Eastern Promises 2 is reportedly on the way after spending years in development limbo. Eastern Promises was directed by David Cronenberg and starred Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. The 2007 film followed a Russian-British midwife, Anna (Watts), hunting for the truth after a pregnant teen whose child she delivered dies in childbirth, and has possible connections to the Russian mob. As she gets more involved, the mob boss tied to the teen orders his fixer, Nikolai (Mortensen), to get close enough to Anna to scare her off the fact-finding mission, while also suppressing any evidence about the dead teenager's involvement with the mob.
Reports on an Eastern Promises sequel date back to 2009, just two years after the movie premiered. Cronenberg was still attached to the sequel at that time, as was Mortensen, Eastern Promises' writer, Steven Knight, and its producer, Paul Webster. Filming on Eastern Promises 2 was supposed to begin in 2010, with Knight having written the sequel script which would follow fixer-turned-mob boss Nikolai, as it was revealed to his mob associates he was actually a member of Russia's federal security service attempting to take the operation down from the inside. Conflicting reports floated around in the ensuing years on the status of the Eastern Promises 2. Cronenberg said in 2012 the sequel was canceled over budget disagreements with Focus Films. Another report came out in January 2017 saying development had resumed and filming would begin in March of that year under a new title, Body Cross. It's been over two years since any news about the Eastern Promises 2 has come out; where does the sequel stand now?
Knight is the only remaining team member attached to and pushing for the Eastern Promises sequel. A 2018 ScreenDaily report indicated Knight's Eastern Promises 2 script would retain the 2017 working title Body Cross but it was being repurposed into a standalone thriller about two Russian immigrant brothers living in London. Speaking with Collider in January 2019, Knight remarked the script had been adjusted "as a result of events in the world" and would reflect recent developments in Russia, specifically. He didn't go into further specifics on the plot or other production details. In spite of this, Knight confirmed development was at a stage where filming would begin soon but didn't give an exact date (e.g. later in 2019).
Cronenberg has long since departed Eastern Promises 2 following his comments about the sequel being canceled. Mortensen has left too, and moved on to other roles including ones in The Road, Captain Fantastic, and Green Book, which earned him a Best Actor nomination at the 2019 Oscars. Additionally, William Oldroyd (Lady Macbeth) is no longer attached to direct after being tied to the sequel when it was under the working title Body Cross and ready to film in 2018.
Eastern Promises 2 is closer than ever to getting made after a decade spent in development. Knight's enthusiasm for making the sequel happen coupled with having a script in place are good signs. However, key elements like securing a cast and a director need to occur before fans can have any confidence that Eastern Promises 2 will actually materialize.