When one hears Universal intends to make a Safe House sequel, one is compelled to look up the original’s gross and see if that’s actually a wise move. Tonight is, therefore, the night I learn Daniel Espinosa‘s film made over $200 million worldwide on a budget which amounts to, in some sense, about half that cost; with that, a sequel isn’t the weirdest idea.

THR has learned of this movement on Universal’s part, namely that the studio is hing David Guggenheim to return and pen further adventures set in this world. In a more specific sense, it’s expected that Ryan Reynolds will reprise his CIA agent role from the first, while Denzel Washington could, in theory, come back. This is only a problem because… well, I won’t spoil Safe House, but you might catch the general drift of such a caveat. Prequel time!

This does raise an interesting problem: Universal scored a hit with the first outing earlier in the year, but most of that — and I mean most of that — was predicated upon the presence of Washington. Is anybody aching for more action films centered on dedicated agent Matt Weston? Probably not, and Reynolds hasn’t proven himself to be a huge draw for audiences — it’s a big reason they put the other star all over advertisements. Whatever solution needs to be concocted, Safe House 2 is coming together.

Is there a solid reason for a second Safe House to exist? If you saw the original, what were your thoughts?