'Freaky Friday 2' and Why We Keep Getting Sequels Announced but Not Made
'Election 2', 'Legally Blonde 3', 'Sister Act 3' - the list goes on.
“It’s never been a conversation,” Kristen Wiig declared during a recent interview when the topic turned to her thoughts on a Bridesmaids sequel. “That story had an end, and it’s so beloved to me for 10 million reasons, and I think it’s OK to just have it exist in the world as it is.”
I love the bluntness of this response in recognizing something Hollywood often willfully ignores: Greatness does not beget greatness. In fact, more often than not, quite the contrary. Sure, you get the occasional Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, but for every Addams Family Values, there’s a litany of movies that never needed a light, much less a green one: American Psycho 2, Cruel Intentions 2, and who could remember S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale?
But sequels are nothing new, even long-gestating ones. This September, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will arrive 36 years after its predecessor. Blade Runner 2049 had a similar 35+ year wait between original and sequel. Finding Dory. Zoolander 2. Dumb and Dumber To. These films proved, to varying degrees of success, that audiences don’t mind waiting to spend more time with beloved characters.
So what then is my point?
There’s been an onslaught of sequels to beloved films that have been announced over the last few years, even via studios’ official channels, with no sense of urgency, let alone timeline. Getting a film made is a notoriously arduous process, yes, but why get fans excited if only to disappoint? Maybe there’s a twisted method to the madness. Let’s explore.