Neill Blomkamp had plans for a sequel that would pretty much ignoreAlien 3and bring back bothSigourney Weaver’s Ripley and Michael Biehn’s Hicks. There was concept art and everything, and Blomkamp came somewhat close to making the film happen. Even Weaver was interested. But that project is now dead. So what of the future of Ripley? As it turns out, franchise producerWalter Hillhas a 50-page treatment for a new sequel with Ripley – but it sounds like Weaver may have decided to give Ripley a break. “I don’t know,” Weaver toldEmpire. “Ridley has gone in a different direction. Maybe Ripley has done her bit. She deserves a rest.” As much as I enjoy theAlienfranchise, and Weaver’s performance, I think she’s right. It’s okay to let things end sometimes.
David Koeppwrote the script forSam Raimi’s firstSpider-Manmovie, and while he didn’t pen the sequels, he did have ideas for an entire trilogy. Speaking withCollider, the screenwriter said: “Basically [my trilogy idea] was the telling of the Gwen Stacy/Harry Osbourne story but I spaced everything out differently. I wanted Gwen to be killed in the middle of the second movie, because that follows sort of theEmpire Strikes Backmodel, and I had different villains I wanted to use. Just a different way to tell that story.” Koepp almost had a chance to take a crack at Spidey again, and was consulted on the sequel to theSpider-Manreboot franchiseThe Amazing Spider-Man. Koepp said: “I was excited to come back and attempt to finish the story I started telling in the first one, and as we were about to agree that I was going to do that, I pulled out all the old stuff and I started outlining those two movies and I thought, ‘Boy, you’re able to’t go home again. That moment has passed. The time when I was really feeling it was 10 years ago, and there’s no point in trying to recreate it.’ So I bailed.” However, some of Koepp’s ideas are still in the sequel. You can actually read the unused script to Koepp’s Raimi-helmedSpider-Mansequel onKoepp’s website. As it turns out, all that stuff about Peter Parker’s parents being spies or some such nonsense was Koepp’s idea.
Speaking of David Koepp, he was previously attached to writeIndiana Jones 5, but that’s no longer happening. Koepp has previously said he stepped away afterSteven Spielberghanded the film over toJames Mangold, and speaking withTHR, he offered even more insight into the decision:
“The reasonIndiana Jonesmovies are so difficult is because it’s really difficult. It’s hard. It has to be great. The first and third movies in that series are just utterly beloved, and ‘utterly beloved’ is a high bar. It’s really tough to get there. So, I did a couple versions of this last one that I thought were good; the last one, in particular. But it didn’t quite come together. Steven couldn’t do it in the end and whatever. It just didn’t come together. Sometimes, they do; sometimes, they don’t. But if there’s going to be anotherIndiana Jonesmovie, I think James Mangold is a great guy to explore it. Certainly, what he did withLoganwas remarkable — with Scott Frank’s great, great script. So, we’ll see. But it’s okay. Usually, by the time you either get fired or they move on to somebody else or the project just evolves away from you — by that time, you’re secretly a little bit relieved because at least you don’t have to bang your head against it anymore.”
Does…anyone really want aWedding Crasherssequel? I know the film was a hit at the time, but it feels like a comedy that time has forgotten. While I see plenty of talk about films likeAnchormanandWalk Hard, I can’t remember the last time I saw or heard anyone talk aboutWedding Crashers. But it’s apparently on someone’s mind, becauseDavid Dobkin, director ofWedding Crashersand the recently releasedEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, recently toldCollider:
“Everybody keeps hitting me up about aWedding Crasherssequel. We don’t have a script that we’re there with yet. For many, many years every year I got offered to do the sequel, there were some very big deals on the table. And none of us wanted to do a retread of the same movie again. Anything within those first years that we talked about was the same movie, and we were like, ‘Why?’ Financially I probably shouldn’t have done that, but I did (laughs). And Vince and Owen didn’t want to do it either.”
Wow! Sounds like there isNO CHANCEof a sequel! Oh, wait, Dobkin has more things to say:
“10 years later, when I was asked again and I hung up the phone after saying no, I thought about it and I’m like, ‘Well I’d be curious what it’d be like for guys in their late 40s who end up being single again and have to go back out in the world. What a weird, difficult, challenging story that is.’ And as long as there’s a real story in the middle of it, to me, it can be a movie.”
Okay, well…uh…oh. There’s more from Dobkin:
“So we’ll see. We started noodling on it a while ago. We’re unclear yet. Vince has to read it and Owen has to read it. I saw something that seemed like a good start. But there’s no rush to go make that movie.”
It really doesn’t sound like a sequel will happen, but never say never, I guess. In a separate interview,EurovisionandWedding CrashersstarRachel McAdamscasually mentionedthat"It’d be nice to go back and have a romp" in regards to a sequel. Again: nothing concrete here. But just know that someone out there is currently thinking about making aWedding Crasherssequel.
Kevin Smithhas been talking aboutMallrats 2for a few years now, and at one point, he even had a title:Twilight of the Mallrats. But now he’s going to let the fans decide. Sort of. Speaking withComic Book, Smith said: “In a world where you are looking to see aMallratssequel, I understand not everyone is, but if you’re someone that’s interested in this sort of thing would you rather that movie be calledTwilight of the Mallratsor simplyMallrats Too?” So I guess you better let Kevin Smith know which of those titles you prefer.
The newScreammovie has a home: Spyglass Media Group and Paramount Pictures will produce the flick, perVariety.Ready or NotdirectorsMatt Bettinelli-OlpinandTyler Gillettare set to helm the new entry in the meta slasher franchise. So far,David Arquetteis the only original cast member confirmed to return, butNeve Campbellhas stated she’s had conversations about returning as well. There are no plot details available yet, but the hope is to have the film ready for 2021.
The Invisible Manis one of the year’s best movies. I loved it from start to finish. And yet…when it ended, I didn’t once think, “This needs a sequel!” But the film was a big hit, and whenever a movie is a hit these days, a sequel seems inevitable. But will we actually get one? According to starElisabeth Moss, it’s up to the fans. “Look, if people want it that’s kind of a big part of what we need in order to do it. So put the word out there that YOU want it and then I’ll help!” Moss toldBloody Disgusting. Look: if Moss really wants to do a sequel, and directorLeigh Whannellcomes back, then yes, I will absolutely watch that sequel. For now, though, I’m content with a standalone film.
In 2007,Bruce Campbelldirected and starred inMy Name is Bruce,a meta-comedy in which Campbell plays himself and has to fight a real monster. And Campbell has a sequel idea:Bruce vs. Frankenstein. Campbell hopes to turn the idea into a film, and even wants to bring in other horror icons like Kane Hodder to appear. But first, he’s going to turn the concept into a graphic novel. Speaking withDiabolique Magazine, Campbell said:
“With Bruce vs Frankenstein, I talked with Mike Richardson, who is my partner on this and we’re going to start with a graphic novel. So, I am going to adapt the screenplay. We’re going to put that out first so people in the industry can get a better sense of it. Mike has been selling a lot of projects to Netflix and he said that’s kind of the way to go with his material and fantasy stuff so he suggested we do that first. We’ll get a great artist, sell it in comic book form, people can totally see it and as a director, it’s kind of like doing storyboards.”
We’ll have to wait and see if Campbell ever reallydoesturn this into a film, or if it just stays a comic.
