Tentpole Sequel Speculation
Mon, April 6, 2009 
It's less than a month away before the Summer film season kicks off with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And not-surprisingly, studios are already in the early stages for sequels to some of these forthcoming 2009 tentpoles.
So I thought I'd go into detail on a couple of these tentpoles with my own 100% Grade-A personally approved speculation on what might ultimately go down with said early-in-the-planning-stages sequels:
Star Trek 2.2 - J.J. Abrams' "requel" has its world-premiere in Sydney, Australia on April 7. Press screenings are said to also begin next week. The fact that Paramount is having these screenings a solid month before the May 8 release date basically says, "Yeah, they're really confident they have a mega money-maker on their hands!"
And of course just a few days ago, the studio officially hired Trek screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (this time along with producer Damon Lindelof) to pen the sequel with a target Summer 2011 release date. Now granted, that decision isn't a shock. In fact, Orci said last year that Paramount was already trying to get them to commit to a follow-up.
Nor is it a surprise to learn that director Abrams has yet to commit to returning to the director's chair. It is however confirmed that he will at the very least have a "Produced by" credit. With that said, my prediction is that Abrams will not helm Trek 2.2 or whatever the Hell they end up calling the sequel.If I'm wrong, then so be it. I'm on record with this prediction either way. Paramount could have simply waited to announce the news of K&O returning for writing-duties. My guess is they didn't because they already know that Abrams is ready to move on to other projects as a director. Again, maybe I'm wrong - wouldn't be the first time nor will it be the last!
Call me crazy, but I think Abrams' next directorial project will be the adaptation from the Wired magazine article, "The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist"that was announced a few weeks back instead. And Hell, if Trek is the box-office monster that many (including myself) think it will be, there won't be a problem getting the studio to making said "Diamond Heist" film and simply getting another filmmaker to take over directing duties on the sequel. Something tells me Paramount already has a "short-list" of potential replacement directors just waiting in the side-lines when and/or if Abrams officially announces his decision to move on.
Terminator 5 - Near the end of last year, Terminator: Salvation producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek revealed they were moving forward with plans on a fifth installment (the second in this new trilogy) along with its infamous director McG returning in the director's chair for a Summer 2011 release.
But then something interesting happened, Disney was able to nab McG down for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo. At first, it sounded like it would be a project that (if it even happened) would be a few years down the line - think again.The Mouse wants it out ASAP. In fact,the project is moving so fast-forward that plans are under-way to have production begin later this fall in Australia for a Christmas 2010 release.
So...what's this mean for Terminator 5? Well McG has said he remains 100% committed to the franchise and plans to direct the next installment. He even went as far to say he and screenwriter Jonathan Nolan (whose one of several writers thrown into the production of Salvation) were already working out story outlines for two more sequels.
But given the fact that McG is already up to his eyeballs on 20,000 Leagues, I just don't see how he'd be able to direct any Terminator sequels - especially if the Summer 2011 release date sticks, and judging by the prospects of Salvation's big box-office, it most certainly will.
And, like Paramount with Star Trek, I can almost guarantee you that Warner Brothers already has an idea of who they'd like to helm any further Terminator installments in cast McG is in fact forced to step down.
Transformers 3 - Not a doubt in my mind on this one, folks. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be the top-grossing film of Summer 2009. Hell, there's a solid chance it will be 2009's biggest money-maker overall. And most important, Paramount and DreamWorks knows this too. Hence why they went ahead and officially announced a third installment of the "giant robots that beat the shit out of their each other" franchise for a July 1, 2011 release.
This despite the fact that series-director Michael Bay had previously said he planned on taking a year off once Revenge of the Fallen was finished before he began directing another film. In fact, literally 24 hours after the announcement was made, Bay went on his blog and said the decision was a "mistake" on the studio's part and that they'd already agreed to a 2012 release.
The thing is Bay is a savvy guy and knows how to play "the game" in Hollywood. He was basically putting it out there that, "If they really want me to make the next one, it'll be for 2012 Otherwise, I'm out." Just this past week at ShoWest, Bay gave an update on the situation saying said issues had been resolved. Hmmm.
What makes this even more interesting is the fact that screenwriters Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman announced they wouldn't be returning for Transformers 3 before this release-date situation between Bay and the studio reared its ugly head. So even if Bay calls the shots again,he'll have to work with a new set of writers. Is it possible K&O were already aware of what was going down and had to choose which sequel they'd rather pen for Summer 2011? Certainly, that sounds logical. Yeah, I know I just did a Spock joke - eat me!
But maybe I'm wrong about all of this. In a new feature here at Think McFly Think we'd like to refer to as the "Audio Article" to accompany certain posts, a couple of us nerds further elaborate on the subject matter of said article.
For the first installment of this li'l experiment of ours, I'm joined by Co-Owner/Operator here at Think McFly Think (and just my all-around good-friend) Peter Georgiou.
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