Sequel Bits: 'Undercover Brother 2', 'Halloween Kills', 'The Goonies 2', 'Zombieland: Double Tap', 'Coming To America 2', 'Frozen 2'
In this edition of Sequel Bits:
Remember Undercover Brother? It was a 2002 comedy starring Eddie Griffin. And now it has a sequel! Griffin is gone, and in his place is Michael Jai White. White's presence here reminds one of his far-superior blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite, so maybe it's best to just pretend this is a sequel to that instead. Here's the Undercover Brother 2 synopsis:
"Way back in 2002, the brothers were hot on the heels of The Man, the leader of a racist, worldwide syndicate known as The Organization, but accidentally got caught in an avalanche of oppressive, white snow. Sixteen years later, they are discovered, thawed out, and as Undercover Brother remains in a coma, Lionel sets out to finish the job they started. With the help of The Brotherhood, an old foe, and an ethereal vision of Undercover Brother guiding him along the way, Lionel must take on an even more dangerous threat to the black community and the world – extreme 'wokeness'!"
Undercover Brother 2 arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, & Digital November 5.
David Gordon Green keeps on adding more and more actors and/or characters from John Carpenter's original Halloween for his sequel Halloween Kills. The latest: Charles Cyphers is returning as Sheriff Leigh Brackett. In Carpenter's original film, Brackett is the father of Annie Brackett, one of the victims of Michael Myers' original Halloween night murder spree. Cyphers' return as confirmed by The Halloween Fans. Brackett joins other returning characters Lindsey Wallace, Tommy Doyle, Marion Chambers, and Lonnie Elam (along with Laurie Strode, of course). Halloween Kills opens October 16, 2020.
If you're still holding out hope for Goonies 2 (what is wrong with you?), it's time to give it up. Original Goonie Corey Feldman confirmed as much to TMZ, saying:
"There's no damn Goonies reunion. No man, that's a rumor. We did a few comic cons, just appearances together. But that's it, there's no campaign, there's no Goonies 2 happening."
There have been rumors of a potential Goonies sequel for years, but it looks like the project will never evolve beyond the rumor stage. Besides, what would a sequel even be? The Goonies as adults running around on an adventure? Does anyone even want to see that? I'm sure someone, somewhere, probably does. But it's highly unlikely to ever happen at this point.
If you were out there furious that the Zombieland sequel took so long to get made, you can blame Deadpool. While appearing on The Tonight Show, star Jesse Eisenberg said that the original plan was for the cast to return for a sequel right after the first one. But that didn't happen, and Zombieland screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick ended up tackling the scripts for Deadpool and Deadpool 2, which only further delayed things. You can watch Eisenberg's full interview here. Zombieland: Double Tap opens on October 18, 2019.
Eddie Murphy is in the midst of a genuine comeback. This year he has the highly enjoyable Dolemite is My Name, and next year we'll see him in the long-awaited Coming To America 2. But there's a catch: according to Murphy (via Cinema Blend), the Coming To America sequel is going to be rated PG-13:
"I think what happened was, there was a period when Hollywood was on some PG-13...that's how you reached most audiences. And there was, maybe, a 15-year period where that's all everybody was doing. So I got caught up in that shit. But no, doing [Dolemite], we went, 'This movie has to be rated R because of the way Rudy Ray Moore was.' But I'm doing [the sequel to] Coming to America, and that's PG-13."
This is a tad disappointing. To be fair, there's nothing that says the sequel must be rated R. But the first film was R, and Murphy is one of those actors who has a real gift for delivering four-letter words with gusto. His turn in Dolemite is My Name has him saying "motherf***er" pretty much every two minutes, and trust me, it's hilarious. To have him be hampered by a PG-13 rating seems like a mistake. But maybe it'll work out. Coming To America 2 opens August 7, 2020.
It began with two sisters. Watch this new look at #Frozen2, in theaters November 22. pic.twitter.com/reIuIsxAoY
— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) October 11, 2019
And finally, Disney has released a brief new look at Frozen 2, complete with a few bits of new footage mixed in. The highly-anticipated sequel arrives in theaters on November 22, 2019.