Sequel Bits: ‘Star Trek 3,’ ‘Anchorman 2,’ ‘Conjuring 2,’ ‘Rounders 2,’ ‘22 Jump Street,’ ‘Finding Dory’
Only one day has passed but there’s already another rumored front runner for theStar Trek 3directing gig:Rise of the Planet of the ApesdirectorRupert Wyatt. Read about that, and lots more, in this edition of Sequel Bits:
On Monday, a rumor was leaked thatJon M. Chu was up fortheStar Trek 3director’s chair. Now, according toCinematallica(andCollider), another front-runner has emerged:Rupert Wyatt. Wyatt did a little-seen film calledThe Escapistbefore blowing up with his great work onRise of the Planet of the Apes. He left that franchise over the crazy schedule, signed to andleft another film, and is attached toa third. So he’s obviously got his choice of projects. We’ll have to wait and see.
The Conjuringrecently crossed $100 million in the US so a sequel is inevitable. But who’ll direct and what will it be about? A tipster emailedAin’t It Cool Newsand told them producers might have zeroed in in another case The Warrens investigated which could end up as a sequel. Here’s an excerpt:
No matter who directsStar Trek 3, Bones wants some changes. In an interview withIGN,Karl Urbantalked about hoping the third film will be more surprising:
What I really believe we should do now is strive for originality. Because in Star Trek Into Darkness we took one of the most revered and loved adversaries of the Enterprise and put him in there, and did a story that had all of these wonderful nods to films from the past, and episodes from the past. I really think that what we should do from here, in my personal opinion, is strive to be original. Strive to be something different and new. You know, let’s not forget that Star Trek as envisioned was about space exploration. And it would be really wonderful to harness the spirit of that and apply it to the next film, so that we do something different than a revenge-based picture.
Speaking withLatino Review,Matt Damonexpressed interest in returning to both theBournefranchise (thougha Jeremy Renner sequel is currentlyin the works) and maybe evenRounders, though there’s no real idea at this point.
The latest issue ofEntertainment Weeklyhits shelves later this week, and it has a brand new look at the cast ofAnchorman: The Legend Continueson the cover. Check it out.
That same article offers up some new information on the film itself. Here’s a quote:
Set a few years after the first movie, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues finds Ron Burgundy — who has lost everything and been reduced to announcing the dolphin show at Sea World — getting a shot at redemption when he and the rest of the team are recruited into the new world of 24-hour cable news.
Reports surfaced earlier this week thatTara Reidwould not be asked back forSharknado 2.Well, the film’s producers tellEntertainment Weeklythat’s not the case. Nothing has been decided yet but, if her character is in the script, she’ll certainly be asked back. Kind of a weird way to word it, since the producers can specify whether her character should or should not be written in.
The Smurfs 2came out this past weekend in the US and disappointed with a #3 opening under $18 million. According to theHollywood Reporter, when the film is released in India, it’ll include an exclusive musical number called “Na Na Na (Nice vs Naughty) by a local internet celebrity namedAdhi.Phil LordandChris MillerhaveThe Lego Moviecoming out and will then get to work on22 Jump Street. The directors spoke toMTVand said they’re trying to figure out a way to surprise the audience in much the same way the Johnny Depp cameo did in the first film.
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Last but not least,Finding NemoandFinding DorydirectorAndrew Stantonspoke to theLos Angeles Times(viaPixar Times) admitted the original push forFinding Dorycame from Disney executives. Here’s his quote:
There was polite inquiry from Disney [about a ‘Finding Nemo’ sequel]. I was always ‘No sequels, no sequels.’ But I had to get on board from a VP standpoint. [Sequels] are part of the necessity of our staying afloat, but we don’t want to have to go there for those reasons. We want to go there creatively, so we said [to Disney], ‘Can you give us the timeline about when we release them? Because we’d like to release something we actually want to make, and we might not come up with it the year you want it.’
