While studios normally decide whether to develop a sequel fairly soon after a movie is released, it’s taken Universal a while to put a follow-up to Safe House into development. Now THR reports they’re moving forward with one.
David Guggenheim, who wrote the script for the first film while working as an editor at Us Weekly, is returning to pen as-yet-untitled sequel. Scott Stuber is also back as producer via his Universal-based Bluegrass Films.
Apparently Ryan Reynolds is open to returning as CIA agent Matt Weston, who in the first film got caught up trying to protect/take down accused traitor Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington). No deal has been made with Reynolds as yet, and there’s no news on the story for the sequel either. Universal apparently wants Washington involved in a follow-up as well, although those who’ve seen Safe House may be wondering how (if it’s a prequel, which is a possibility, it would be easier to explain).
Whether Daniel Espinosa will be back to direct is also unclear.
The Hunger Games has cemented its position as a true movie powerhouse, managing the increasingly rare feat of staying top of the US box office for three weeks, passing through the $300 million mark as it did so. That puts it ahead of all the Twilight movies’ final tallies, suggesting Lionsgate has something truly exceptional on its hands.
There was no doubt The Hunger Games was going to be big, the only question was how big. Many were surprised last week when tracking said the film could open as high as $130 million in the US, but in the end even that turned out to be too conservative, as it ended up taking $155 million in its first three days in North America.
Thanks to great reviews and strong word of mouth (as well as a lack of other major new openers), 21 Jump Street got off to a great start at the US box office with $35 million, which is one of the biggest openings ever for an R-rated comedy and Jonah Hill’s career best start.
With Disney having spent an estimated $250 million making John Carter, there’s been a lot of eyes on just how much it would make in its opening weekend. There’s no doubt there’ll be some disappointment today at Disney that it didn’t top the US box office in its first three days, which is partly down to a soft opening and partly due to The Lorax continuing to overperform.
It’s a bit of a seesaw at the US box office at the moment. Some weekends all the big releases massively underperform, while other weeks new movies make loads more than anyone expected. Both were true this week, as while the Top 12 film made 20% than they did on the comparative weekend last year, there were a couple of huge flops.
Despite being a four day weekend in the US, it wasn’t a good time for new releases, although last week’s overperformers continued to impress. The top two movies swapped place compared to last weekend, with Safe House pipping The Vow to the post over the Presidents Day weekend.
The US box office can be an incredibly fickle beast that tough to predict. Many were expecting that with four major films opening against one another, they might harm each others chances. Instead all of them did well, marking only the second time in history four films have opened north of $20 million on the same weekend.