Of course Warner Bros. was going to make a SAN ANDREAS sequel. How could they not? The first one did well for them at the box office, starred The Rock who is one of the few bankable stars out there right now and had a visual effects-laden concept that is custom-made for the summer blockbuster season. That can easily be duplicated.
Warner Bros.’ New Line branch is moving ahead with plans for SAN ANDREAS 2, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson set to return and lay the smack down on more earthquakes, with the seismic activity reaching beyond the U.S. and going global. Neil Widener and Gavin James have been tapped to pen the script for director Brad Peyton, focusing the story more on the Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean that is said to be home to about 90% of the world’s earthquakes. Oh, and there are volcanoes out there, so now you have new opponents for Johnson’s helicopter pilot to make look like a bunch of jabronis when all is said and done.
Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario and Paul Giamatti are all expected to return, reprising their roles from the first film… but it’s going to take some creativity to get everyone out to that part of the world without making it totally ridiculous to the point that the audience doesn’t buy in. Ridiculous is fine… but totally ridiculous? That tends to be a dealbreaker for many, if you smell what I’m cookin’.