A Michael B. Jordan Superhero Film Is Getting An All-Female Sequel
A Michael B. Jordan superhero film is getting an all-female sequel installment. This was the movie that put the superstar on the map.
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Getting a sequel made to a movie, even a huge hit, can be a slog for filmmakers. So many factors can slow down the process, and that has happened to the Michael B. Jordan movie Chronicle, which has been in talks for a sequel for quite some time at this point. Now, things are getting a bit more serious with it looking like a sequel is coming.
Producer John Davis spoke to Forbes about developing a sequel to the 2012 Michael B. Jordan movie that mixed the found footage and superhero genres into one mashup. It was the biggest return Davis has had in his career as the $12 million budget turned into a box office of $126 million worldwide. And even in the afterlife following its theatrical run, it has performed well. It might have taken nine years, but he confirmed that Chronicle 2 is in the works with 20th Century Fox.
The sequel won’t star Michael B. Jordan, who has since gone off to have a great career. Instead, Davis wants to focus on young women who get these superpowers that will make them deal with the dire consequences like it did for the group of guys in the first movie. They are just getting out of college, and these women gain superpowers as the “next generation” of people leveling up, so to speak. With it being set approximately 10 years after the previous installment, it will also tackle how the media portrayed those events with real and fake news along with coverups.
A sequel for the Michael B. Jordan movie was being drafted years before by one of the writers, Max Landis (Bright). Between 2013 and 2019, multiple accusations of abuse and sexual assault split him off from the project. Another issue with the script from Landis was co-writer and director Josh Trank who told Polygon about how he tried to be disruptive because the story for the sequel did not line up with why he chose to do the first movie in the first place. So, with a new movie in the works in this universe, it remains unclear who will write or direct it, with both of its creative leaders being out of the picture.
“I made it difficult for them to set up meetings. I was dodgy about stuff. I did a lot of shitty things. Because I really didn’t ever want to see Chronicle 2 happen. That was my worst nightmare. First of all, I’m not doing it. Second, if somebody else does it, then you know it’s gonna be a piece of shit,” said Trank in the interview.
Josh Trank did do another movie with Michael B. Jordan that involved superheroes. The critically and commercially panned Fantastic Four in 2015 has made almost no money off its $120 million budget, grossing $167 million worldwide during its theatrical run. He followed it up last year with Capone with Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), which also failed in the box office as well as its reception from both critics and audiences.
While the two writers have had struggles since Chronicle, the actors have not. Michael B. Jordan skyrocketed with the Creed series, and as the villain Killmonger in Black Panther. Dane DeHaan has been in plenty of TV shows like the recent Stephen King adaption Lisey’s Story. And Alex Russell landed a major role in S.W.A.T. with Shemar Moore (Criminal Minds). Finally, Michael Kelly went off to do House of Cards and more recently Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. It will be interesting to see how this new version of Chronicle takes shape.
