Director Talks WANTED 2, Says It Will Be Shocking

Director Timur Bekmambetov discusses the sequel to 2008's Wanted and gives a hint to where the follow-up story will go. It appears that Angelina Jolie won't be miraculously returning.

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By Mark Julian - 6/18/2012


Russian director Timur Bekmambetov is currently making press rounds for "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and while promoting that film, discussion inevitably turned to "Wanted 2." The director shared that the film " is very much moving forward" ---

"An unbelievable thing happened three weeks ago," Bekmambetov said. "Because we stopped, we didn't know what to do for three or four years. Three weeks ago I came up with a great idea and I pitched this idea and everybody fell in love with it. And now I think we're on track. Right now the writer is working on the script, and it will be shocking."

Wanted is based on 2003 comic book series from Mark Millar and J. G. Jones but it deviated considerably from the source material. Normally, that's a move that doesn't payoff but the $75M budgeted film earned $341M at the global box office. The natural tendency for movie studios when a film is this successful is to immediately fast-track a sequel but the creative team behind the film wanted to nail down the story first. It looks like they finally have and that the long-rumored resurrection of Angelina Jolie's character can be put to rest.

"It's a continuation of the story, with Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy). Other people are dead, you know, we can't bring them back. The story is the same character, same mythology, but it's got a great twist."

In terms of the sequel, the first film was vastly different from the comic book, redefining The Fraternity as a league of self-righteous assassins rather than super-villains who brainwashed the world's superheroes (vaguely inferred to be iconic DC Comics heroes) into believing that they were simply actors who played superheroes on tv. It will be very interesting to see where the sequel takes us and if it can retain the charisma of the original.



Wanted is a 2008 German-American action film, very loosely based on the comic book miniseries of the same name by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones. The film is written by Chris Morgan, Michael Brandt, and Derek Haas, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, and stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann, Common, Terence Stamp, and Konstantin Khabensky. The storyline follows Wesley Gibson (McAvoy), a frustrated Account Manager who discovers that he is the son of a professional assassin and decides to join The Fraternity, the secret guild in which his father worked.
Production began in April 2007, with filming in the Czech Republic later to superimpose the sets on images of Chicago. Wanted was released on June 25, 2008 in the United Kingdom and two days later in the United States, to both critical and commercial success. It was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.


Source: The Playlist
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40 Comments
White - 6/18/2012, 7:28 AM
Yeah Wanted was pretty good action so I'm looking for this.
DukeAcureds - 6/18/2012, 7:29 AM
I liked Wanted, too. The comic and the movie, different thoughthey were. But a sequel? Really? As long as they don't bring back Fox, like they were gonna do. Sounds like they're not doing that now, by the way he says people are dead and ain't coming back. So, yeah maybe it will be good. Who knows? He sounded inspired, anyway.
marvel72 - 6/18/2012, 7:34 AM
wanted nothing like the comic,so i couldn't enjoy it.
MarkJulian - 6/18/2012, 7:37 AM
Glad I never read them otherwise I'd probably feel the same. They sound really interesting though.
driver - 6/18/2012, 7:41 AM
Wanted was good.If Abe movie will not bomb at box office Wanted 2 will happen)
GreenHalJordan - 6/18/2012, 7:43 AM
I loved wanted and im glad they aren't going to cop out and suddenly bring back Fox or anyone back from the dead for a sequel.
timotey - 6/18/2012, 7:46 AM
Well, I'm glad that they didn't go with "super-villains who brainwashed the world's superheroes into believing that they were simply actors who played superheroes on tv." Maybe good in a comic book but in a 90 min. movie? No, thank you. I loved Wanted the way it was. Comic-book-y enough but a great, intriguing action film. And James McAvoy was amazing in it!
ScottPilgrim - 6/18/2012, 7:48 AM
Shocking?


Shockingly bad, just like the first film ! ! !
FireKnightRises - 6/18/2012, 7:54 AM
wanted and kickass are the type of movie that can be only done once, its like making sequel to fight club
RorMachine - 6/18/2012, 7:55 AM
If he really wants to shock me he can start by making a good movie. Wanted was SHITE.
GreyChaos13Zero - 6/18/2012, 8:14 AM
I enjoyed the first one, movie was badass. can't wait?)



AlexDeLarge87 - 6/18/2012, 8:22 AM
I´ve read the comic and it was ok but only thing i kinda missed in this movie version is that damn fine assassin costume. :)
ralfinader - 6/18/2012, 8:36 AM
@Teabag - too damn funny, man.

I thought Wanted was weaksauce.
TheGreatone0207 - 6/18/2012, 8:45 AM
Saw the movie, then read the book. I still think the movie was pretty damn great
CharlesTheIncredible - 6/18/2012, 9:03 AM
I thought the first movie had good action but i would have prefered if it was more like the comic cuz some of the things that happened in that were simply epic
DukeAcureds - 6/18/2012, 9:09 AM
Tea@ "who appreciates a good fuc-..."
"...-schia garden". Classic, blood, classic.
I didn't realise Abe Lincoln was directed by Timur Bekmambatov. Daywatch had some pretty awesome moments in it. The guys a true action visionary, for all that's worth. Probably a few bucks.
kingshnake - 6/18/2012, 9:26 AM
Wanted was OK, but kingshnake wants a Nemesis movie. If done right that could be Epic Win
thetrojan - 6/18/2012, 9:26 AM
book was better
still a good movie,lets get part 2 finished and on the screens soon.
chopfer15 - 6/18/2012, 9:27 AM
That's not all the comic was about. It wasn't just some brain washing of Heroes. I own the comic and it is immensely better than the movie (which i liked). Here is a real desription of what happened to the superheroes from wikipedia:

Tired of being repeatedly defeated and jailed, the supervillains joined together and staged a revolution that Wesley's father was a part of. After a long, bloody war, the superheroes were defeated. Using magic and advanced technology, the newly formed Fraternity was able to erase the world's memories of superheroes and supervillains. All that remained were faint, inaccurate memories, which were the cause of superhero comic books and other media. Many of the surviving heroes now believed themselves to be actors who had played superheroes.

SUPERBATSPIDERMAN - 6/18/2012, 9:30 AM
I always thought that the first movie could have been a movie about the origin of Wesley gibson and if they made a sequel they could give it more elements from the comic. They could make a movie that the fans would like and have characters from the comic.
Bigred20 - 6/18/2012, 9:31 AM
I thought Wanted 2 was axed and shelved
kingshnake - 6/18/2012, 9:35 AM
@chopfer15 I didn't realise that went down in the book that's a good concept I though it was just about bending bullets and what not!
fullmoon106 - 6/18/2012, 9:39 AM
I liked both the comics and the movie. Very different with each others, but great on their own. I really like Bekmambetov's over the top action-sequences and visual flair, so I would definitely watch a sequel.
DukeAcureds - 6/18/2012, 9:39 AM
Kingshnake@ I'm thinking that the only reason Millar did Nemesis was because he wanted a supervillian movie to go with Kick-Ass. Wanted was his original take on Supervillians (hence the title), but the film irrevocably changed it so he needed another franchise to fill the gap.
I think the film and the comic are two different things and they do complement each other well enough, but the comic, as usual, is far superior.
kingshnake - 6/18/2012, 9:46 AM
@Duke yes I'll have to check the comic out but I still think Nemesis movie FTW
Dedpool - 6/18/2012, 9:50 AM
I enjoyed the first films. All the haters are hilaruious simply because even the writer of the comic Mark Millar knew what he created couldn't be filmed. He liked the film, and has gone on record stating that it has the spirit of his film. I would like a sequel.
RorMachine - 6/18/2012, 10:05 AM
I didn't hate Wanted because it didn't follow the comic..which I also hated anyway!..I hated it because it was a load of crap.
HULK2099 - 6/18/2012, 11:50 AM
I say reboot it and follow the comics ! Comic book was way better, had a lot of interesting character
AlexDeLarge87 - 6/18/2012, 12:17 PM
Intruder@ I agree. Jolie would have been alot better than Hathaway.
greenlanternsF - 6/18/2012, 12:31 PM
liked the movie, i wouldn't mind another
GUNSMITH - 6/18/2012, 2:22 PM
I LOVED THE ASSASSIN COSTUME IN THE BOOKS
Phlegmbot - 6/18/2012, 2:28 PM
It's HAVE to be shocking. The big reveal at the end of the original rendered the entire plot senseless.

I went to a press screening and nearly EVERY person walking out of it was like, "That was great...until the end." People were asking like "How does it make sense that he did THIS and they did THAT if his father was THIS?" Just made no sense. Ah well.
Ceejay - 6/18/2012, 2:31 PM
They made bullets fly around in broad circles by waving their guns while they shot... people swallowed this shit up? So if they flapped their arms you'd believe they could fly too? They got their orders from a magical loom that wove binary codes into material?

Dumb ass film! The comic was far more intelligently written than that ridiculous excuse to do a bunch of dumb action action scenes for yanks!
manofmidgard - 6/18/2012, 3:40 PM
i loved wanted, and the fact that they are paying attention to continuity and NOT bringing back dead characters, plus the fact that no more angelina jolie are all good things in my world. can't wait!
TheDrunkFlash - 6/18/2012, 3:48 PM
I just want to see the suit in the movie and maybe hear the line about his super powers hehehe
supermarioworldE - 6/18/2012, 4:31 PM
Another over the top action film with garish sex scenes, cartoonish violence, and a kickass soundtrack?






I'm in.
RorMachine - 6/18/2012, 5:08 PM
As much as t pains me to say...what Ceejay said:) Who gives a shit if Jolie comes back? Bring her back with two heads to make up for losing the last one..say she can regenerate like a Hydra. Give Wesley a magical elephant trunk coming out of his ass. Nothing they could do would be any more ridiculous than the last movie was anyway. Hell, bring Freeman back as God! He's good in that role.
WesleyGibson - 6/18/2012, 8:39 PM
Loved the movie. Where the hell do you think my username came from.

lol I can't wait for a sequel.
ItsATrap - 6/18/2012, 10:48 PM
honestly, with all these CBM's i'm okay if they deviate from the source material.
i've been a comic book fan all my life and a movie fan for about as long, so i love seeing the two cross-over. but if changing things a bit for a film adaptation improves the film's story, then i'm on board.
great example of this is with Kick-Ass. Liked the comic, loved the movie, even though they were incredibly different in how different characters were depicted.
same can be said with the Batman movies. Burton's Batman is different from the comics, but he still managed to make great movies with great stories. Nolan differed a lot too, but i think his take on Bane sounds like a fantastic take on the character and is infinitely closer to the original character than that bull-crap we got from Schumacher - even if he isn't wearing a mexican luchadore mask.
judge a movie based on how good the movie is itself, and who cares if they make a few changes here and there? its often a good thing.
unless you're Michael Bay. then you can suck it.
Bobevanz - 6/19/2012, 12:11 AM
The game wasnt that bad....

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