Robert Downey Jr's Dolittle movie was a critical and financial flop, leaving many to wonder if there will be a sequel and what could be expected from a potential Dolittle 2. With a significant budget and the star power of RDJ behind it, Universal Pictures was likely banking on the movie to lead to a franchise, going as far as moving the release date several times and undertaking costly reshoots on Dolittle. Given the character's history, it makes sense for the studio to have expectations of expanding beyond one film.
The first live-action Doctor Dolittle was released in 1967, starring Rex Harrison, but it was the 1998 version that would give a studio hope for a new franchise. The Eddie Murphy vehicle was successful enough to spawn four sequels. While Murphy only appeared in the first movie of the series and 2001's Dr. Dolittle 2, there was enough momentum to continue with 3 direct-to-video installments, letting the focus fall on Dolittle's daughter.
Given the poor performance of Downey Jr's Dolittle, no word about greenlighting a sequel has come from Universal yet. But with a bevy of source material and a door left open by the film itself, here is what to expect from Dolittle 2.
There Are More Doctor Dolittle Stories
Doctor Dolittle's history goes far beyond just film. The character was created by Hugh Lofting during WWI as something to send to his children while he was away fighting. The first novel was published in 1920, leading to over a dozen books and short story collections by the author over several decades. Using one of these stories as the foundation for Dolittle 2 is certainly in the cards, as the primary source material for Dolittle was the second book in the series, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.
What Dolittle 2's Story Could Be
A logical place to take Dolittle 2 would be to go to the next book chronologically in Lofting's series, Doctor Dolittle's Zoo, where Dolittle returns home from his adventures and takes more animals into his care. This would pick up right where Dolittle left off. However, if budget is a concern, and it should be with the first movie's underperformance at the box office, expect an expanded role for Tommy Stubbins, who was played by Dunkirk's Harry Collett in Dolittle. Tommy, who is introduced as a sidekick for the doctor, becomes the narrator for many of the books in the series and this would be an opportunity to scale back Robert Downey Jr.'s presence and, likely, paycheck.
Will Dolittle 2 Happen?
Dolittle 2 isn't very likely to happen. Dolittle's box office failure means it is falling short of recouping the money it cost to make and market the movie. Universal would have to be willing to double down in the hope that correcting errors made the first go around could be fixed. If Dolittle does well with digital and home release sales, there is always the opportunity to do what the Eddie Murphy series did and let the story pick up following another character, in this case Tommy, in hopes that children will remain invested in the franchise. The likelihood of that happening seems small considering the big draw was getting Downey, following up on his success with the Avengers franchise.