'Battleship' Scribes Jon And Erich Hoeber Hired To Write 'Red' Sequel

Collider landed a nice, big exclusive today when they found out Summit Entertainment has brought back Jon and Erich Hoeber to write a sequel to the hit action comedy Red. The Hoebers have been pretty busy as of late, helping penning the Sam Worthington vehicle Man on a Ledge as well as the upcoming human vs. alien board game adaptation Battleship by Peter Berg. They also wrote the Kate Beckinsale bomb Whiteout.Red is Summit's highest grossing film of all time without the word "Twilight" in the title, raking in about $164 million worldwide, so it makes sense to let audiences know what happens next. Read more after the break.In the Collider piece, they're quick to point out the following:

It's worth noting that commissioning a script is not the same thing as a giving a green light.  However, it is an important first step and if Summit is happy with the Hoebers' screenplay, then I would expect the studio to hit the gas on what they're probably hoping will be a new franchise.

And it goes without saying that making a second film without all of the lead actors back – Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary Louise-Parker and even Karl Urban would be hugely detrimental. Though the Golden Globes nominated it for Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical this year, Red really isn't anything special. It's entertaining with some cool action moments and is only elevated by the chemistry of the actors and the palpable amount of fun they're having on the screen. I think that level of enjoyment would be very hard to duplicate even if the Hoebers wrote something on par with Chinatown.

Red is based, very loosely, on a short comic book series by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. Those books were dark and ended pretty definitely after three issues (though a prequel comic did recently come out) so the Hoebers are on their own for a sequel. Do you think they'll pull it off?