Despite going up some pretty stiff competition, Daddy’s Home made an impressive start to its box office tenure when it was released on Christmas Day. Its opening weekend haul of $43.2 million was substantially more than projected, and it only came in second to the box office juggernaut that is Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But does this success mean that a Daddy’s Home 2 is on the way? Well, if it is actually greenlit, co-writer and director Sean Anders admitted that they’d have to go back to the drawing board with their ideas because it certainly wasn’t planned.
I had the chance to speak to Daddy’s Home writers Sean Anders, Brian Burns, and John Morris earlier this month, and they revealed that a particular scene at the end of the comedy wasn’t meant to allude to a potential follow-up. Instead it was meant to bring the film full circle. Anders explained:
We're trying to keep that last scene a secret. But it wasn't meant as a tease. Only to bring the film full circle. If we did a sequel we'd have to go back to the drawing board to think of something regarding their dynamic.
Those of you that haven’t seen Daddy’s Home might be wondering what the potentially sequel teasing scene in question actually is? If you don’t want the comedy to be ruined for you then it’s probably best not to read ahead. You have been warned.
So, at the end of Daddy’s Home, when Will Ferrell’s Brad Whitaker and Mark Wahlberg’s Dusty Mayron have become BFFs and set aside their differences, we are introduced to Dusty’s new wife, Karen (Alessandra Ambrosio). Karen herself has her own children from a previous marriage. The film’s final shot sees Dusty introduced to their biological father, who is played by none-other than John Cena, a WWE star who makes Mark Wahlberg look like Steve Rogers before he’s injected with serum.
But what are the chances that we could actually see Daddy’s Home 2? Well, in all honesty, it’s very remote. While I personally quite enjoyed Daddy's Home and found it to be funny enough, as well as slightly touching, the critical response has only been mixed, meaning that the calls for a follow-up probably won’t be too loud. Plus, considering how much convincing it took to get Anchorman 2 made, it’s unlikely that Will Ferrell would be that interested in returning.
Plus, Daddy’s Home probably got as much comic mileage from its set-up as it possibly could. I’d still be interested in seeing Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell re-teaming for further laughs and giggles though. And having gone up so valiantly against Star Wars: The Force Awakens, they'll probably be asked to at some point.
