Two weeks ago, we shared a Vulture interview in which DEMOLITION MAN screenwriter Daniel Waters acknowledged that a lot of the things he had written about the future year of 2032 in that 1993 film have come true in unexpected ways. During the interview, he talked a bit about sequel ideas that never came to fruition… and by the end of it, he seemed to have been inspired to start trying to put a DEMOLITION MAN 2 together.
I guess Waters really was inspired, because according to DEMOLITION MAN star Sylvester Stallone a sequel is now in the works. (So if you want to catch up on or revisit the first film, you can do so on Amazon Prime Video.)
Stuck in quarantine like so many of us are, Stallone decided to pass some time by doing an Instagram Q&A yesterday. One of the questions was, "Can we get another DEMOLITION MAN?" Stallone answered:
I think there is (another DEMOLITION MAN) coming. We're working on one right now with Warner Bros. and it's looking fantastic. So that should come out. That's gonna happen."
Directed by Marco Brambilla, DEMOLITION MAN co-starred Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock. The synopsis:
Sgt. John Spartan doesn't fight crime. He rips into it like a junkyard dog. He's the Demolition Man and he's the future's only hope. Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes go at it amid dazzling cyber-future of 2032 (designed by Blade Runner's David L. Snyder) in this funny action blast. Arch criminal Simon Phoenix (Snipes) has fled a 35-year CryoPrison deep freeze to find a serene non-violent Southern California ready for the taking. Unable to deal with his psychopathic 1990s style, authorities seek an old-fashioned cop to fight old-fashioned crime. They revive Spartan (Stallone), currently in CryoPrison from his last encounter with Phoenix.
Waters said a sequel idea that came up in 1993 involved John Spartan's daughter, a character we don't see in the film.
First of all, nobody seems to do the math that the daughter would be older than Stallone. We filmed a scene where … an actress that I like — Elizabeth Ruscio — she was in this great miniseries with Juliette Lewis called Home Fires. Nobody’s ever heard of it, but it’s brilliant. Anyway, she ends up playing Stallone’s daughter. It’s a tender scene, [and it] just stopped the movie dead. So, Joel’s like, “Cut it. Just cut it.” And so we cut the scene out. And then I tell you, all our first test screenings … everyone thought Sandra Bullock was the daughter. So, when they’re about to have sex, the whole audience is, “Oh, no.” … And we thought, “Maybe we should cut out all mentions of the daughter.” Can’t do it. We can’t do it. We need something. And then Joel Silver’s like, “Meryl Streep is the daughter [for the sequel]. She needs a big box office action movie.” I go, “No, she doesn’t.” But he was like, “If I get her to do it, will you come on?” Which is funny, because to get Winona Ryder off my back (about a HEATHERS sequel), I had told her the story of her character in HEATHERS, going to Washington and working for a senator named Heather — played by Meryl Streep. She was like, “I pitched to Meryl, she’s excited.” So, I’m doomed, for no Meryl Streep sequels are happening. But yes, Joel did talk about a sequel."
We'll keep you updated on DEMOLITION MAN 2 as the project moves forward.