Sorry to bring such sad news right before tons of positive Comic-Con content is about to flood news feeds everywhere, but it looks like Chronicle 2 won’t see the return of arguably the biggest (or second biggest) reason as to why Chronicle was so damn good.
Back in 2012, Fox announced the sequel to their first-person superhero film Chronicle, but to many fan’s displeasure, Fox also let us know that director Josh Trank wouldn’t be returning for another high-flying adventure. To counteract the news though, Fox did inform fans that writer Max Landis would return for the sequel, so at least the script could be handled by someone already heavily invested in the story. I mean, Max created the story, you can’t be more invested than that.
Things started to get hazy a few months back though, as Max’s father John Landis came out with some details on the studio’s reaction to Max’s draft of Chronicle 2. As John phrased it:
“He wrote a sequel, and it’s amazing, and the studio read it and said, ‘We want ‘Chronicle’ again!’ And he said, ‘No, this is the sequel, it’s the evolution, and they said ‘No, we want that movie again!’ So it’s difficult, we’re dealing with a difficult business.'”
Max then responded to his father’s comments a few months after, assuring fans the sequel was moving forward as planned:
“There’s no one at the studio who wants to make a bad movie. They all want to make a good movie just as much as I do. We’re not fighting. The report came out that they didn’t like my script. They liked my script. It’s just a really dark script.”
Chronicle already had a darkness to it, as Dane DeHaan’s loner character becomes overtaken by his new powers, so the notion that Landis could explore even darker material had my excitement peaked. But, there was a tone to Max’s comments that had me nervous, as I read his last two sentences as “They liked my script, it was just too dark for their tastes.”
Unfortunately for fans, Landis took to Twitter a few hours ago and confirmed a lot of the questions on my mind. He not only confirmed he’s off the project, but he’s been off for a few months, Chronicle 2 is still moving forward, and new writers have been signed – but not yet announced. Check out his tweets below:
@DetmerStump @JoshTrank As of right now, neither Josh and I are on Chronicle 2, so…
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 18, 2013
.@PaulVRea I've been off Chronicle 2 for months now. Fox had a different direction they wanted to take the series, Josh was never attached.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 18, 2013
Ultimately, I'm just very grateful to Fox for making a film as close to my original script as Chronicle was. For making the film at all.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 18, 2013
So yeah it's sad that as of right now I'm not involved in the sequel, and don't know what it's about even, but ultimately I can't complain.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 18, 2013
As a screenwriter, I've been incredibly lucky so far. And hell, I start directing my first feature on Monday, so it's like…I don't know.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 18, 2013
The truth is, when you're successful as a screenwriter, you have to just take everything in stride. That's like more than half the job.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 18, 2013
Chronicle 2 is still probably happening, just not with my involvement as of now. It's a bummer, but there are no real hard feelings.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 18, 2013
They hired new writers on it. I'm sure they'll announce soon. Just hope this answers the questions I've been getting everyday.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 18, 2013
While I’m not giving up on Chronicle 2 in the least, I do find it a bit disheartening to hear Landis won’t be behind the story. He created these characters from the ground up, this is his baby – I would have loved to see where he wanted to take his remaining characters next. Oh well, looks like we won’t get the chance now, will we. What can you do, just take your lumps and keep trucking, right? Oh, and don’t worry, when we find out who the new writers are, we’ll let you know immediately!
So what do you think of Max Landis not being involved in the upcoming Chronicle sequel? Are you still as excited for the project?
