Sequel Bits: ‘Game Night 2’, ‘Cloverfield’, ‘The Purge’, ‘Wreck-It-Ralph 2’, ‘Frozen 2’, ‘Evil Dead 4’ And More
In this edition of Sequel Bits:
Game Nighthas been receiving rave reviews (I’m as shocked as you are), and the film has done fairly steady box office. No one has officially said the words “Game Night 2” yet, but if that should happen, the film’s screenwriter is already thinking of the possibilities.
Speaking withTHR, writerMark Perezsaid, “It would be great to have sequels. Super titles likeGame Nightor specific titles like that feel genetically built to have sequels…It’s like players who are playing in the playoffs and aren’t thinking about the Super Bowl, but they are really thinking about the Super Bowl. Of course I’d love for there to be many sequels, and getting these characters to do other crazy things would be unbelievable…But for right now I think it’s a really cool, interesting movie, and there are so many fewer comedies these days, and I always cheer for comedy, and I love it so much that I hope people see it.” I have yet to seeGame Night, so I don’t know what a sequel to the film would even be. I’m assuming it would involve games and/or the night, though.
Paramount and Netflix surprised everyone by droppingThe Cloverfield Paradoxonto Netflix following the Super Bowl. Almost no one had any idea that was happening – including the film’s star. Speaking withIndiewire,Gugu Mbatha-Rawsaid: “When we all discovered that the movie was going to be dropped after the game, I was as surprised as anyone. It was a shock and a surprise and it was new information to us all.” Movie stars: they’re just like us!
Honestly, at this point I’d like to just forget all aboutThe Cloverfield Paradox, but here’s even more news about the film. In an interview withThe Empire Film Podcast(viaIGN), directorJulius Onahand producerJ.J. Abramsspilled the beans on the story behind the film’s ending, which (SPOILER ALERT!!) seems to tie the sequel directly into the originalCloverfield. While the monster that pops up in the final seconds ofParadoxlooks a heck of a lot like the originalCloverfieldmonster, Onah confirms that the films take place in separate timelines:
“Now that we’ve had these multiple timelines have been opened and things are happening dimensionally, there’s many different ways for these things to play out. So there was a real fine connection to make with things dropping into the ocean that you see in the movie when they first realize they’ve landed in this other dimension. There’s still more possibilities that will come with more strands of the story.”
Abrams, meanwhile, did some damage control to talk about just what in the heck theCloverfieldbrand is:
“On the one hand you can say ‘well then anything anywhere could be a Cloverfield movie,’ but the intention has never been to take a movie and then slap Cloverfieldon it. The idea was to say Cloverfield is a kind of umbrella, you know, under which all of sorts of genres and thrill rides can take place.”
The Purgefranchise is becoming a TV series for Syfy, and it’s just cast its lead actors. PerDeadline,Gabriel ChavarriaandJessica Garzawill star in the series. The show will use the film’s premise of one night of lawlessness in America.
Here’s the plot description from the report:
“Chavarria will play Miguel, a US Marine with a hard edge and a noble mission. After receiving a cryptic letter from his little sister, Penelope (Garzia), he returns to town on Purge Night – prepared to face the senseless violence in the streets alone in order to protect what he loves most – his family.” Garza’s character “belongs to a Purge-worshipping cult. Having pledged herself to be sacrificed at the behest of their charismatic leader, Penelope’s faith is tested when she is exposed to the ghastly realities of the Purge.”
Those damn dirty apes are back…in VR form.Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VRgives you an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a genetically altered ape shooting a machine gun. What more could you ask for? The virtual reality game will be availableApril 3, 2018on PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. Here’s a synopsis:
Five years since its outbreak, the Simian Flu has wiped out half of humanity and left other primates…evolved. Now at the crossroads of two species' destinies, you are an ape with advanced intelligence, captured and held prisoner in a heavily guarded scientific facility as mankind desperately searches for a cure. Your mission: confront human aggression as you climb, jump and shoot through the chaos of an apocalyptic world to escape with your fellow apes and return home to Caesar.
TheRalph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2trailer dropped yesterday, and now directorsRich MooreandPhil Johnstonare opening up about their animated sequel. Speaking withInside The Magic, Moore and Johnston go into great detail about a lot of elements of the film, including the appearance of several Disney princesses. Johnston explains the origins of that here:
“The actual germ of the idea came from, ‘What if they went to the Disney Infinity website?’ which was not there anymore, and what if the characters that were in Infinity were just still hanging out there? And then from that idea, we went, ‘No, it would be better if it’s an existing site.’ So these ideas sort of grow on top of each other and build and build and build.”
Head on over to Inside The Magic to read more, but here’s another tidbit: the filmmakers confirm the bunny that (allegedly) explodes at the end of the trailer is fine, so don’t fret: “He’s in one piece,” says Moore. “He’s regenerated.” Phew.
Will Elsa have a girlfriend inFrozen 2? I’m just going to go ahead and assume the answer is “no” (although I’d love to be proven wrong!). Speaking withThe Huffington Post,Frozen 2directorJennifer Leeaddressed the issue without really giving a concrete answer:
“I love everything people are saying [and] people are thinking about with our film ? that it’s creating dialogue, that Elsa is this wonderful character that speaks to so many people. It means the world to us that we’re part of these conversations. Where we’re going with it, we have tons of conversations about it, and we’re really conscientious about these things. For me … Elsa’s every day telling me where she needs to go, and she’ll continue to tell us. I always write from character-out, and where Elsa is and what Elsa’s doing in her life, she’s telling me every day. We’ll see where we go.”
Ash vs. Evil Deadis entering its third season, continuing the adventures ofBruce Campbell’s chainsaw-wielding doofus Ash. While doing the interview rounds for the new season, Campbell dropped an interesting piece of info toEW. According to the actor, there’s always a chance we could see anEvil Dead 4– ifAsh vs. Evil Deadgets cancelled. Campbell said:
I suppose this news is good or bad depending on how you feel aboutAsh vs. Evil Dead. If you wantmoreof the series, then you obviously don’t want it to be cancelled. If you’d prefer anotherEvil Deadfilm, however, you might be hoping Starz gives it the axe. What a conundrum!
Sleepy boyBruce Williswoke up from one of his ten-year naps to provide us with an update onDie Hard 6, which is still happening for some reason. Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote his latest movieDeath Wish, Willis offered a mind-blowing update on the latestDie Hard:
“I’m about to wing out to California to start to see what the script looks like. So yeah, I think so, yeah.”
Wow! The big story here really is that Bruce Willis refers to flying as “winging out.” Anyway,Die Hard 6was originally pitched as both a sequelanda prequel, because sure, why not.
Brad Pittwasjust announcedas the latest cast member of Quentin Tarantino’s Manson Family movie, which now goes by the titleOnce Upon a Time In Hollywood. That’s good news for Tarantino, and bad news for anyone hoping we’d seeWorld War Z 2sooner rather than later.VarietysaysWorld War Z 2, which is still apparently being directed byDavid Fincher, has been pushed to a “fall shoot”, indicating the film won’t hit theaters now until 2020. For those keeping track, there was once a time whenWorld War Z 2was going to hit theaters in 2017.
