Netflix is reportedly in the early stages of putting together not one, but two sequels for Red Notice, the star-studded heist movie the streamer released in November. The sequels will be shot-back-to-back and star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds again. Director Rawson Marshall Thurber, who also directed Johnson in Skyscraper and Central Intelligence, will be back as well.
If the deals can close quickly, production on the sequels could start in early 2023, sources told Deadline Wednesday. Thurber has reportedly started writing the new movies. Netflix plans to bring back the headlining trio from the first film and add new characters to the ensemble to build an Oceans Eleven-style franchise. Beau Flynn will produce the movies under his Flynn Pictures banner, along with Seven Bucks Productions’ Johnson, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia. Thurber is also involved as a co-producer under his Bad Version Productions. Flynn Pictures’ Scott Sheldon is an executive producer.
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In later November, Thurber told Collider he was already talking with Netflix about a sequel. “I’m not working on the script for a sequel… I’ve certainly been noodling with what I would do for a follow-up and not to telltale out of school but yeah Netflix…we’ve been having those conversations,” he said.
Thurber is also likely excited to get the main cast back together again since he enjoyed working with them. “I mean, talk about charisma,” Thurber told Empire Magazine. “So what does happen when you get Deadpool, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam in the immediate vicinity of one another? I feel very, very fortunate. It’s a little bit like directorial cheating, having all three of them together in the same frame. Chemistry is just not a function of writing or even directing – it’s a function of casting. You either have it or you don’t. And those guys have something special.”
Red Notice started life as just another big-budget movie starring The Rock and directed by Thurber at Universal and Legendary. However, when the budget began skyrocketing to $200 million after stars’ salaries climbed, Universal balked. Netflix then jumped at the chance to have a big-budget, starry movie with the potential to turn into its own franchise.
The gamble paid off for Netflix. Although Red Notice earned mixed reviews from critics, Netflix subscribers flocked to it and made it the most-watched film in its debut weekend and the most-watched Netflix movie within the first 28 days of its release. The movie received a very limited theatrical release in early November. Cinemark, one of the few chains that agreed to screen Netflix movies, said it was the best-performing Netflix movie since the two sides partnered up. It grossed an estimated $2 million in its first two weeks, reports Deadline.
