Wayne’s World director believes the sequel happened too fast

Wayne’s World is probably considered one of the best Saturday Night Live sketch spin-offs of the bunch and, as the film approaches its 30th anniversary on February 14, the film’s director is looking back on its success and commenting on the fact that Wayne’s World 2 was released way too fast.

During a chat with Screen Rant, director Penelope Spheeris discussed the original film and expressed her disappointment that she couldn’t direct the follow-up. Wayne’s World, starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, became a massive hit in 1992, grossing $121.6 million domestically on a $20 million budget. The studio felt the need to rush the sequel out and it took only a year to get the film on the big screen, a move that Spheeris feels was a mistake:

“Oh, I never resisted it. I think, honestly, what happened was we did the first Wayne’s World, and it was a very big success. Then see, when they told me after we finished the movie that they were going to do Wayne’s World 2 so soon, I thought, ‘Gosh, that just seems a little quick to me.’ Then for various reasons, I wasn’t involved. But over the years, I get scripts and synopsis and storylines, where people want to have a Wayne’s World 3. I have to redirect them over to Paramount and go, ‘They’ve got the intellectual property. Go to Paramount and see if you can get that movie made.'”

Wayne’s World 2 was released in December of 1993 which is a fairly quick turnaround for a sequel to be made. In terms of box office, the film was down considerably from its predecessor, grossing $48.1 million domestically on a $40 million budget. I think the film has been received more positively in the years since its release but it does seem like the film’s rush job wasn’t perceived well by fans of the first movie.

Do YOU think director Penelope Spheeris has a point about Wayne’s World 2 coming out too quickly after the first film?