How do you make a sequel to Skyline? Apparently by starting from scratch with a whole new cast.
Latino Review reports that Skyline's sequel Beyond Skyline will be fronted by none other than Frank Grillo, a character actor who gained some major notice last summer with a scene-stealing turn in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the gritty vigilante lead in The Purge: Anarchy. His portrayal in the latter had many comparing Grillo to Charles Bronson in Death Wish, and crying out for more Grillo. Thankfully, it seems both the filmmakers behind The Purge 3 and Beyond Skyline are happy to oblige.
Now you might be wondering who Frank Grillo is set to play. After all, he wasn't in the first Skyline alongside Eric Balfour and Donald Faison, who played vfx artists trapped in Los Angeles when aliens invade. Well, if you recall most of the crew of the first film didn't survive to the end credits. So bringing in some fresh blood was an expected move for the sequel. However, Latino Review claims that Beyond Skyline won't be so much a sequel as a companion-piece. Think 300 and 300: Rise of an Empire, two films with narratives that take place simultaneously, showing different aspects of the same event. In that pair of war movies, the event was the Persian Wars. In the instance of the emerging Skyline franchise, the event will be the invasion of brain-sucking aliens.
A simultaneous story is a surprise considering Skyline seemed to set up its sequel in finale. Spoilers for Skyline follow: In the film's climax, Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and his pregnant girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson) are abducted into the massive hovering extraterrestrial ships. But--as depicted in the video below--something goes awry when the aliens try to harvest Jarrod's brain. Though it's taken from his body, its will overrides that of its alien host, and he's shown rescuing Elaine.
You might well have assumed a Skyline would follow their escape from the ship, or perhaps their efforts to build a resistance on Earth. Well, the latest rumors suggest that's not the case. However, I expect that Jarrod's character will reappear in Beyond Skyline, though Balfour--who is not mentioned in the Latino Review piece--may not. Consider the poster that was being used to pitch this sequel to financiers at Cannes:
My guess is that Beyond Skyline will focus on Frank Grillo's character (please let him be an angry cop!), but perhaps in the second or third act, the sequel will reintroduce Jarrod--now in alien form and fighting against the beasts that made him that way. The two will team up to take those spaceships down. Tell me that doesn't sound like fun.
Beyond Skyline will be directed by Liam O'Donnell, producer and co-writer of Skyline. The sequel is now in pre-production. It's unknown when shooting might kick off.
