Fede Alverez, who directed the far better than it should've been remake to EVIL DEAD – as well as the tense DON'T BREATHE – was tapped to direct a sequel to the Jim Henson/David Bowie classic LABYRINTH (obviously sans either). Now, while that seems like not the best idea on paper, THE DARK CRYSTAL Netflix series has been extremely well-received, and even if you didn't care for the film, it's undeniable that Alvarez at least didn't completely sh*t the bed when given the chance to make an EVIL DEAD remake.
However, it was not meant to be. On Bloody-Disgusting's official BOO CREW podcast , the director revealed that he recently dropped out of the film. Here's a transcript of this reveal:
It’s so hard to decide what’s worth your time. And what’s worth the attention of the audience. Labyrinth was something I was going to do at some point, but then I stepped down…I just felt…when people have a preconceived notion of what something should be, it’s very hard to succeed – to surprise them. They’re just expecting the same thing again. So I just decided I didn’t want to do things as a director that people knew already what it was. Or have a preconceived notion of how it should look on the screen. So Labyrinth would be something that people would judge that way, so I decided not to do it
He even alluded to this feeling of "what's worth the attention" earlier in the conversation, when he stated:
My last movie (THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB) was me going to make a movie for the studio for the first time, like from inside. There were some things that I enjoyed and some things I didn’t about that. I’ve since wanted to just make the movies that really matter to me.
Currently, Alvarez is still attached to the intriguing-sounding zombie road trip movie 16 STATES. Also no word on if the LABYRINTH sequel is still in-development, or dead in the water after Alvarez's departure, but we'll keep you updated.
So what do you guys think? Are you sad we're not getting another LABYRINTH FILM? Excited for Alavrez's new project? Either way, sound off below!