After 15 years, the co-writer and director of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is still keeping hope alive for a followup to the cult comedy horror.
Eli Craig recently reflected on his 2010 directorial debut and teased “there’s always a possibility” for a sequel, despite a previous attempted TV series spinoff being axed by then Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
“Honestly, Tucker and Dale 2 has died more deaths than the college kids in Tucker and Dale,” he told SlashFilm. “We’ve had so many versions that have almost got off its feet or, for one reason or another, have gotten killed. It really does set us back that people can’t look at the box office, the actual box office, of the movie.”
With an 86% Tomatometer rating and 85% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, the film only grossed $223,838 in the United States, but surpassed $5 million in international markets.
Craig added, “It’s always been a struggle, and then when we do set it up, and we get all the pieces together, it gets killed somehow. We almost did a TV show with it that was on TNT/TBS, and you’ll be happy to know that David Zaslav, the slayer of all cinema [laughs], came in and put the final nail in the coffin for Tucker and Dale as we were about to go to series, and just cancelled all production.”
Since the show is “not going to exist anymore,” Craig explained that it would have been “more like Tucker and Dale, but detectives. Detective Tucker and Dale, like, stupidly trying to figure out what’s happening in a world where they’re always getting it wrong and people are dying around them.”
Noting that plans for a sequel have “been through a lot of deaths,” Craig remains hopeful for another installment, as long as the fans want one.
“There’s a part of me that thinks it could be the first and last movie I ever make. Maybe I’ll be moving along on a walker with Tucker and Dale and we’re like, ‘We’re making this!’” said Craig. “I’ve never completely let go of the idea we’d make a sequel. And part of the reason people want to see a sequel is because it’s set up for it. Tucker and Dale, when I wrote it, there were these elements I wanted to follow, like Chad is still alive, Allison and Dale’s story. So I always wanted to do a sequel, but Hollywood is a slayer of great ideas. But stay alive, fans! Because there’s always a possibility.”
Starring Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as the titular backwoods buddies, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil lampoons the slasher genre, following a group of college kids taking a trip into the woods. When they end up getting killed off in ridiculously bizarre accidents, the vacationers profile the friendly hillbillies as a pair of ruthless killers.
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