The Doug Liman-directed Road House remake, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, was a massive hit from Prime Video this winter. According to the streamer, the movie was watched by 50 million global viewers, which is a staggering audience and makes it one of the most popular streaming movies ever. In interviews, Gyllenhaal seemed open to the possibility of a sequel, and the film certainly left a huge plot thread dangling with its post-credits sequence. Thus, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Amazon announced at its Upfronts presentation today that a sequel is in the works, with Gyllenhaal returning as Dalton.
No news yet on whether co-star Connor McGregor or director Doug Liman will be returning. I would bet McGregor will be back, but Liman seems unlikely. The director has been outspoken about his conflict with Amazon regarding the film bypassing a theatrical release. The company, for its part, says the film was always meant for a streaming premiere and that the creative team signed off on this in exchange for a heftier budget.
Whatever the case, Road House 2 certainly seems like a no-brainer, as the last one is the kind of action flick that, even if it’s nowhere near as good as the original, goes down easy and plays well upon repeat viewings. If the movie ends up being made, as an action fan, I hope they tone down the CGI fight scenes and maybe distance themselves from the original film by seeing Dalton in a new adventure someplace cool. If Liman doesn’t come back, there are a lot of other good action directors out there that could probably nail a sequel, and indeed, this seems like it could be a really good franchise for Gyllenhaal, with room to improve.
What do you think? Is Amazon making a good call by doing Road House 2, or should it be a one-and-done action flick? Let us know in the comments.