'Wanted 2' May Get Underway Later This Year

The sequel to last summer's Wanted is getting ready to go into production. At Comic Con, Mark Millar said it was pretty much imminent, but Super Hero Hype discussed that notion with Timur Bekmambetov, who downplayed Millar's timetable, suggesting that Millar might have said that to be "provocative."Instead, the director of the films lays out a plan where pre-production would start in about two months. That process takes some time, of course, so depending on what that story entails, the movie could - emphasizing could here - start shooting at the end of the year. Before we know for sure, I think the casting for The Hobbit will be announced. Remember, James McAvoy is kind of the unofficial front-runner to play Bilbo Baggins. That's going to be a long shoot, so if McAvoy does get that job, Wanted 2 would almost certainly have to go into production a couple months prior to that. Otherwise, it would have to wait longer than it's prudent to wait. If he's not Bilbo, it doesn't much matter since this is supposed to be a summer 2011 release. But if McAvoy tries to juggle both movies, than the Wanted sequel will probably shoot by the end of the year. We heard recently that Angelina Jolie wants to come back for the sequel, too, so that might be a factor in the production schedule, too, but I'm stoked that it's moving forward and that it appears that Bekmambetov et al are trying to keep it on schedule.