There are dozens, dare I say hundreds, of film projects that consistently get updates but never actually make steps towards production (I’m looking at you Ghostbusters 3 and the Arrested Development movie). We have updates on two of the most talked about tonight, but will they finally make the turn towards completion (a la The Hobbit), or continue in purgatory? Signs point to the latter, but let’s dive in.
First up is Joe Johnston‘s Jurassic Park 4. Earlier this summer, Steven Spielberg was reportedly exploring possibilities for the film less than a month after Sam Neill said the franchise was done. While on the press tour for Captain America: The First Avenger, Johnston spoke to Screen Rant and said the following:
“We are in discussions about ‘Jurassic Park 4.’ The most important thing I can tell you is that it starts a new trilogy that will go off in a different direction — a completely different direction that is very exciting, and different from anything we’ve seen. It starts with the history of the first trilogy, but it spins it off in a completely different direction. That’s all I can tell you.”
That sounds almost verbatim from what the director previously said, but with the trilogy coming to Blu-ray this fall and Spielberg’s supposed talk, could he actually be telling the truth this time? We’ll have to wait and see. As for “different from anything we’ve seen,” I don’t know what to think. We’ve seen what happens when dinos exit the island and come to America, could they be headed to space?
In the meantime, The Playlist spoke with Ruben Fleischer while on the press tour for his upcoming comedy 30 Minutes or Less and they, of course, had to bring up Zombieland 2, the oft-rumored successor to his hit 2009 film.. We’ve heard opinions from just about everyone involved, but here is what Fleischer had to say:
“The thing is that we’ve all said is the only reason to do it is if it’s better than the original and i don’t think anyone wants to do it, just to do it,” he told us today. “And certainly no one is going to do it just for the money— it’s not like any of us could get rich off it anyway so I think, without trying to sound arrogant, the bar is super high. And we’ve been holding it to that.”
He also mentioned that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick‘s script is done and they “wrote something and it was really great.” He wrapped up saying, “we all are excited of the prospect of making the movie, but I guess we all haven’t found the perfect story to tell yet.”
I thought that Zombieland stood fine on its own, and taking into consideration where Fleischer is headed I sincerely don’t see this one happening after his upcoming Gangster Squad. If I directed a crime film starring Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, and Josh Brolin, I couldn’t see myself headed back to a sequel to a zombie film. But, the ball is in Fleischer’s court and we’ll provide updates as they come.
Do you see either one of these projects actually getting made? Which one are you more interested in?