Sam Raimi knows a thing or two about making a good sequel. Both Evil Dead II and Spider-Man 2 are not only independently great films, but easily rank as two of the best examples of their respective genres. Because of this, Raimi's word means quite a lot when it comes to the subject of follow-ups... which is why it's crazy exciting that he's called the idea driving the in-development Don't Breathe 2 the greatest idea for a sequel that he's personally come across.
I learned a bit about Don't Breathe 2 earlier this afternoon when I had the immense pleasure of joining a small group of journalists to sit down with Sam Raimi, Fede Alvarez, and Rodo Sayagues for a filmmaker lunch in promotion of the upcoming home video launch of Don't Breathe. The two hour-long conversation allowed us all to talk about many different subjects surrounding the making of this past summer's horror hit, including the potential future. I asked the three men what was cooking in the future, and Alvarez and Raimi made us very excited with some sequel talk:
Fede Alvarez: Right now, yeah, Don't Breathe 2 is something we definitely want to do. The challenge obviously is -- we just don't want to do the same movie again, slap a "2" on it. We'll feel so embarrassed if we do that. Our first reaction when they told us, 'Do you want to do it?' was like, 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's Hollywood! That's the devil! We don't want to make a sequel just because we can.' But then we got an idea that we're really excited about, and I won't tell you what it is because it will spoil the whole thing.Sam Raimi: It's only the greatest idea for a sequel that I've ever heard! I'm not kidding!
Continuing, Fede Alvarez explained that he sees the approach to Don't Breathe 2 as being "anarchic as an approach to a sequel" -- completely setting us up for something completely unexpected and different from the movie that came out in 2016. Things are still very much in the early days, and as a result he hasn't even been able to get the studio's thoughts on the idea, but Sam Raimi already has a pretty good idea how they are going to react to it. Raimi said, laughing,
I don't think they're going to like it at all! They're going to freak out when they find out that's what you're thinking.
Given that this is coming from a filmmaker who has spent his entire career making anti-cookie cutter and bombastic, unique movies -- even while working within the studio system -- this is very exciting and promising news for Don't Breathe 2.
From what the filmmaker team told us about the project, nothing about Don't Breathe 2 seems set in stone just yet, and Fede Alvarez noted that he's not even fully committed to directing it unless he really falls in love with it. All the same, he's very excited to dive more into the great horror character that was introduced to big screen audiences earlier this year. Said Alvarez,
But we're excited about that. We're probably going to start writing pretty soon, and if I love it I'll direct it as well. We'll see what happens. It's exciting to create a character that you want to see more out of. At least I do! To see the Blind Man on the screen again doing some other things, and what's going to happen with him in his life.
Given that Fede Alvarez is now attached to make The Girl In The Spider's Web, it may be a minute before we get any big, firm details about the development of Don't Breathe 2 - but we'll have the latest as it breaks. Be sure to check out Don't Breathe on Blu-ray and DVD when it arrives on shelves November 29th, and stay tuned for a whole lot more from our chat with Alvarez, Sam Raimi, and Rodo Sayagues!
