‘Upgrade’ Director Leigh Whannell Says Nobody Is Clamoring For A Sequel To His 2018 CyberPunk Thriller
With Wolf Man in theaters, attention is on the filmography of its creative hand, Leigh Whannell. In particular, people are talking about a little cult film he made in 2018.
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Upgrade, with its story of a self-aware implant granting a paralyzed man superhuman abilities, was ahead of its time, if only by seven years. Even upon its release, there was a buzz for a sequel. Whannell seemed open to it in some fashion – at times, as long as he could secure a desirable budget.
However, something changed as his passion for the prospect seemingly and suddenly cooled off. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the conversation turned to Upgrade and the potential of a follow-up. Addressing that and the modern technology, like driverless cars, we take for granted, Whannell gave a discouraging update – nah, “We’re good.”
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The director explained, “It’s funny because Upgrade does the same thing as Invisible Man. It ends on this ambiguous note, this question mark, where you ask, ‘Where’s this going to go?’ I do think it’s so incredible how the science fiction that I wrote in that movie has become ubiquitous.”
He continued, “I was walking along the other day with my brother who was visiting from Australia, and this autonomous car, this Waymo, drove past us. And it struck me that I grew up watching movies where that was considered an absolutely outrageous sci-fi concept.”
Whannell further clarified, “Now, it’s something that people don’t even bat an eyelid at when one drives past. No one reacted in a big way. So it’s amazing how quickly we, as human beings, adapt to this stuff that was once science fiction, and it’s been funny to watch the world catch up to Upgrade.”
These remarks contrast with prior comments, but producing a sequel may not be his choice, and he could be resigning himself and a second Upgrade’s fate to studio disinterest. According to him, no one at either Universal Pictures or Blumhouse “at the moment” is “asking for Upgrade 2.”
“I never say never [to sequels]. Even with something like Upgrade, which was not a huge box office success. No one is really clamoring for an Upgrade sequel. But even now, after all these years, I’ll find myself day-dreaming about ‘what would that sequel be?’” he told the entertainment site Dexerto.
Jason Blum of Blumhouse Entertainment wanted to make that sequel into a TV series. While there has been work done behind the scenes, the project is effectively on hold.
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