It’s only January 3rd of 2019 and already, director Gregory Plotkin has served up a delightful (read: terrifying) treat in Hell Fest, the theme park slasher movie that’s currently simmering at just over $17 million worldwide.
And considering the movie itself was tethered to a $5.5 million product budget, that’s a pretty incredible feat by anyone’s standards, and if history has taught us anything, it’s that surprising box office returns tend to ignite talks of a potential sequel – just look at Happy Death Day 2U. And Hell Fest? Well, its fate ultimately rests in the hands of CBS and Lionsgate, though for what it’s worth, Plotkin is more than willing to have another crack at the whip, even if he admits that it’s unlikely Hell Fest 2.0 will ever materialize.
I’m not sure the box office was what people were hoping for a sequel. Everyone’s been so wonderful from CBS, Lionsgate, Gale [Anne Hurd]. We have a lot of ideas. I think this is a character that we want to explore. I really want to explore Tony Todd’s character [and the fact that] he owns this place more. Tony is just a phenomenal person and a phenomenal actor. He and I had a lot of conversations about it.
Plotkin then went on to discuss one scene, in particular (spoiler alert!), and how it could be explored further in a potential sequel. Because as the director points out, theme parks are a helluva lot more sophisticated than they were five or six years ago.
Via Daily Dead:
And there’s this whole idea of that mask room was kills that [the villain has] done in years past. I have thought through quite a few fun new kills we could employ and some different scenarios. Six or seven years ago, these parks were not as elaborate and intricate as they were today. We have a lot of different geographical locations where we could stage a park. If we’re lucky enough to do it, I would love to. But, unfortunately, it’s not in my hands right now.
Alas, the future of Hell Fest will be determined by the Powers That Be. Still, even if Plotkin’s genre mash-up remains a one-hit wonder, we can still enjoy it all over again when the film heads to Blu-ray and DVD on January 8th.
