Sequel Bits: 'Spectre,' 'Hocus Pocus 2,' 'The Goonies 2' And 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2'

Welcome back to Sequel Bits, the round-up of anything and everything sequel-related. In today's edition:

Rumors of a Hocus Pocus 2 have been flying around the internet for ages now and Disney is most definitely testing the waters. Why else would they be hosting Hocus Pocus-themed Halloween events at their theme parks if they weren't giving this some serious consideration? Anyway, original star Bette Midler took to Twitter to explain the real reason why a sequel has yet to emerge from development hell:

Of course, her co-star Kathy Najimy had to chime in, bringing Middler's frequent musical collaborator Marc Shaiman into the mix:

Stop spreading bogus rumors @BetteMidler we both know @marcshaiman is a virgin 😅 @SJP @Disney see u @craftservice https://t.co/G5M4cIi6d6

— Kathy Najimy (@kathynajimy) October 27, 2015

Speaking of nostalgic favorites having trouble getting a sequel off the ground, the never-ending chatter about a Goonies 2 continued when Yahoo Movies spoke to one of the film's original stars, Sean Astin. Although he may not be privy to the exact reasons why this project has struggled to materialize, his reasoning for why it hasn't makes a certain amount of sense:

They have lots of ideas and they've been developing in different ways, but I just don't think they've arrived at what they think the best option is. I wish they'd just break the logjam, because it's so popular, they could probably do a cartoon and a Broadway show and other versions of movies. I think they're just holding on too tight.... It's an older movie now, but the fun of it is so magical, and I think the reason they haven't made it yet is they want to keep that same magic.

People don't want to resurrect a beloved movie because they're worried about tarnishing its legacy? Hmm, what a novel line of thinking.

Fans were divided on the 2013 version of Evil Dead, which ditched much of the series' trademark comedy for a back-to-the-basics horror story, but everyone seemed interested in this new universe possible crossing over with the original characters. And it could have happened, too... if the new Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead hadn't come along and distracted everyone:

That's something that I said I wanted to see. And I talked to Fede Alvarez, the director of the Evil Dead remake, and even said it at Comic-Con. But the reality is, once you've got these showrunners and writers working on this juggernaut, trying to figure out where the season's going to go, it's very hard to simultaneously write a combo movie that would fit in with where the series is going to end up at that particular point, and it really would have to coalesce with what the writers are doing in the writers' room. So even though I said it, realistically, I don't know how we'd be able to pull it off at this particular moment.

It's hard to feel too bad about losing that crossover when we got a proper Evil Dead sequel series instead.

Jurassic World was already the highest grossing film of 2015 and the third highest grossing film of all time with an international haul of $1.6 billion. Then it hit home video and the money really started to pour in. According to a press release from Universal (via CinemaBlend), the film has already made $82 million from Blu-ray, DVD, and digital downloads alone... and it's only been out since last Tuesday. There was already a sequel planned for 2018, but if there wasn't, we'd be seeing an announcement right now.

Director Sam Mendes seemingly put his foot down after Skyfall, saying that he was done with making James Bond movies and then retreating back to the London stage to direct a musical version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In a new interview, Mendes explained that he just needed a little time away from Agent 007 before he made his final decision to return for Spectre. As he explained to The Hollywood Reporter, he just needed to find the right hook:

It was a much more difficult process for me to decide to do the second than to decide to do the first. But I had a bit of time to think about it and about the narrative. My hook for Skyfall was M's death. The thing that lured me into Skyfall was a lot of the mythology of Bond, the iconography of Bond from the '60s and '70s, and I felt like there was an opportunity [with Spectre] to perhaps reimagine on a more epic scale some of the darker characters and organizations that had haunted Bond in in the early part of the franchise — which are all of course rooted in Ian Fleming's novels. The thing about the novels is that they're much darker than the movies that were made of them, because by the '60s and '70s, dark was not commercial. And that has changed. People are much more willing to go to different and more interesting places in commercial features now. So there's a lot to be rediscovered from the Bond back-catalog.

Speaking of James Bond, it turns out the most famous spy in movie history would probably be unemployable in real life. Speaking with Buzzfeed, the Secret Intelligence Service, a.k.a. the SIS, a.k.a. MI6, a.k.a. the British spy agency that employs Bond in the movies, explained that 007 does not have what it takes to be a successful spy in real life in the year 2015:

James Bond would probably not be successful in joining SIS, if he were to apply. The service he represents is not the modern reality. Teamwork is central to SIS's ability to deliver intelligence, and heroes working alone rarely achieve much ... Having a high degree of emotional intelligence is every bit as important to SIS as educational attainment. They want people with a real passion for human interaction, understanding others, and dealing with the sometimes complex nature of human relationships.

Ouch. Then again, they could be just saying this to hide the fact that dozens of mentally unstable but wildly effective martini-swilling secret agents are currently in their employ.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, Daniel Craig says that One Direction member Niall Horan would make a great James Bond. But he was only joking. Or was he? It's just another crazy stop on the Spectre press tour, which already includes Craig saying he'd prefer suicide to playing Bond again and then calling the famous character a misogynist. Oh, Daniel Craig.

Everyone in the Lionsgate marketing department knows that everyone is already planning to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, which is why they can get away with extended TV spots that consist of 50% footage from the previous three movies. "Hey, remember those characters you like so much? They're back one more time. Now give us your money. Gimme!" And then you hand over your money and go see Mockingjay – Part 2 because yeah, they've got you pegged.