Though we thought a sequel to Bloodshot was out of the question, its measly $37 million global haul off a $45 million budget isn’t preventing the possibility, according to producer Dan Mintz.
He spoke with CBR and said the studio is happy with the film’s performance on digital home video, enough to develop a second one. Mintz blames COVID for deceptive, out-of-date metrics.
“I think [Bloodshot] was very successful in that respect, a lot of people saw it and it did very well in the post-release rollout but you can’t use the same evaluation process, pre-COVID, to this,” he said.
According to The-Numbers the film had estimated domestic video sales, which includes Blu-ray and DVD sales of $15.6 million.
Mintz added Vin Diesel and the rest of the players, whose characters survived, will return. He also calls the response good but “in a non-transparent” way.
“[Are] Vin Diesel and all those people going to still continue?” asked Mintz, rhetorically. “Yes, because it did so well and the response to it has been so well, it’s just that the response has been in a non-transparent environment, as opposed to a transparent environment like box office numbers.”
Related: Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot To Be Released Digitally Next Week
COVID – and simple progress – has changed the way movies will be looked upon and their success measured. Just look at Mulan or something with a dual release strategy like Bill & Ted Face the Music.
Even before the pandemic, Netflix originals were breaking the Internet and becoming the best movie ever since the streaming giant’s best movie before that.
Then there is the weird position Bloodshot sits in. You might have read our review on here (I didn’t like it that much). Despite its many flaws, releasing it early to digital must’ve helped.
Related: Bloodshot Star Eiza Gonzalez Says The Heart Of ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Is “Two Young Girls”
It’s not the kind of mess that inspires confidence or franchise potential, but they could recover the ball with an effectual sequel. As long as the director is different, it could happen.
We Got This Covered reported months ago their sources told them Bloodshot was being rebooted with a younger lead, but only after the Valiant universe was kicked off by another property.
They also claimed the rights to Valiant’s character library would be acquired by Paramount. Obviously, that isn’t happening – as far as we’re aware.
For now, it seems Sony is sticking with the world of the Bloodshot movie we have, which is a risky move despite how well the film may have done outside theaters.
The character is still a niche. If it starts a cinematic universe, Valiant publisher Fred Pierce – who wants his properties to be household names – sees it more as Blade in that regard, a 1998 film that sparked a slow-growing movement for Marvel.
“Let’s say that we have Bloodshot launching, and Bloodshot is our Blade. Not our Iron Man; Bloodshot is our Blade,” Pierce told Screen Rant last April. “If I tell a civilian that I work for Valiant, and I’m going to have a Bloodshot movie, they don’t know. Today, they do know.”
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