Shawn Levy reveals the status of the sequel to Real Steel

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Test audiences got such a kick out of Shawn Levy's REAL STEEL that a sequel was put into development months before the film actually hit theaters. Featuring Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo and some boxing robots, REAL STEEL proved to be a hit (although not a huge one) but the years came and went without much talk of a follow-up. While speaking with Collider, Levy revealed that the film he gets asked about the most is the REAL STEEL sequel. Unfortunately for fans of the film, Levy added that it's still no closer to becoming a reality.

The most frequent tweet I get is about the sequel to Real Steel. I wish I had a conclusive answer. Here’s the truth: We started developing a sequel like six months before the movie came out. We knew as soon as we started previewing this movie and it was getting mid to high 90s at every test screening. It happens really rarely, but the movie had something that audiences responded to and so we started coming up with ideas for the sequel. The simple truth, the most concise truth I can express, is that it proved, and it has proven, really hard to come up with a sequel that doesn’t feel like a re-hash of the first movie. Yeah, people wanted to see Atom beat Zeus, I would love to see Atom beat Zeus, but you don’t want to retell the story of kind of an alienation between Charlie and Max because that is really the plot of the first movie.

As we're become bogged down with enough sequels, prequels, remakes and nostalgia reboots as it is, it's nice that Levy isn't simply rushing to produce a sequel for sequel's sake. Does REEL STEEL even need a sequel? Likely not, but if Shawn Levy and his team are able to come up with something which doesn't feel like a re-hash of the first movie, are we really going to say no to more boxing robots? As for what elements Levy would like explore in the possible sequel, he's got an answer for that as well.

One area that I still would love to explore is that notion of how was Atom built? What is it about his design that might have embedded some artificial or organic intelligence and consciousness, such that he is self-aware to some extent? So all I’ll say is, we’ve attempted it a few times with a number of writers, and no draft got me, Hugh, and Steven all there to a yes in the same moment. It all felt like it wasn’t quite enough to promise a new story and a new movie.  I have to tell you, I had a weird experience watching it tonight because on one hand it felt really good to revisit an old friend, but it also weirdly cemented my conviction that I just shouldn’t make a sequel unless I’m sure it will be better.

Although I haven't seen REAL STEEL since its release, I recall having a good time with it, so should a sequel hit theaters in future, you'll likely get no objections from me. What about you folks, are you game for another round of REAL STEEL or was the first enough?