Remember The Old Guard from a few years back, that movie about a group of immortal killers-turned-mercenaries? It was a pretty good movie, and it didn’t take Netflix that long to greenlight a sequel. Just one question, though: where the heck is it? It’s not the first movie with a sizable sequel gap, but you wouldn’t be wrong to ask if it even still exists.
According to leading lady Charlize Theron, Netflix didn’t quietly kill Old Guard 2 when nobody was looking. Talking to Variety, she explained that shooting had actually wrapped back in 2022, but the streamer underwent a “changeover” the movie got stuck between. Further complicating things is that post-production got shut down just over a month into the process, and then the strikes hit. Even so, Theron has faith the sequel will come, saying “we finally picked it back up, and I’m really excited about it.”
Last we heard of The Old Guard 2, it was going to be directed by Victoria Mahoney (Lovecraft Country) and added new cast members in Henry Golding (Snake Eyes) and Uma Thurman. Of the sequel, Theron called it “really important to us. I only wanted to do it if we could make it amazing, and I really love this movie.” The first film’s remaining cast members—Kiki Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Matthias Schoenaerts, Chiwitel Ejiofor, Veronica Ngô, and Luca Marinelli—are also expected to return.
The Old Guard is based on a series of comics by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández that’s spawned three graphic novels, the last of which dropped in 2021. Netflix apparently wants to turn this into a full-on franchise, and indicated last year the sequel’s ending “demands” they do a third film. Hopefully those plans still come to fruition, and without the nearly five-year gap between installments.
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