'Real Steel 2': Shawn Levy Has Talked To Hugh Jackman About A Possible Sequel (Again)
Real Steel became a hot topic of discussion last year when it appeared in Netflix's library and become one of their most popular titles. The movie starred Hugh Jackman as down-on-his-luck former boxer Charlie Kenton, who is barely scraping by with a career as a robot boxing controller. Charlie reconnects with his estranged son Max when they stumble upon a sparring robot that has the potential to break his losing streak and become the next world champion. Due to the movie's resurgence in the public eye, director Shawn Levy says there have been discussions about a potential sequel — again.
Speaking to CinemaBlend, Shawn Levy credited Netflix with the influx of questions he's received about a potential Real Steel sequel coming together:
"It is amazing how streaming gives people an opportunity to rediscover [things]. Obviously, it happened with Cobra Kai and what happened to them when they moved from YouTube to Netflix. When Real Steel was on Netflix in 2020, and it was in the top trending titles, it really showed us, 'Oh wait a second, that audience is still there, and maybe we can even grow it'. Hugh and I have definitely, we have seen each other recently, and I'm not gonna lie and say it didn't come up."
A decade has passed since the original Real Steel was released, so it's encouraging to hear about a whole new audience discovering the movie, especially since we recommended it during the pandemic last fall. So is now the time for a Real Steel sequel to finally get off the ground? Levy said:
"It is remarkable how frequently this question gets asked. It had died, and while it's not in active development right now, these are the kind of itches that Hugh and I are feeling more intensely and might need to scratch. What's been interesting is we're approaching ten years since Real Steel came out, the fan love has not waned. And it's been this constant reminder to Hugh and I that, 'Oh wait a second, that movie had something special in it. And maybe we should revisit those characters in that world'. So anything's possible."
The Challenge of Making Real Steel 2
Perhaps the biggest problem with making Real Steel 2 right now is that young actor Dakota Goyo, who played Hugh Jackman's son Max, is no longer a kid. So is there a compelling story to tell with an older version of Max? Goyo is turning 22 this month, and he hasn't appeared in anything since 2014. Without that father-son dynamic driving the heart of the movie, what is the sequel about? Perhaps that's one of the issues with trying to crack a sequel at this point.
Back in 2016, Levy talked about how there was development on a sequel happening six months before the movie was even released because it was testing so highly with audiences. But Levy explained the issue they ran into when trying to craft a story:
"The simple truth, the most concise truth I can express, is that it proved, and it has proven, really hard to come up with a sequel that doesn't feel like a re-hash of the first movie. Yeah, people wanted to see Atom beat Zeus, I would love to see Atom beat Zeus, but you don't want to retell the story of kind of an alienation between Charlie and Max because that is really the plot of the first movie."
Exactly. Charlie and Max are the heart of Real Steel, and it's the main reason the movie works so well. It's not like Rocky where your main character is the boxer, so you have both the human element and the sports thrills in the same package. There has to be something outside of Atom that keeps you engaged. However, Levy admitted that there were talks about trying to come up with a prequel story focused on Atom:
"One area that I still would love to explore is that notion of how was Atom built? What is it about his design that might have embedded some artificial or organic intelligence and consciousness, such that he is self-aware to some extent? So all I'll say is, we've attempted it a few times with a number of writers, and no draft got me, Hugh, and Steven all there to a yes in the same moment. It all felt like it wasn't quite enough to promise a new story and a new movie."
That doesn't sound like the right way to go, so hopefully Levy or someone else can come up with something