Jake Gyllenhaal wants Willie Nelson for Road House 2 and pays respects to another Patrick Swayze classic

When images started to surface of Jake Gyllenhaal filming a UFC fight scene for the Road House remake, audiences got a glimpse at how the Doug Liman film for Amazon would differentiate itself from the original Patrick Swayze film from 1989. The consensus was that making Dalton a former professional fighter was an interesting twist that wouldn’t make the remake a complete copy of the Swayze film. However, the die-hard fans would remain skeptical. Now that the film has been released on Prime Video (along with the controversy of not being given a theatrical window), many agree that it doesn’t have the heart of the original, but there is still a division among the viewers on who may have still found it serviceable.

Despite the mixed reception, the remake was a big hit for Amazon MGM and a sequel had already been greenlit. Along with Road House‘s success, Gyllenhaal’s production company, Nine Stories, would sign a three-year first-look movie deal with Amazon. According to a new interview from The Hollywood Reporter, Gyllenhaal is already brainstorming casting country legend Willie Nelson in the sequel. He told THR that he was listening to “Willie’s Roadhouse” on Nelson’s Sirius XM channel while en route to the interview and thought,

Wait, Willie Nelson’s got to be in this. Willie Nelson’s got to do a song with Post Malone.”

While Gyllenhaal was taking the time to promote his upcoming AppleTV+ series Presumed Innocent, he would talk about his background and spoke about another Patrick Swayze classic that he loved while growing up. He reminisced about how he’s watched 1991’s Point Break more than any other movie in his life and showed much admiration to Swayze and Keanu Reeves’ performances from that film. “To deliver a line that goes into a trailer, with the right gusto and belief, and even with the absurdity of it, it’s a mastery,” Gyllenhaal says. “There’s that thing, the camera’s pushing in and I’m always like, ‘Oh wow, this is when you see Bruce Willis do the line, the thing. And now I’m doing the thing. Like, oh God.’ ” “The thing” he may be referring to is the line from his Road House that was featured in the trailer where he taunted an opponent before a fight with talk of insurance and the nearest hospital. He concluded the thought with, “It requires this ease, but focus. I’m in awe of people who can do it.”