Thursday
26Jun2008
Sequels, Sequels Everywhere!
Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 10:47AM
Alex Billington at First Showing, who is typically half-full in my half-empty glass, has gone to the trouble of rounding up a bunch
of
news about sequels. Contrary to what you may think, I really don't have it in
for sequels as long as you can a perfectly good reason for them. I just don't
happen to think money is that reason. And the films in question are all quite
good in their original forms, so while I wouldn't necessarily mind a return
visit to those worlds, I do still need some convincing on a couple of them.
300
Collider has learned from producer Gianni Nunnari that a
sequel is brewing, and that Zack Snyder and Frank Miller are in discussions with
the producers about what that will be. I have a hunch they'll regret this. I
don't have any idea who the hero will be (Lena Headey?) unless they do a
prequel. Still, I'd say easily half of the film's draw was the visual style and
fight footage. Another 35% or so was probably the novelty. Exactly how is more
of that same thing going to be just as interesting? Even if it's a good sequel,
that's all it will ever be, I'm afraid. I think they could be painting
themselves into a corner here.
The Host
This is one of the best movies we saw in 2007. It nearly
made our top ten of the year (it was number 12 on our list) and unlike 300, a
sequel makes narrative sense. There are ways to make this work, to move things
around, where it can be good and original. They don't even have to use the
monster this time. I wish it had a slightly bigger budget ($12 million is the
reported figure in
Variety) but I'm not nearly as concerned about the other
things with this as I am 301 or 300: II or whatever it'll be.
Kung Fu Panda 2
Here's what I'd love to see: At the beginning of the film,
Po the Panda is having a dream about being a hero. The animation they used kind
of had a Samurai Jack flavor to it. I'd love it if DreamWorks tried that for an
entire movie. I don't know if it would work or not, but I sure did like it in
the first film. Maybe just incorporate more dreams? I dunno. Tons of stuff they
could do here, so I'm not worried about the quality or the storyline.
Hellboy III
Would Guillermo del Toro revisit Hellboy again? Yep. The
director tells
Collider he loves doing it and after he gets through his Hobbit
phase, he might be open to returning. I agree with First Showing here: Let's see
what the second one is like. Let's see if they're still moving the story forward
and let's see if the audience shows up. On the surface, the idea is fine. You
can always come up with new villains. Maybe he can fight the chief executives
for the major oil companies in the third movie.
Cloverfield 2
This one appears to be on hold, according to director
Matt
Reeves. To his credit, Reeves says the deal is that they've got to find a story
that works before they ever talk about putting the sequel together. I think
there are bigger problems, namely that 50% of anyone who saw this in theaters
saw it within the first three days of release. This one died quick in the public
consciousness because of all the advance hype. There's only so long something
like that can sustain itself. I'm not opposed to another monster movie, but I
don't think using the same technique helps. If you're putting together the old
pro/con list for this one, there are clearly more cons.
The good news to emerge from all these stories is, of
course, that we're talking about sequels to original, entertaining films and
not, I don't know, a Mandy Moore rom-com. So there's hope for all of them, it's
just that in some cases there's more hope to be found if they don't pursue
another chapter.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in 300, Cloverfield, Hellboy, Kung Fu Panda, Sequels, The Host | Print Article | Email Article | 2 Comments | Share Article
Reader Comments (2)
300 More: This could work, but it would be an entirely different cast with the exception of Xerxes. After all, what is this about if not the attempt to dethrone Xerxes and the evil world he has created. Guess that I like 300 so much because the ending was happy in a very vague way: Xerxes is vulerable, but it will be someone else's job to finish it. That spells sequel after sequel until he's gone. I think Miller can do it.
Hellboy 3:If Del Toro waits until after the Hobbit to do it, it will be like Indiana Jones 4. I mean, how old will Ron Perlman be? Still, I never thought there would be Hellboy 2 until Del Toro's stock in trade improved after Pan's Labrynth. With plenty of makeup and Botox, Hellboy could be back to fight another day.
Hayfield (tentative): If there is to be more Cloverfield stuff it should be TV or straight to DVD. This movie was one that people were told to like, much like Blair Witch and Snakes on a Plane. But is there a die hard contingency out there champing at the bit for more?
Sequels I'd like to See as opposed to ones the studio wants: More X-Files. More Serenity/Firefly. And what about American Splendor and some of the great so-called Indy's? I'd love more Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar. Too bad he's not working for scale anymore.
Get back to work already!