The 1990 creature feature Tremors (watch it HERE) is one of my all-time favorite movies, and the 1996 sequel Tremors II: Aftershocks (watch that one HERE) ranks highly up there with it. Tremors II is one of the best direct-to-video sequels that has ever been made… but when it was first being developed, the plan for it was to go theatrical, with Kevin Bacon and Reba McEntire reprising the roles of Valentine McKee and Heather Gummer, respectively. Now an outline has been posted online that reveals how Tremors II would have played out if Val and Heather had been in the movie, fighting Graboids and Shriekers alongside Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) and Burt Gummer (Michael Gross).
Here’s the outline, which was posted by Glenn Maddock in the Official Tremors Franchise Fans Facebook group:
As you can see (if you’re familiar with the sequel), the Tremors II: Aftershocks with Val and Heather in it would have been very close to the Tremors II we got. When Bacon opted not to return for the sequel, Earl was given a new sidekick in the form of Grady Hoover (played by Christopher Gartin), and in the finished film it’s said that Heather has left Burt, so he doesn’t have her by his side in this fight. One action sequence that’s in the outline but wasn’t in the movie is the “muzzle-loader battle”. That involves our heroes having to blast away at Shriekers with single-shot muzzle-loaders, and the idea was later used in an episode of the short-lived Tremors TV series.
If you want to know more about the unmade version of Tremors II that had Val and Heather in it, you might just be able to find the script online. Possibly even linked in the comments of Maddock’s post.
Are you a fan of Tremors II: Aftershocks? Would you rather have had Val in the Grady role and Heather with Burt? Let us know by leaving a comment below.