Kill Bill: Volume 3
There weren’t many people left standing (or even propped up on stumps) at the close of Kill Bill: Volume 2, but according to Quentin Tarantino there were more than enough for a second sequel. Tentatively scheduled for 2014 and unlikely to actually be called Kill Bill anything (for obvious reasons if you’ve seen the previous two movies), the film was as of 2009 rumoured to chronicle the attempted revenge of Nikki Green after having watched her mother’s death at the hands of Uma Thurman’s The Bride. With Tarantino’s Django Unchained scheduled for a January 2013 U.K. release, Volume 3 would probably have to be his next film in order to meet a 2014 deadline.
Gremlins 3
Their beautiful (if brief) appearance in a 2008 BT advert aside, we have heard very little from either Gizmo or his gremlin relatives since their 80s heyday. Despite the twenty plus year gap since The New Batch erupted in 1990, the Gremlins brand has endured and questions regarding the much discussed second sequel have shown no sign of abating. With original writer Chris Columbus and executive producer Steven Spielberg denying that a reboot is in the works (and Columbus even quoted as suggesting “It would be fun to go back and revisit them“), it seems that there is very little actually in the way of a third instalment. Unfortunately, even with the economic potential of a 3D overhaul, it just doesn’t seem to be happening. The gremlins seem to have won.
Hellboy 3
Somewhat overlooked back in 2008 as everyone delighted at Iron Man’s charisma and fawned over Batman’s growly voice, Hellboy II: The Golden Army quietly improved on its forebear with bigger effects and quieter character moments, delivering what in my opinion was the superhero movie of the summer. Planned by visionary director Guillermo del Toro as a trilogy, Hellboy III would conclude the story of Anung Un Rama – if only del Toro could find a spare five minutes in his schedule and Ron Perlman convinced to return to the make-up chair for another round of prosthesis. While these delays might be fine for Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (who would understandably quite like to tell the story first himself), it’s most certainly not OK with the rest of us.
Jurassic Park 4
A Development Hell mainstay, the Jurassic Park franchise has come dangerously close to joining its titular attractions in the distant past – it’s spent more time on the brink than most of Earth’s endangered species spliced together. While a fourth film has been in production pretty steadily over the last few years, and just about every member of the franchise’s collective cast linked with the sequel at some stage or other, Spielberg has struggled to find a script that suitably balances the action with the science. Add to that further setbacks in the form of the tragic deaths of both original author Michael Crichton and series special effects artist Stan Winston, and you have a film that no amount of love and fan conservation can seem to save.
Star Wars Episodes 7, 8 and 9
I know that many of you would place Ghostbusters III very firmly on this list, but it is my top 10 and I for one have grown too tired of Bill Murray’s changeable mind to care anymore. Much more enticing is the possibility of another Star Wars trilogy, particularly given the narrative freedom that would liberate Episodes 7, 8 and 9 from the shadow of the original trilogy, thereby saving it from at least one criticism that befell the under-appreciated prequels. With George Lucas set to retire from big budget filmmaking, no doubt dispirited by his truly shocking treatment at the hands of fanboys ‘slighted’ by his later works, it really is a shame that we might never see Lucas’ completed trilogy of trilogies. As the princess said to the smuggler, “would it help if I got out and pushed?”
About Steven Neish