Here’s why John Turturro’s crime-comedy spinoff The Jesus Rolls isn’t titled The Big Lebowski 2. The Coen Brothers’ seventh film The Big Lebowski was released back in 1998 and soon established itself as a cult classic. Set in Los Angeles, the movie tells the tale of aging slacker and bowling enthusiast Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski” (Jeff Bridges) who unwittingly finds himself caught up in a botched kidnapping thanks to a case of mistaken identity.
Alongside Jeff Bridges as The Dude, The Big Lebowski cast features a whole host of fellow talents playing similarly iconic characters. There’s Steve Buscemi as The Dude’s timid and taciturn bowling pal Donny Kerabatsos and John Goodman as their fellow friend Walter Sobchak – an abrasive and instantly quotable Vietnam War veteran – plus other cast members including Julianne Moore, David Huddleston, Tara Reid and Philip Seymour Hoffman. One fan favorite to emerge from The Big Lebowski was The Dude’s nemesis Jesus Quintana – a bowling pro and pederast with a penchant for purple polyester played by John Turturro, who made a big impact despite only having a couple of scenes.
John Turturro reprised his role as Jesus in the 2019 film The Jesus Rolls, which he also wrote and directed. The crime-comedy picks up with Jesus Quintana after he’s released from New York’s notorious Sing Sing Prison and follows him and his friend Petey (Bobby Cannavale) as they embark on a petty crime spree, along with a free-spirited hairdresser named Marie (Audrey Tautou) they pick up along the way. Susan Sarandon, Christopher Walken, Jon Hamm and Pete Davidson also feature in The Jesus Rolls cast.
Its focus on Jesus Quintana implies The Jesus Rolls is a sequel, but it isn’t The Big Lebowski 2. It’s actually more of a spinoff or companion piece to the Coen Brothers’ cult classic and – at the same time – a remake of Bertrand Blier’s controversial 1974 French film Going Places. Believing his Big Lebowski character deserved more screen time, John Turturro had wanted to make a Jesus Quintana-focused follow-up for some time but knew the Coen Brothers weren’t interested in making The Big Lebowski 2. He did, however, manage to persuade the Coens to give their blessing to resurrect Jesus for a spinoff, although the duo weren’t involved in the production of The Jesus Rolls beyond that capacity.
The chances of The Big Lebowski 2 happening are slim to none, unfortunately. As previously mentioned, the Coen Brothers are pretty averse to follow-up films (Joel Coen once said “I just don’t like sequels”) so beyond The Jesus Rolls it looks like the world of The Big Lebowski won’t be revisited anytime soon. That said, the Coens have talked about the possibility of reuniting with John Turturro to make a sequel to their 1991 black comedy Barton Fink, so maybe The Big Lebowski 2 isn’t totally out of the question. Fans of The Big Lebowski probably shouldn’t hold their breath though.