It's been a few months since we last heard an update about the progress of Chronicle 2, and at that time there was little more than bad news. While the news didn't come from an official source, just screenwriter Max Landis' dad John Landis, the story was more than a little disheartening, with the elder Landis saying that the script for the sequel was having trouble over at 20th Century Fox and that the studio simply wanted a rehash of the movie we already saw. But now the screenwriter has popped up to set the record straight, and it sounds like things may have been a little blown out of proportion.
Speaking to IGN Middle East, Max Landis explained that Chronicle 2 is still moving along, albeit at a slow place. Saying that it wasn't his father's place to comment on the status of the sequel, the screenwriter told the site that the success of the first film has simply led to a lot of voices trying to edge in their opinion about what the follow-up should be like. Said Landis,
"There are a lot more voices coming in and saying 'This is what the sequel should be' because there’s a bigger expectation and a bigger fear of failure. And that’s really what’s going on with Chronicle 2. Josh [Trank] is directing Fantastic Four. I’m doing a hundred other movies. Chronicle 2 has become this question of 'How do we all make a movie that we all respect and that’s true to what Chronicle is?' There’s no one at the studio who wants to make a bad movie. They all want to make a good movie just as much as I do. We’re not fighting."
Landis also set the record straight on the draft that he already turned into the studio, saying that they didn't hate it, but that there are still some issues that need to be worked out. "They liked my script," he said. "It’s just a really dark script. The question is more of 'How do we all compromise to get something we want?' And that’s an incredibly slow process."
So it sounds as though it's going to be a while until Chronicle 2 actually gets off the ground, but that's nothing that we didn't expect. Trank's Fantastic Four was recently given a March 6, 2015 release date, which means that he will be tied up for at least the next three years (if it goes well chances are the studio is going to want a sequel), and Landis is even prepping his own directorial debut, with Me Him Her. So fret not, fans. It sounds like it will happen, just not soon.
