Alex Cross, the new thriller from director Rob Cohen starring Tyler Perry and Matthew Fox, is a terrible, terrible movie. The performances are all off, the camera work is incoherent, and the same can be said of the script. It's the kind of movie that deserves to crash and burn at the box office and wind up being sold on DVD racks at gas stations for $4.95. So why on god's green Earth anyone would want to create a direct sequel is far beyond me.
Though the new film won't be out until Friday, Deadline is reporting that Tyler Perry and author James Patterson (who wrote the novels on which the movie is based) are close to a deal that would see them making a follow up to Alex Cross. The plan is to adapt the story Double Cross, the 13th book in the series, which features the psychiatrist/detective teaming up with his new girlfriend, a fellow detective, on the hunt for a serial killer who craves an audience for his crimes. The report doesn't mention whether or not Rob Cohen will return as director.
I find it sad that the only reason they chose Double Cross as the next book to adapt is that they can make a clever pun with the title being a sequel (get it?). But as terrible as I think the first movie is (please, please don't go see it), who knows what could happen. Perhaps they will hire a talented director for the sequel and get writers who know how to properly handle exposition and have an awareness of structure. I wouldn't bet on it.
