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Something Old, Something New
The "tricks" to writing sequels with great expectations
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Alyson Hannigan, Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott return for American Wedding. “Revisit your characters with similar set-ups, then
bring in an interesting new character in the second act.” |
Guess what’s coming soon to a movie theater near you? That’s right, another sequel. While the mere thought of seeing Chucky, Rocky or Freddy once again may cause the diehard (pardon the pun) film buff to cringe, Hollywood studios have almost two dozen sequels in the pipeline—and for good reason. Last year, six of the top 10 grossing films were sequels. And this year should prove no different as Charlie’s Angels, The Terminator and those Bad Boys all make return engagements, to name just a few.
While box office glory may be why studios make sequels, how they make them is another story, best explained by the people who write the scripts. “The days of sequels making a fraction of the [original’s] business at two-thirds of the budget are long gone,” says Adam Herz, writer of American Pie and American Pie 2. Years ago, studios were content to capitalize on title alone (remember Jaws 3-D and Jaws the Revenge?), cutting back on costs and hiring new actors. Nowadays, studios raise the production value of subsequent films and retain as much of the original cast as possible. “People want to see the [same] characters they fell in love with,” says Herz.
In 1999, American Pie grossed $102 million domestically. The second film, released two years later, grossed $145 million. Universal Pictures hopes to continue the skyward trend this summer with Herz’s third installment, American Wedding, due out August 1st.
“[The first] American Pie was made for $10.5 million,” says Herz. “It was like an independent movie.” But when audiences started flocking to the theaters, Universal immediately saw the possibilities of this becoming a much-coveted franchise film. Initially, Herz was unconvinced and wanted no part of any sequel. “The characters had learned what they had to,” he says. “There was no Stand By Me 2 for a reason.” But when the studio kept pressing him, Herz softened and agreed to supervise another writer on the screenplay for American Pie 2. Unfortunately, the ensuing script did not live up to expectations. That’s when Herz came aboard as a writer and started from scratch.
“American Pie 2 was very rushed,” notes Herz, who was writing a script for a movie that—unlike most other new films—already had a release date and opening weekend expectations. There were also a lot of politics and egos involved. One problem was that the cast had much more clout after the success of the first film, and a Universal executive had promised many of them starring roles in the sequel. “I literally had the studio call and ask me to add 20 pages for certain characters, [but] we can’t shoot a 150-page script. It was difficult,” says Herz. “That’s why some characters have strange story lines that are peripheral [to the main story].”
Despite the problems, Herz was happy with the screenplays for both American Pie 2 and the upcoming American Wedding. The trick to writing a sequel, he feels, is finding a convention that works. “Revisit your characters with similar set-ups, then bring in an interesting new character in the second act,” he explains. For example, “Sean Connery gave something nice to Indiana Jones 3. There was a new Terminator in Terminator 2.” With the American Pie series, Herz says, “We feel it’s a continuation of a story, not a new adventure. We’re tracking people through major rites of passage.”
Another big hit in 2001 was MGM’s Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon, which grossed $96 million domestically. Writers Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz were unavailable to pen the sequel, so new scribes were brought in. But as with most studio movies, the first writers on a project are seldom the last. For Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde, that honor went to Kate Kondell, whose sole involvement with the original film was being a big fan. “Initially, we were going to work off the [previous] draft. But as the project developed, it became obvious we would have to start from scratch,” says Kondell, who describes the tone of the sequel as “Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington.”
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Bob Newhart and Reese Witherspoon star in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. “Sequels have a cheat sheet: just see the first movie
again and again.” |
In the new movie, Witherspoon’s character, now a successful lawyer, finds out her dog’s mother was used in animal testing. Outraged, she goes to D.C. in hopes of making animal testing illegal. The overall aim of the screenplay was to combine light comedy with an important political issue. “It was Reese’s idea to do something about animals,” asserts Kondell. Witherspoon, one of the film’s producers in addition to its star, took a much more active role in the sequel’s development. “She’s very smart about story and had lots of ideas,” remarks Kondell.
But even with Witherspoon’s input, there was no guarantee the much-in-demand actress was going to commit to the movie, and Kondell had to move fast. “There was only a certain window for her,” says Kondell. “I had to work in a concentrated time period—only a few months—on a real draft.” However, once the draft was done, Witherspoon expressed interest in reprising her role—a role that paid her a much-publicized $15 million, making her one of the highest paid female stars ever.
Unlike Herz, Kondell was writing characters that had been created by someone else long before her involvement. “I found it really challenging,” says Kondell, who wanted to keep the character’s voice and the movie’s tone identical to the original, while at the same time, change enough to make the movie feel fresh. Fortunately, she says, “Sequels have a cheat sheet: [just] see the first movie again and again.” But at the same time, she adds, it’s a balancing act. “People who liked the first [movie] will resent it if you give them the first one again.”
Kondell’s way to keep things the same but different was simple: take the character everyone loved and put her in another context. “[That way], it feels like she’s inhabiting the same world without being boring.” As far as the supporting characters go, “I knew which characters worked and which the audience wanted to see again,” she says. But in general, “Every character was up for grabs.” Kondell is pleased that she was able to attract interesting actors to take on the new supporting roles she created, including one of her favorites, Bob Newhart. “It was exciting to see these actors round out the cast,” she says.
Kirsten Smith, co-writer of the original movie, says, “I loved Kate’s draft and I so admired the inventions she made in terms of plot. The direction she took the story was really impressive. She went places I’d have never imagined going and to great comic effect.”
Even though Legally Blonde 2 was an important film for MGM, Kondell got much less interference from studio execs than she anticipated. “I was surprised that, for a high-pressure project, it was hands-off. I was not bombarded with 18 opinions. It was a happy surprise,” she says. Kondell’s biggest fear was that she’d ruin the memory of the first movie for its fans. “A lot of little girls liked that movie,” she says. It’s important to her that they like the sequel, as well.
MGM had another big hit last year with Barbershop, a $12 million movie that grossed $75 million at the box office. Don D. Scott, co-writer of the original film and writer of the second, says the studio was planning a sequel before the first film was even released. “After initial test screenings the scores were so high the studio hedged their bets and locked up sequel deals [for the talent involved],” he notes.
But as with Herz and Kondell, Scott was not interested in merely repeating the first story. “The sequel has more depth to the plot,” he says. “The first Barbershop plot was very light and simple, so we could service the barbershop conversations and nuances. [In the sequel], Ice Cube has more to deal with, though he doesn’t take over the movie.”
Some of those conversations in the original film proved to be quite controversial, most notably the less-than-flattering comments made by Cedric the Entertainer’s character about Rosa Parks and Jesse Jackson. Scott says he wasn’t deliberately trying to ruffle any feathers; he just wanted to write about good, juicy topics. “Let’s have stuff that pushes the boundaries,” he says. If similar talk is appropriate in Barbershop 2, it’ll be there.
In writing the sequel, Scott found it easier to carry the voice of the characters, as he knew them so well. “The challenge,” he says, “is that when working on the first film I was telling a completed story. Terri got away from her cheating boyfriend. Ricky got out of jail. The white barber got to cut hair. All the stories were resolved.” In the sequel, Scott had to come up with new subplots for all the characters.
In addition, the first Barbershop was a very small, low-budget film, at least by studio standards. “No one was looking at us,” says Scott. “There was no pressure. It was just ‘See if we can make our money back.’” The second time out, producers and executives were repeatedly calling Scott to check on the status of the script—a script that needed to be written in a much shorter timeframe. “I spent 11 months working on the [original] script from start until shooting wrapped. Now I’m starting from scratch and am given less than six months,” he says.
Scott notes, however, that the sequel has a lot more value and meaning to MGM. “They’re treating us well. We’re important.”
Not all sequels come from movies released in the past two or three years. Currently in development is Easy Rider A.D., a sequel to the 1969 hit starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson. The original film is considered by many to be one of the first independent movies to achieve both commercial and critical success.
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Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper ride to their deaths—maybe—in the original Easy Rider. “[My first question was]: How do I do it? It’s
a classic, Plotless. And the characters are dead!” |
When writer Sean Jacques was hired to pen a draft, his first question was, “How do I do it? It’s a classic. Plotless. And the characters are dead!” Initially, he thought about doing a contemporary remake, but that idea was nixed by the producers. Part of the problem was that many of the things that made the original so successful—the biker subculture, the blatant use of drugs and the rock soundtrack—had rarely been seen in movies. “Now, what movie hasn’t shown that over the past 30 years?” asks Jacques.
Most important for Jacques was to remain pure to the original film, and create a story that would find an audience for all kinds of fans—even those who haven’t seen the first movie. The story line he created involves Peter Fonda’s Captain America in prison for the murder of Jack Nicholson’s character. The bikers think he should be set free. He’s an icon hero to them. Captain America’s nephew tries to find the necessary information to get him out of jail. Ah-ha, you say. How can Captain America be in prison if he was killed at the end of the first movie? Jacques points out that if you look closely at the final scene in Easy Rider, “You never see him actually die.”
Fonda, though aware of the plans for a sequel, has yet to commit. Jacques hopes to seal the deal with a great script. “His character is extremely cool with lots of integrity,” Jacques says. The chance of getting Hopper back as well is slim, due to a rumored rift between the two actors.
When Jacques tells people he’s writing a sequel to Easy Rider he gets both good and bad responses. “I try not to listen too much,” he says. “Film critics are gonna knock the idea of it. The younger generation likes the idea; they just think it’ll be a cool biker movie.” He notes the popularity of the original film 30 years later—Diet Pepsi recently ran a commercial using shots of Fonda on his chopper from Easy Rider. “I can’t recreate the impact of the original,” says Jacques, “but [I can] pay great homage to the story and characters and I can celebrate the biker culture.”
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| “[On the first Barbershop], there was no pressure.
It was just ‘See if we can make our money back.’” — Don D. Scott, Barbershop |
As the number of sequels made each year continues to rise, so do the number of critics blasting this trend. Derek Copold, co-editor of The Texas Mercury, a weekly review, writes, “[The reasons] for sequels boil down to three of the Seven Deadly Sins: greed, sloth and vanity.” He cites studios’ hunger for a surefire hit, lack of creativity on the part of writers and the desire of talent to be part of a well-known franchise as the core of the problem.
Kate Trainor, of UniverCity Magazine, an entertainment publication aimed at college students, is even less kind. She writes, “A sequel is much like the last bitter droplets of juice wrung from a wizened lemon. There’s nothing left but a few stringy yellow strands clinging to the rind, yet [Hollywood] persists, trying to squeeze the remnant scraps of life from it. But the result is merely a puddle of thin, diluted syrup that tastes sickeningly sour.”
However, as Michael DeLuca, head of theatrical production for Dreamworks SKG told the Los Angeles Times last year, sequels are a necessary part of the film industry: “Franchises create tent poles, movies that have a built-in awareness and interest from a pretty big potential audience. Franchises give you something to count on in a business where you can’t count of anything.”
And as writer Kirsten Smith, who co-wrote the original Legally Blonde script says, “Sometimes sequels are great if there are passionate, new creators involved. They can elevate it from just a monetary-driven ‘sequel’ into a valid, film-going experience.”
With production and marketing costs of the average
Hollywood film approaching $100 million, profit-conscious studios
find it safer
to reproduce the tried and true than to take a risk on new material.
Anyone for Blonde American Rider Gets a Haircut Part II? MM
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This story was published in the Spring 2003 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
The Same, But Different / The "tricks" to writing sequels with great expectations
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