Screen Rant » wanted 2

Screenwriter Derek Haas Talks ‘Wanted 2′ Script

Rob Frappier — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:36:23 +0000

After making over $340 million worldwide, there was no doubt that Universal was going to make a sequel to the high-impact action film, Wanted. But, due to a range of reasons, Wanted 2 has been stuck in development hell for the last three years.

That changed last week when screenwriter Derek Haas – who co-wrote the first film with writing partner Michael Brandt – announced via Twitter that he and Brandt had been hired by Universal to script the sequel. After more than a year of no news, Wanted fans finally had something new to talk about it. But Haas’ announcement raised more questions than answers.

What would the film be like without Angelina Jolie (who objected to having her character raised from the dead)? Will Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov bring his insane action sensibilities back for the ...

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‘Wanted 2′ Finally Moving Forward; Early Plot Details Released

Sandy Schaefer — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:18:15 +0000

It’s been well over a year since there was any significant news about Wanted 2, the followup to the hit 2008 (loose) adaptation of Mark Millar’s ultra-violent comic book.

Angelina Jolie ultimately decided to pass on appearing in the sequel, which has essentially been trapped in development limbo since original Wanted helmer Timur Bekmambetov decided to move forward with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter instead. However, seeing that the original assassin-action extravaganza grossed over $341 million worldwide on a $75 million budget, it’s no surprise that the project never fully died.

The Wrap has learned that Universal is at last looking to get Wanted 2 moving forward again and has brought back Wanted co-screenwriting duo Michael Brandt and Derek Haas to script the sequel. Whether the pair will be starting entirely from scratch – or working from an ...

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Angelina Jolie Discusses Her ‘Wanted 2′ Departure

Ben Kendrick — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:51:09 +0000

Despite a healthy batch of Angelina Jolie films en route, including The Tourist and Kung Fun Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, her sharp exodus from Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted 2 was still somewhat of a surprise – considering the director had promised she would reappear.

On the road, promoting her new film Salt, Jolie offered an explanation for her abrupt departure.

Speaking to Coming Soon at a recent Salt junket, Jolie was very direct about her choice to leave the Wanted franchise behind. If you haven’t seen the first Wanted film, consider turning back, Jolie’s quote (as well as the rest of the article) contain major spoilers:

“Being dead makes it difficult. They were (trying to bring me back) but I kind of feel like if I die in a ...

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Kristen Stewart Instead of Angelina Jolie in Wanted 2?

Rob Keyes — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:31:09 +0000

Universal Pictures wants a sequel to 2008′s action thriller, Wanted, and they want it bad.

Most of the news surrounding the development of Wanted 2 has focused on whether or not James McAvoy’s co-star Angelina Jolie would return even though [Spoiler] she ended her character’s life in Wanted. If they could get her back, director Timur Bekmambetov stated that an explanation for resurrecting Jolie’s character would be given in the sequel.

In February, we reported that Jolie had dropped Wanted 2 to do a film titled Gravity. Shortly after that, we heard she was out of that project as well. So, with her out, they need a replacement and now we know who they have in mind…

Even though Wanted banked a solid $340 million+ at ...

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Bekmambetov Taking On ‘Red Asphalt’ Instead of Wanted 2?

Sandy Schaefer — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:30:16 +0000

It appears that Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov’s next directorial effort may be the mysteriously titled film, Red Asphalt. Described by insiders as “an edgy 3D thriller,” the screenplay for this project was written by Andrew Baldwin, a writer whose sole claim to fame is that his script The West Is Dead was listed on a Hollywood insider’s list of the best unproduced scripts of 2008 (i.e. The Black List).

While it was generally assumed that Bekmambetov’s next move would be to direct Wanted 2, the followup to his hit 2008 action flick, that project has been stalled for several months now. After Wanted comic book writer Mark Millar’s recent announcement that Wanted 2 is moving on without Angelina Jolie it looked as though the sequel would begin pre-production sooner than expected. Unfortunately, this ...

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Mark Millar Talks Post-Jolie ‘Wanted 2′ Plans

Ross Miller — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:20:00 +0000

There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes with the planned sequel to 2008′s Wanted, a film that made $340 million worldwide, thereby justifying a sequel (remember, the movie business is a business). It was reported last summer that Wanted star Angelina Jolie would be reprising her role as Fox in Wanted 2.

When that rumor was announced, fans everywhere raised their hands politely (yeah right!) and asked [SPOILER ALERT!!!] how can Jolie come back for Wanted 2 if she was killed at the end of the first one?

Yeah, well, there was no need for such questions, as it was reported not too long ago that Jolie had departed Wanted 2 (reportedly to star in Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity but that was later proven false). Since then, the writer of the Wanted comic book, Mark Millar (Kick-Ass), has spoken ...

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Jolie Leaves Wanted 2 For ‘Gravity’ [Updated]

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:16:08 +0000

[Update: Jolie has dropped Gravity and is Wanted 2 still alive? ]

Back at the start of summer ’09 we got word that Angelina Jolie would be returning for Wanted 2 – [SPOILER ALERT!!!] even though her character in film, Fox, ended up having her brains blown out.

The whole “Isn’t she dead?” question was the first on many fans’ lips; however, Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov insisted that an explanation for resurrecting Jolie’s character would (somehow) be logically established.

Well, it looks like Angelina managed to retain some cognitive abilities after that head shot did its damage, because she has jumped ship from Wanted 2 and hopped aboard a space-thriller called Gravity, which is being helmed by one of the best directors in the business at the moment, Alfonso Cuarón (Children of ...

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Mark Millar Talks Wanted 2

Ross Miller — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:41:51 +0000

I know opinion is pretty split on Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted: I personally found it to be a boatload of fun from start to finish with its ridiculous action sequences, over-the-top violence and knife sharp (often sarcastic) dialogue particularly from the main character played by James McAvoy. But I know there are those who didn’t find enjoyment in it or at least were disappointed (Screen Rant head honcho Vic Holtreman to name one) and that’s fair enough.

But whatever you thought of Wanted, a sequel was pretty much inevitable considering the film made about $340 million worldwide on a budget of $75 million. If you’re interested in Wanted 2, you’re in luck as creator of the original graphic novel and fellow Scotsman, Mark Millar, recently spoke to IGN about what he thought of the first movie, in particular how he felt about the ...

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Wanted 2 Director Talks Resurrecting Angelina

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:51:29 +0000

So we recently reported on the rumor that Angelina Jolie is returning for Wanted 2, even though her character, Fox, [SPOILER ALERT!] was on the receiving end of a bullet to the head at the end of Wanted. Naturally, being the masters of deduction that we are here at Screen Rant we asked the question “How can they pull off resurrecting Fox without completely jumping the shark???”

Well, Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov recently let MTV Splash Page know exactly how he plans to do just that. Take a look at what he had to say and judge for yourself where it falls on your “shark jumping” meter.

“If you remember from the first film, we have a recovery room with the baths of wax…But there has to be a reason for her to come ...

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SDCC ’09: Wanted 2 Update

Jacob Waldman — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:27:14 +0000

Ok, so if you’ve been keeping abreast of our coverage of the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, which I’m sure you have, then you know that our boys have been out there running themselves ragged, attending quorums and panels, asking the hard hitting questions.

Well during the SDCC the subject of Wanted 2 came up. It seems that Mark Millar, the mind behind Wanted, is getting a bit ahead of himself; he told Coming Soon during a conversation about Kick-Ass that production for the sequel, set to star James MacAvoy again, will begin in eight weeks?

That sounded fishy to the guys over at Coming Soon, so they went over Millar’s head to Timur Bekmambetov, the director of the Wanted and its sequel, who told them that Millar, rather than presenting the facts, may just have been playing ...

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Angelina Jolie Back (from the dead) For Wanted 2

Kofi Outlaw — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:28:27 +0000

Coventry Telegraph is reporting that Angelina Jolie will be back – apparently from the dead – for Wanted 2. That’s right, in order for Wanted 2 to have a snowball’s chance in hell, somebody has cut Angelina Jolie a big enough check to return as “Fox” for another go at a half-decent movie based on a half-decent graphic novel.

All this “official news” comes our way by means of Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov, who was interviewed recently by Russian news site RIA Novosti about the upcoming sequel, and took the opportunity to drop the news about Angelina’s involvement, plus a few other gems like what locations the film will shoot in and which other characters may return for the sequel. We’ve got your links to the full interview below.

If you can read ...

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Movie News Wrap Up: June 14, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:42:06 +0000

This week:

The box office has a severe Hangover; Vertigo tries to find the real Exorcist; Ed Neumeier talks RoboCop; Angelina Jolie is Wanted; Megan Fox is a Vampire Slayer and Dwayne Johnson goes Commando.

Box office
The Hangover was a holdover this week in the number 1 position. The R-rated comedy should bank another $33 million over the weekend to bring the total of the film up to $100 million after one week on release. With a sequel already in development it looks like this is a new lucrative franchise for Warner Bros – one that doesn’t involve costly special effects. Up held onto the runner-up spot with a weekend take of about $30 million showing that people just love Pixar movies.

Tony Scott’s The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 arrived at number 3 this weekend with a ...

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Mark Millar Defends Writer Hired For ‘Wanted 2′

Carl Lee — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:22:54 +0000

Last week, we reported Evan Spiliotopoulos was set to write Wanted 2–the other comic book movie. Yeah, you read that right, the writer who wrote Pooh’s Heffalump Movie and The Nutty Professor is writing the sequel to last year’s just-above-average summer “blockbuster.” Mark Millar, graphic novel creator and producer of the sequel, tried to quiet concerns but the Spiliotopoulos’ repertoire speaks for itself.

Millar, opting to create a story with producers instead of writing another comic book, had a number of comments on his message board regarding the issue. He had this to say in response:

“Never listen to any commentators as they never know anything about who’s coming back, etc. It’s just speculation and 99% of the time these guys don’t have access to the people who know. ‘Wanted 2′ is being made in a very tight circle ...

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – April 17, 2009

Niall Browne — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:11:13 +0000

In this Weeks spell check busting installment: Matthew McConaughey is an Exchange Student; Heffalump writer Spiliotopoulos will write Bekmambetov’s Wanted 2 – will Angelina Jolie be involved? Megan Fox is Crossing over; John Carter of Mars is Chabon and which one of the Watchmen has Morning Glory for Star Trek’s Abram?

1. Matthew McConaughey’s production company J.K. Livin is producing a comedy called Exchange Student. According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The story revolves around two exchange students, one who ships out from the U.S. and one who comes in, who experience new environments in very different ways: One has the time of his life, the other goes off the rails. The tenor of the project is described as a family comedy with wry overtones a la Wes Anderson.”

Mike Vukadinovich will write a script from the idea that originated with “Bongos” McConaughey, who may also take a role in the film.

The Sahara ...

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Writers Attached To Beverly Hills Cop 4

Jamie Williams — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:30:58 +0000

Earlier this summer, Paramount Pictures officially announced Beverly Hills Cop 4 would grace the silver screen. This despite the fact that they had yet to hire screenwriters and didn’t even have a story in place. They only had Eddie Murphy signed on to return and Brett Ratner was “in negotiations” to direct.

Cut to a few months later, and we now have screenwriters, ladies and germs!

Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (i.e. the screenwriting duo behind 3:10 to Yuma and Wanted) have been officially hired after submitting an outline/treatment that was given the thumbs up by studio big-wigs, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Ratner and Murphy himself.

I guess this takes Brandt and Haas out of Wanted 2 despite earlier reports.

Beverly Hills Cop 4 will begin filming next year for a Summer 2010 release.

Source: Variety

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Want More Wanted? Wanted 2 Is For You

Niall Browne — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:22:29 +0000

I don’t think that you need me to say that Hollywood loves a franchise – but darn it – I just said it. If it’s not a franchise then it’s just not worth it, and that seems to be the case with Wanted. The James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie starrer has recently crossed the magic $100 million barrier and now Universial Pictures wants a sequel.

“Easily done” I hear you say.

Not quite. There’s a problem or two.

Beware there are major Wanted Spoilers below.

Don’t say that I didn’t warn you!

In the new film version of Mark Millar’s comic book, the two major stars Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman… die. Yes – they bite the big one, leaving only McAvoy’s Wesley Gibson standing to kick ass in the follow-up.

While the film clearly has sequel written all over it – it will be ...

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