Wanted (2008 Film) - Sequel

Sequel

Even before the film's release, Mark Millar announced director Timur Bekmambetov was planning a sequel, though Millar denied that he would write a sequel to the comic book. He was instead creating a story along with the producers. In November 2008, screenwriter Chris Morgan was penning a screenplay to follow the first film, but due to "excessive workload", on April 2009 Morgan left the primary writing to Evan Spiliotopoulos. Terence Stamp described Pekwarsky as "something that’s written for a sequel", and Common expressed interest in a prequel, considering that both the Gunsmith and Fox deserved more exposition. On June 2009, Bekmambetov said pre-production for Wanted 2 was about to get started, with filming scheduled to begin in late fall or winter. The film will have a reported budget of $150 million and be shot in the United States, India and Russia. He also added that some of the characters would resurrect, particularly Fox and The Exterminator. At the San Diego Comic-Con during the same month, Mark Millar stated the script would follow the comic's idea of an international guild of assassins. In February 2010 it was reported that Angelina Jolie had pulled out of the sequel. Initial rumors stated this caused Universal to shut the project down, but the studio denied it. Millar said the script will be rewritten to remove Fox's return, so production can start in 2010 for a late 2011 release. In a 2011 Q&A producer Jim Lemley said that "Wanted 2 sounds like it will not happen any time soon if at all". That same year, James McAvoy declared on the sequel that "I think the studio is keen to make it, and we really want to make it, but we want to make it if it’s right and when it’s right, and that might not be ever." McAvoy also expressed interest in a sequel focusing on another character other than Wesley. In September 2011, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, writers of Wanted, were signed to write the sequel. Haas commented "Wanted 2 is going to take off right after the events that just happened; it'll pick up Wesley a few years later and go back in for another round." He added the sequel will be "Fox-less and loom-less." In October 2012 screenwriter Derek Haas confirmed he was working on a script and there would be a new female protagonist, he stated, "The only thing I can tell you is that Wesley is now, four years later, recruiting a young woman who is in his situation in the first movie. She's got a shitty life. He's sort of in the Fox role. This new girl is brought into the world." In March 2013, McAvoy declared that since "I had a blast making the first Wanted", he would make a sequel regardless of the quality of the script, but acknowledged that "the amount of years that have gone between the last one and if the next one ever gets made suggests to me that they’re not finding it very easy to come up with a story that they’re passionate about, so we’ll have to wait and see."