BLOODSHOT may have ended its theatrical run prematurely due to the global pandemic but the film was one of the first to hit PVOD early when movie theaters began shuttering nationwide. Apparently, the film did well enough during its limited theatrical life and on PVOD because a BLOODSHOT 2 with Vin Diesel is in the works according to DMG founder and CEO Dan Mintz.
Mintz told CBR that in a BLOODSHOT 2 Vin Diesel will be expected to return to reprise the titular role. Mintz also pointed to the film's surprise success following its transition from theaters to VOD:
"I think [Bloodshot] was very successful in that respect, a lot of people saw it and it did very well in the post-release rollout but you can't use the same evaluation process, pre-COVID, to this. [Are] Vin Diesel and all those people going to still continue? Yes, because it did so well and the response to it has been so well, it's just that the response has been in a non-transparent environment, as opposed to a transparent environment like box office numbers."
The plan was for the DMG Entertainment and Sony film adaptation to pave the way for a future franchise with Fred Pierce, the publisher of Valiant Comics, believing BLOODSHOT would be the first installment of Valiant's cinematic universe. That universe is now divided since Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to the Harbinger franchise from Sony last year, along with core characters like X-O Manowar, Eternal Warrior, and Archer & Armstrong. Paramount hasn't announced an official release date for the HARBINGER movie but Valiant Entertainment recently announced that they were targeting a 2021 release date. Since these Valiant properties are no longer set at Sony, the universe that began with BLOODSHOT might not be associated with those other films.
BLOODSHOT didn't really impress critics and its box office performance was stalled by the pandemic but the film still garnered a big enough fan base once it got going on PVOD. The film became the most-watched film on Amazon Prime over its first three days of release and even managing to outperform BIRDS OF PREY on streaming.
Directed by David S. F. Wilson, making his feature directorial debut, BLOODSHOT follows a Marine who was killed in action, only to be brought back to life with superpowers by an organization that wants to use him as a weapon. The film also stars Eiza Gonzalez, Sam Heughan, Toby Kebbell, and Guy Pearce.
Are YOU looking forward to the BLOODSHOT sequel?