Wanted 2 writer Michael Brandt reveals why the sequel never happened

Last Updated on March 26, 2024

Loosely based on the comic series by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones, Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted was a stylized action movie starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman. The film was a critical and commercial success upon its release in 2008, grossing over $342 million worldwide, so it came as no surprise when the studio got the ball rolling on Wanted 2; But here we are, sixteen years later, and there’s no sequel in sight.

Michael Brandt, one of the co-writers of the original movie, told MovieWeb that while a script for Wanted 2 exists, he fears that the momentum to get it made has been lost.

“We had an idea for a sequel. We pitched it, wrote it. And it seems like there was some real interest in the studio to make it,” Brandt said. “And then Timur, who directed the first one, absolutely was interested as well. But he had a kind of a different idea for what he wanted to do… And it’s just one of those moments where somebody says the wrong thing in terms of our movie going forward, and the script that we’d written going forward. And he suggested some changes. And it kind of took the wind out of the sails at the studio. And then, the studio’s turnover is ‘fast and furious,’ to borrow a phrase. And I think the sequel of Wanted just kind of got left behind as other things started going forward.“

“So there’s a script, I’d love to see it get made, and I really liked it,” Brandt said. “I thought it was a proper sequel to the first one. But so far, the momentum has been lost.“

While Bekmambetov’s “different idea” stalled the project years ago, he did come up with an out-of-the-box idea for a potential sequel in 2020 which would have utilized Screenlife technology. The method ditches traditional cameras and tells its story using computer screens, webcams, and smartphone cameras, and Screenlife movies such as Unfriended and Searching have been very successful “Maybe do the Wanted sequel in Screenlife. I cannot imagine an assassin in today’s world would run with a gun,” Bekmambetov said. “Why? He will use drones, he will use computer technology, probably. You don’t need to bend bullets anymore. You need to bend ideas.“

Would you still like to see Wanted 2, or has its moment passed?