Hollywood loves a good sequel—or even a bad one, for that matter. Legacy sequels in particular are all the rage these days, with films like Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F and Happy Gilmore 2 bringing back beloved characters for the sole purpose of tapping into everybody’s nostalgia. The attention those kinds of follow-ups get pretty much guarantees that the trend won’t be going away any time soon, but some sequels we were promised years ago are seemingly doomed to an eternity in development hell, for better or worse. Here are a few we can probably stop holding our breath for at this stage.
4. AIRPLANE III
At the end of 1982’s Airplane II: The Sequel, a post-credits message teases a third installment in the series coming from Paramount Pictures. The studio didn’t just intend it as a gag; they were actually expecting the cast to return for another sequel. Robert Hays, who starred as Ted Striker in the first two films, revealed in 2011 that Airplane III came close to happening, but he turned down the opportunity to focus on other acting gigs. The second movie also didn’t do as well at the box office as they expected, which didn’t help matters, either.
3. THE MASK II
In their October 1995 issue, Nintendo Power magazine ran a contest offering one lucky winner the chance to appear in an upcoming sequel to Jim Carrey’s 1994 hit The Mask. By the following year, the kid who won was informed that filming had been postponed and was given $5,000 for the inconvenience. In a 2019 interview with Forbes, Mike Richardson, who created the original comic book series on which The Mask was based, said that they tried for years to get Carrey to commit to another movie, but he was too busy with other projects. More recently, Carrey told Deadline that he might be open to doing a sequel, but “it has to be the right idea.”
2. GHOSTBUSTERS III: HELLBENT
Talk of a third Ghostbusters film persisted for many years after the second movie was released, with everyone from Chris Farley to Will Smith reportedly considered for roles. Dan Aykroyd wrote a treatment at one point called Ghostbusters III: Hellbent, and Ivan Reitman was expected to produce the film. In the story, the titular paranormal investigators find themselves in Hell, which just so happens to look a helluva lot like New York City. With Reitman gone and several other reboots and remakes since the idea was conceived, it seems unlikely the film will ever come to fruition.
1. MRS. DOUBTFIRE 2
Robin Williams was attached to star in a Mrs. Doubtfire sequel once upon a time, but dropped out in 2006 because he felt the script wasn’t good enough. Then, in 2014, it was announced that the project was once again in the works, with Williams and director Chris Columbus set to return. Unfortunately, the idea was abandoned for good after Williams’s death that same year. Speaking with SFGate in 2021 about the prospect of doing a sequel without Williams, Columbus said, “It’s impossible. It’s just impossible.” “Robin was one-of-a-kind,” he explained.
The post 4 Comedy Sequels We Were Promised at One Point appeared first on VICE.
