Hugh Jackman Getting A Sequel To One Of His Underrated Movies?
Could Hugh Jackman be getting a surprise sequel to one of his underrated movies? The director let on that it could be in the works
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Hugh Jackman might not be returning to the franchise that really made him famous, with no concrete word about whether he will ever step back into the X-Men suit or adamantium claws anytime in the near future. But one of his other movies, an overlooked one at the time, could be headed for a sequel. The latest rumor from Inverse has it that Real Steel could be getting another movie sooner than later with Jackman in the lead.
This rumor came via an Inverse tweet with a video of Shawn Levy describing how talks of a Real Steel sequel might be taking shape. He was promoting his most recent film, Free Guy, but did get into other projects as well. In the video, Levy briefly discussed how the follow-up movie has been taking shape in his mind and how some of the events of the past year may have paved the way for another story. He then lets on that he and Hugh Jackman were surprised about the possible resurgence in popularity around the flick and how they had each loved the story as well. Check out what Levy has to say about a possible Real Steel 2.
Levy mentions that the original Real Steel ended up being quite the hit for Netflix over the past year which put the idea of another movie in the mind of the director. He admits that both he and Hugh Jackman had thought that the window about more stories in this universe had closed, but that might be the case. There is a world in which there is enough renewed interest around the property. In this day and age, with streaming services sometimes bringing film ideas and franchises back to life, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility.
The original Real Steel came out in 2011 and imagined a world in which boxers are no longer beating each other to death in the ring. They have turned that over to robots, in a real Rock-Em, Sock-Em story. Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a dude who used to get into the actual ring himself. He is reunited with his estranged son who is a fan of these boxing robots. They set on a father-son redemption story that has them restoring, fighting, and ultimately winning with their own robot.
Real Steel was a pretty massive production at the time with a budget well over $110 million dollars. It did end up taking in just about $300 million at the box office. That is a tidy sum but wouldn’t classify as crushing it considering the amount it took to get off the ground in production. And critics were lukewarm on the story and premise with the flick sitting at 60% on Rotten Tomatoes. Some were fans of the concept as well as the interplay between Hugh Jackman and his son played by Dakota Goyo. But there was a feeling that it was just a bit too vanilla. Other notables appearing in the film were Evangeline Lily and Anthony Mackie.
Whether Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy get Real Steel 2 actually moving along remains to be seen. It would likely take a lot of money and there could be some studio hesitancy because of the performance of the first. Time will tell, and we are in a new age when almost forgotten flicks can get new life and a new audience.
