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Wanted co-writer Michael Brandt has given an update on Wanted 2, explaining why he spent 16 years in production hell and where he is now.
The original film is based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and JG Jones. It tells the story of Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a young man whose everyday life is turned upside down when he discovers that he has superhuman abilities and a connection to the Brotherhood, a deadly society of assassins. The film was a great commercial success, but its sequel never became a reality.
In an interview with MovieWeb, Brandt talked about the sequel to the 2008 film. He explained that he and his co-writers wrote a sequel, but ran into a roadblock when director Timur Bekmambetov had completely different ideas. Meanwhile, the studio's rapid turnover meant it was unwilling to wait for a conflict, resulting in the sequel being "left behind". Brandt said he's still getting calls and saying positive things about the script, but all revival efforts are not moving forward.
We had an idea for a sequel. We developed it, wrote it. And the studio seemed to have a real interest in it. And then Timur, who staged the first one, was certainly interested. But he had a slightly different idea of what he wanted to do next... And it's just one of those times where one person says the wrong thing about our film that's going to develop and the script that we've written. And he proposed changes. And it kind of took the wind out of the sails in the studio. And then, the studio focused on Fast and Furious. And I think the sequel to "Extremely Dangerous" just fell by the wayside as other things started to develop.
So there's a script, I'd love to see it come to fruition, and I really enjoyed it. I think it's a real sequel to the first one. But so far the momentum has been lost. Every now and then a producer calls me and says, "Can we reopen this thing?" And I'm like, "Yeah, here's the script." And they say, "Wow, we love the script." And I say: "Cool, call the studio." And then just complete silence.
Brandt gives an abbreviated version of what happened to the sequel. However, there have been many reports and rumors over the years that have painted a complex picture of the sequel's development. The whole story of the film explains how the many conflicting ideas for the sequel came about. This, too, is due to the fact that Brandt was not originally chosen to write the script. Originally, the creator of the franchise, Millar, announced that he was working with the producers on the story for the second film, and even hinted at a third film (the second one has not yet been shot, but he is talking about the third - Genius is simple). One of the original screenwriters, Chris Morgan, intended to write a sequel.
Everything began to fall apart when Morgan left the project due to heavy workload. At that point, Evan Spiliotopoulos was announced as Morgan's replacement. It was reported that Angelina Jolie Fox's character was planned to be resurrected in the first sequel. However, Jolie also turned down the sequel, leaving the script in need of rewriting and the film looking for a new lead character. This is where the production stopped. Finally, in 2011, Brandt and Derek Haas were invited back to write a sequel.
Brandt and Haas' sequel would take place a few years after the original and follow a new heroine. However, shortly after hiring Brandt, Bekmambetov announced that he had his own idea for a sequel with a shocking twist (apparently everything was supposed to take place in the new year and be called "Especially Dangerous: Yolki Doli"). This is where things stalled due to disagreements over which direction to take the film.
There's a slim chance that Incredibly Dangerous 2 will still happen, but you can understand how difficult it is to choose between an original writer and director for a project that's been screwed up so many times.
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