Hayden Christensen Hints At Plot For Jumper Sequel, Claims Talks Are Happening
Doug Liman's Jumper debuted in 2008 to a tepid critical response and didn't exactly do gangbusters at the box office either, taking in only $80 million on an $85 million budget (although its worldwide total did reach $222 million). Nonetheless, the film did well enough that several of the people involved with it, including Liman himself, have speculated about a possible sequel.
Recently, Hayden Christensen (star of Jumper) hinted that the possibility of a sequel was still being discussed, and threw out some clues as to where the plot might go. Hit the jump for the details. Note that the following includes spoilers for the threadbare plot of the original Jumpers.
Jumper fans might recall that the first film ends with Christensen's character, David, discovering that his mother (played by Diane Lane) is a Paladin, the mysterious group whose purpose is to hunt and kill Jumpers. David also discovers that he has a half-sister, Sophie.MTV asked Christensen about the possibility of a Jumper sequel on the red carpet for Takers, Christensen's newest film:
We're talking about it right now actually...Hopefully [the story will go] somewhere a little darker. I think there's a lot you can do with it. It was sort of set up in a way it's gonna be mother hunting son and possibly even maybe sister hunting brother. We're talking about it, trying to figure it out.
I'm embedding the video below so you can gauge for yourself how excited Christensen is about the prospect, and how possible this thing actually sounds (my take: not very).
I wasn't too crazy about the original Jumpers film, but I absolutely loved the "jumping effect" (just the look of it, and the potential it had to make for an exciting action film). The final film, though, didn't live up to the promise of its premise, as it was dragged down by an uncharismatic performance from Christensen and a totally unconvincing love story.
Given that Jumper wasn't a massive success and that Liman is apparently a handful for studios to work with (for more info on this, see the Creative Screenwriting Podcast's episode on Jumper), I don't think we'll be seeing a Jumper sequel anytime soon. But what do you guys think?