Sequel Bits: 'Frozen 2,' 'Kingsman 2,' 'Space Jam 2,' 'Jarhead 3'
In today's edition of Sequel Bits:
Collider sat down with Kristen Bell to talk about her upcoming comedy The Boss, but their conversation eventually shifted toward the sequel to Frozen. Although this has been an awfully quiet production, Belle revealed that the script was just about ready and that she was going to to reprise her role as Princess Anna very soon:
Not yet. We're just about to. They've just written it and they're still doing tweaks, but I think we should be recording this month. The story is great, and they exude quality. What I know about that whole team is that they wouldn't just put something out to put it out. That's why it took them so long to even announce that we were doing a second one. Generally when you have a first successful movie you want to make a second one. It took them a while because they wanted to figure out what story they needed to tell and what would be important and engaging and I think they found it.
Since voice recording typically begins very early in the process of making an animated movie, don't take this as news that Frozen 2 will arrive any time soon. There are still a few long years of rendering left before this film can produce a trailer, let alone a finished feature film. The big question now is whether the film will be able to produce an ear-worm as effective as "Let It Go."
We've known that the delightful Taron Egerton will be returning to star in the sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service and that he will be joined by Julianne Moore and Halle Berry, but now we know another cast member. It seems that Edward Holcroft, whose Charlie seemingly kicked the bucket in the first film, will somehow return for the sequel. Deadline doesn't have the details, but since Charlie didn't exactly get along with Egerton's Eggsy in the original film, we'd guess that he'll be back in a villainous capacity.
In news that shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone, a Space Jam 2 starring Lebron James isn't happening. At least yet. Not for a little while. This sliver of news comes to us via a Cleveland.com news report, which features this quote from SpringHill Entertainment President Jamal Henderson:
It'd be crazy not to say that it's something on the radar, it's super on the radar, but it's not something we have any news on. There's no sort of start on it.
The larger point of the article is that James has a deal with Warner Bros. that goes beyond Space Jam 2, so we can maybe, possibly, expect some movies starring the NBA superstar at some point. Just don't get your hopes up for him to team up with Bugs Bunny any time soon.
If you look at the cover above and wonder "Jarhead 3? Was there a Jarhead 2?" then you haven't been keeping up with the oddly lucrative world of direct-to-video sequels that take recognizable titles and transform them into unrecognizable franchises. Sam Mendes' Jarhead was a darkly comic anti-war drama and the sequels have become...well, here's the synopsis for part three:
Assigned to protect a seemingly safe U.S. Embassy in the Middle East, elite Marine Corporal Evan Albright (Charlie Weber) thought he wasn't going to see much action. But when a hostile and extreme military group launches a surprise attack aimed at killing an Embassy informant, Albright's team is caught off guard. Out-gunned and outnumbered, the Marine's routine assignment escalates into an all-out war. With national security at stake, an international crisis ensues in this riveting film directed by William Kaufman (The Hit List) starring Dennis Haysbert and Scott Adkins.
But hey, at least they got Dennis Haysbert back!