Movies

Sequel Bits: 'Avatar', 'Toy Story 4', 'Glass', 'Bird Box', 'The Amityville Murders,' 'Mallrats 2', 'The LEGO Movie 2', 'Mary Poppins', 'Rambo 5'

By Chris Evangelista

In this edition of Sequel Bits:

  • Bob Iger talks the future of Avatar.
  • Check out a new image from Toy Story 4.
  • Watch a comic book-style trailer for Glass.
  • Will there be a Bird Box sequel?
  • The Amityville Murders trailer takes you back to that famous haunted house.
  • Kevin Smith pitched a Mallrats sequel series to Hulu, Netflix and more.
  • Behold a new poster for The LEGO Movie 2
  • Mary Poppins Returns sequel in early development.
  • Sylvester Stallone shares yet another Rambo 5 image.

    • 3d movie box office

    The big Disney-Fox merger means that the House of Mouse is also now the House of Avatar. James Cameron's blockbuster sci-fi flick, which will soon have approximately 400 sequels, will soon be firmly in Disney's iron grasp, and CEO Bob Iger has offered an update on the franchise's future. In a recent interview, Iger confirmed that there definitely two more sequels coming, and two waiting to be greenlit. He also added:

    "The new ones are a continuation of the former one, so the characters will become more familiar because they've only been in one movie...I can't get into all the details, but there's obviously character development and story development as part of Avatar 2 and 3. I'll call it growth or evolution of core characters and introduction of some new ones."

    While it often feels as if Avatar has been forgotten, the movie did $2.6 billion worldwide, so obviously people care about it. Will the sequels do as well? We'll see. The first one is due out December 18, 2020.

    Bo Peep wasn't in Toy Story 3, but based on this new image from a Toy Story 4 calendar, she's back in full force in the next film – with a new look, to boot. The Instagram post also contains a synopsis of sorts: "Since Andy went to college, toys have moved to a new house where a small girl named Bonnie lives. Her first day in kindergarten will put a beginning to adventures and meeting new toys, some of the old friends and even a romantic story." There's a rumor that the plot also involves Woody and the other toys on a quest to find Bo Peep, so make of that what you will. I remain a bit apprehensive about Toy Story 4, because Toy Story 3 felt like the perfect ending to the story. But I'm sure I'll end up loving this new one, and weeping in the theater. Toy Story 4 opens June 21, 2019.

    Here's a new Glass teaser that's set up to resemble a comic book featuring David Dunn (Bruce Willis). Pretty neat! It feels weird to still be talking about this film, though, because I already saw it, and can (sadly) confirm it's not very good. But if you're still looking forward to M. Night Shyamalan's film that serves as a sequel to both Unbreakable and Split, this might interest you. Glass opens January 18, 2019. I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

    bird box scoreBird Box doesn't really leave room for a sequel, but the horror film was a huge hit for Netflix – it's most-watched movie in a seven day period – and has inspired a plethora of memes. People just can't seem to stop talking about it. Which means the question of a sequel has inevitably come up. People magazine asked director Susanne Bier if there was any hope of a follow-up, and Bier's answer was refreshingly honest: "We only just finished it! It's funny, I'm kind of reading people asking for a sequel and I'm like, 'Hey, hey, hey, we really just finished!' So let's just enjoy it for now."

    There are a lot of movies inspired by the supposedly "true story" of the Amityville Horror. If you want to know how many, take a look at this handy chart from Wikipedia:

    The latest entry is The Amityville Murders, which you can watch a trailer for above. This film is a prequel, of sorts, going back to the event that inspired all of this: the murder of the DeFeo family by Ronald DeFeo, Jr. DeFeo later claimed that demonic voices told him to slaughter his entire family, but there's a pretty good chance this was a fake defense cooked up by his lawyer. The movie features John Robinson (Elephant, Lords of Dogtown, Transformers), Chelse

    a Ricketts (Crooked Arrows, The Hole, From Above), Diane Franklin (Better Off Dead, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Amityvill

    e II: The Possession), and Paul Ben-Victor ("Santa Clarita's Diet", Daredevil, 

    Tombstone), and was directed by Daniel Farrands, who previously directed a documentary for The History Channel called Amityville: The Haunting (so he has some history with all of this). The Amityville Murders opens in theaters, On Demand and Digital on February 8, 2019.

    Kevin Smith is gearing up to make Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, but for a while, he was trying to get a Mallrats sequel off the ground. According to a Tweet from the filmmaker himself, he pitched the idea to Netflix, Hulu and Showtime, but none of them wanted it. Smith now hopes that Jay and Silent Bob Reboot will change that, but we'll have to wait and see. Personally, I don't think we need a Mallrats sequel, but hey, what do I know.

    Lego 2 Blacklight Poster

    Here's a stylish new "blacklight poster" for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. There's nothing new here, really – but it looks cool. The second entry, directed by Mike Mitchell, features returning cast members Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Alison Brie and Nick Offerman, along with new additions Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz and Maya Rudolph. The first LEGO Movie caught everyone by surprise by being much better than it had any right to be. Will the sequel follow suit? We can only hope – although the fact that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are only writing, and not directing, this time is a bit of a bummer. The LEGO Movie 2 opens February 8, 2019.

    Mary Poppins Returns clip

    Ready for Mary Poppins Returns...Again? According to The Sun, Disney is already in the early stages of planning a sequel to 2018's hit Mary Poppins Returns. "It is early stages," director Rob Marshall said during an event for BAFTA nominees, "but I will say right now that there were eight books, so there's a lot of great material still to mine. That's what we worked from, those incredible eight books of P.L. Travers. So, you know..." Yes, you know. I've yet to see Mary Poppins Returns, so I can't speak on what another sequel would entail. But I'm guessing it would involve Emily Blunt returning yet again as magical nanny/witch (?) Mary Poppins. Call it a hunch.

    Sylvester Stallone has shared yet another new image from Rambo 5, aka Rambo 5: Last Blood. It fits in with the theme of the last few photos, which have a dark Western vibe to them. After spending so many sequels overseas, Rambo 5 has John Rambo back in America, working on his father's ranch in Arizona. However, the ex-Vietnam vet gets drawn into a new mission: crossing into Mexico to rescue the daughter of a friend, who has been kidnapped by a Mexican cartel. We can assume Rambo kills a lot of people during his quest. Rambo 5 is due out sometime this year.

    Recommended