Luc Besson Says Lucy 2 Is Unlikely
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If the major studios had their druthers, they’d just crank out movie after profitable movie from the same franchise. That would be super easy. Hell, looking back at the summer blockbuster season, there was already quite a bit of that going on. And when an original movie is successful, you can be damn sure that the money people behind it are looking for any possible avenue the can open up to crank out at least one sequel, if not many more. Luc Besson’s wingnut sci-fi actioner Lucy was a surprise minor hit at the box office last month, but if you’re holding your breath to see more of Scarlett Johansson expanding her mind, you should start breathing now, because Lucy 2 does not appear likely to happen any time soon.
Speaking to media last week in Taiwan, the French action auteur downplayed any talk of a follow up, saying it’s probably not going to happen. In an interview with the local press, he said, “I don’t see how we can do one. It’s not made for that. If I find something good enough, maybe I will, but for now I don’t even think about it.”
You can take this with a grain of salt if you like. Unlike seemingly every other movie we saw this summer, the way Lucy ends doesn’t necessarily set it up for an easy sequel. The main narrative thrust of the batshit crazy story is that the title character gradually gains access to an ever-increasing amount of her brain capacity, and by the time we finish, she’s already at a 100%. So there’s not really anywhere to go on that front, unless she goes full Transcendence and expands into the Internet or something, which she didn’t even need to do because she’s got access to everything anyway.
And though the movies he’s directed have never been too big on sequels, titles Besson has produced have given rise to franchises like Taken, which has a third unnecessary film on the way; The Transporter, which also birthed three chapters, with a reboot, The Transporter Legacy, in the works; and four Taxi movies, among others. Then there are the remakes, like Point of No Return (a remake of La Femme Nikita) and Brick Mansions (a Besson-penned remake of District B13).
The point is, the man is not averse to churning out a sequel or giving birth to a continuing franchise, and when he says it isn’t likely that we’ll see Lucy 2, there’s always a chance. So if you’re super pumped for more Scarlett Johansson throwing gangsters around with mind, driving the wrong way down a one-way street, or stabbing a bad guy in the hands, it might be a long wait. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always up for seeing some crazy shit go down in a movie, but it doesn’t look like this is where it’s going to come from.
