The Two Jakes always seemed a bit lackluster to me. While it’s an alright film, it doesn’t quite come close to the level of quality that made Chinatown a classic. Look on many critics and organizations lists and you’ll find Chinatown but not The Two Jakes. Still, Jack Nicholson says the sequel was planned from the start. Not only the sequel, but apparently the original plan was to have his character, Jake Gittes, lead a trilogy of films.
Nicholson told the MTV Movie Blog about the plan originally concocted by himself and writer Robert Towne had for the character and the movies. ” We wanted it all to be tied into elemental things. Chinatown is obviously water. The Two Jakes is fire and energy. And the third film was meant to be about Gittes’ divorce and relate to air.”
Nicholson seems interested in still making the third film, even though it’s been seventeen years since The Two Jakes and 33 years since the first picture, Chinatown. He’s even shared some of the details of the story, which would take place in 1968 after California passed the “no-fault” divorce act and would center around Jake Gittes’ divorce.
As I said above, The Two Jakes doesn’t quite reach the same level of cinematic brilliance as its predecessor, so I’d almost hate to see a third picture come out and dilute the character even more. Still, the sequel wasn’t terrible, so there’s definitely potential for another decent story. I just wouldn’t expect it to be Chinatown.
