With his directorial debut Ted garnering a worldwide gross well over $500 million, we thought it was more or less a given that Seth MacFarlane would stick with Universal Pictures for his follow-up, the western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West. Now, according to Deadline, it looks like that will be the case. Although several studios were looking to acquire the film, it looks like Universal will be the one to continue their relationship with the director, as they are currently in talks.
While they also plan to shoot Ted 2 in the fall, this spring production is another live-action project that sees MacFarlane star alongside Amanda Seyfried and Charlize Theron. Described as a Blazing Saddles-esque comedy, MacFarlane leads the film as “a sheepish farmer who chickens out of a gunfight and sees his girlfriend (Seyfried) leave him. When he meets the wife of a notorious outlaw (Theron) who offers to teach him how to shoot, the farmer at first sees a chance to win back his love but slowly falls for the woman. Complications ensue when the outlaw returns and reclaims his woman.”
In other Universal news, the studio is also looking to expand the Guillermo del Toro-produced Mama into a franchise. Led by Jessica Chastain, the January horror film defied expectations, racking up nearly $90 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. Now, speaking with ScreenDaily, Universal Pictures exec David Kosse said, “we think there’s potential for a Mama franchise” and added, “we’d like to do another one. But those conversations are in the early stages.” This news should hardly come as a surprise, with Universal sadly making it a top priority to produce as many sequels as possible, instead of focusing on risky original projects.
Would you want to see a Mama sequel?