Hayden Christensen Says ‘Jumper 2′ May Be Coming

Jumper is one of the those movies that I feel got an overly bad rap when it was released in theaters back in 2008. After several cable channel viewings, I can say that the film was harmlessly enjoyable and had a great premise – that certain people are born with the ability to teleport  – which left a wide range of possibilities for a sequel.

Speaking of Jumper 2, star of the original, Hayden Christensen, was out making the rounds to promote his upcoming heist film Takers and talked to MTV about the Jumper sequel.

Check out what Hayden had to say:

“We’re talking about it right now actually…Hopefully [we'll 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.”

For those who aren’t familiar with the Jumper mythos, what Hayden is of course referring to is the conflict between “Jumpers” (the teleporters) and “The Paladins,” a group of fanatics who hunt and kill Jumpers based on the notion that “only God should have the power to be in all places at all times.”

[SPOILER ALERT] During the course of the film, there’s a big reveal that the absent mother of Hayden’s character, David, is actually a top-ranking Paladin who abandoned him when she realized her child was a Jumper (out of compassion, of course).  Diane Lane had a nice little cameo as David’s mother, and at the end of the film, when David ‘ports in to see her one last time, he discovers that he has a half-sister, played by none other than Twilight star Kristen Stewart. [END SPOILERS]

So, based on Christensen’s words we could assume that Jumper 2 would pick up where the first film left off, pitting an estranged family against one another, but would the two big-name actresses who appeared in the first film return for the sequel? Your guess is as good as mine.

Jumper was helmed by Bourne Identity director Doug Liman, so it’s going to be interesting to see if he returns to help get the sequel into theaters. Same goes for Samuel L. Jackson (who played Roland, the film’s villain), Jamie Bell (who played a fellow Jumper) and Rachel Bilson (the love interest); the careers of each of these actors have continued to rise, so getting them all to return to a moderately successful franchise ($220 million worldwide on an $85 million production budget) would probably be the first hurdle to jump.

Still, as I said, Jumper has grown on me in the years since it hit cable and I wouldn’t be totally opposed to giving the franchise one more chance to prove itself. The premise certainly has a lot of potential and if they improve the execution then it would all be worthwhile in my book.

We’ll keep you updated on the progress of Jumper 2, should it become anything more than hearsay.

You can check out the full video of Hayden Christensen discussing the project over at MTV.