America’s New Pandemic… Sequelitis!

As if we weren’t burdened enough these days with the Swine Flu and the ailing economy, now Hollywood is showing signs of falling deeper into the epidemic known as Sequelitis. This double-dose of of news highlights two projects in the works, both of which come with symptoms of disbelief.

First, a third BAD BOYS movie is being developed by Columbia Pictures. Peter Craig () has been selected to write the screenplay and the studio hopes the project will bring Michael Bay back to direct, Jerry Bruckheimer to produce and convince Will Smith and Martin Lawrence to reprise their popular roles.

Phase two of this epidemic is that a fifth RAMBO is officially on it’s way. Nu Image and Millennium have greenlit the project with Sylvester Stallone returning as director and star of the movie. The new film will allegedly feature John Rambo fighting drug cartels and a human traffiking ring to rescue a young girl whose been kidnapped near the US-Mexican border.

I difficult as it is to believe, the one positive spin on all this is that both franchises have consistently produced quality fare, relative to their genre. While BAD BOYS has only gone off twice, RAMBO has been a bit more active with four films, but even the last one (despite it’s flaws) was enjoyable. Quality or not, it just sort of makes you shake your head and wonder how we’ve wound up in such a sequel rut.

Source(s): Hollywood Reporter / Variety