David Cronenberg's body horror movie The Fly may have been followed up by The Fly II, but an unmade sequel titled Flies never came to fruition. The 1986 has grown to cult classic status for its impeccable storyline and nuanced approach to the horrific transformation of the human body under grueling circumstances. Unfortunately, its sequel did not have as much success and has been remarked as a large disappointment to fans of the original. The unmade third movie in the series intended on remedying these issues, but it was never made. Here's everything we know about Flies.
The Fly follows Seth Brundle, portrayed by Jeff Goldblum, as he develops teleportation pods that allow for an individual to transport between one pod to the next. Shortly after starting a romantic relationship with Veronica "Ronnie" Quaife (Geena Davis, Beetlejuice), he uses the device to transport himself, but a common housefly that's trapped in one of the pods causes their DNA to merge. As the movie progresses, Seth begins to delve into a total loss of sanity as his body mutates and ultimately transforms into a horrifying fly creature. David Cronenberg is known for his incredibly nuanced body horror movies. They commonly pertain to the exploration of gender, sexuality, and social as well as political discourse. In regards to The Fly, it was created and released in the midst of the AIDS public health crisis and, therefore, is considered a metaphor for the virus's impact on the body. While this was not Cronenberg's intent, which was the depiction of terminal illnesses and deterioration, but its cultural context and impact resulted in this comparison.
Cronenberg was not involved in The Fly II. Chris Walas, the special effects artist behind The Fly, directed the sequel while Mick Garris, Frank Darabont (The Blob, The Shawshank Redemption) as well as Ken and Jim Wheat (A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) wrote the screenplay. While Geena Davis was set to return, she did not once she found out that Ronnie would be killed in the opening sequence. Rather than play into its cult status by bringing in the original's key characters, the sequel focused on Seth and Ronnie's son, who inherited his human-fly DNA. The plot for The Fly II was interesting enough, but it wasn't executed in a way that honored the original, which Flies could've done.
The primary point of Flies was to retcon the impact that The Fly II had on the original movie. Rather than focus solely on Seth and Ronnie's son, it was set to follow her right after the events of The Fly with the birth of their twin sons. It would follow the two as they reached puberty, where their inherited DNA from Seth would cause their bodies to exhibit similar mutations to their father's. This wasn't the original script for Flies, but it is the most current iteration of it.
Flies was originally pitched shortly after the release of the original movie and was written by Tim Lucas. It would've starred Geena Davis reprising her role as Ronnie. After the discovery of Seth's teleportation pods, scientists altered them into cloning devices, which is the reason behind the plurality of the title. Goldblum would've returned as well, but only to act as a voiceover to explain that his character's consciousness was trapped inside of the computer systems that run the cloning technology. Ronnie and Seth could've been reunited, as a cloned version of his human body would've offered a new host to his consciousness. Flies never came to fruition, as the filmmaker wanted to go in a different route that resulted in The Fly 2 being made.
While Flies has yet to happen, it could be next on the list of 1980s horror movies receiving the reboot or sequel treatment. Similar to David Gordon Green's Halloween, Flies could retcon The Fly II by completely erasing its events from the series' canon. It is entirely possible that either script could be done as well. While a sequel was neve truly necessary, the fact that such a poorly done one exists right now, means that there should be something done to remedy its mistakes. If a reboot or sequel is made in the near future, The Fly's true sequel could be about Ronnie and Seth's twins or about cloning pods. As of this writing, there is no news on whether or not Flies will ever happen, but there is hope.