The sequel news keeps coming, and this is almost a specialty update on a couple of upcoming 'next chapters.' Below it's all Muppets and Star Trek as we run down the possibility of sequels to The Muppets and The Dark Crystal, and look at the licensing plans Paramount has for the now-shooting sequel to Star Trek.
Let's start off with a reputable report that The Muppets will get a sequel. Bleeding Cool points out that Kermit himself said that a sequel is official while appearing on a UK talk show. Trouble is, just like any actor, Kermit might not be the go-to for info on official sequel decisions. And he's mostly joking anyway. Asked by host Phillip Schofield about a sequel or additional TV show, there was this exchange:
Kermit: We have been [talking about it], yes, yes. I think that if this movie does as well as we'd like, if people want to see us, sure, we'll probably do more movies… it's nothing official… but there's all this hush-hush Hollywood talk.
Piggy: Then make it official.
Kermit: Okay, it's official.
Naturally there have been some actual conversations about a sequel for The Muppets (THR has a little quite from the film's producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman about the very early talks) but we're a ways off from actually getting word that the gang will be back together for another screen adventure.
And then there is that other little Jim Henson fan favorite film, The Dark Crystal. There has been a good bit of talk over the years, especially in the past few turns of the calendar, about going back to the world inhabited by Gelflings and Skeksis.
In 2005 or so The Power of the Dark Crystal was announced, and in 2010 the Henson Company said that the Spierig Brothers (Daybreakers) would direct the film, with production likely taking place in Australia. Now Moviehole has asked producers what's up with development on the sequel, and the response was pretty simple: the site was told the film "may switch hands" and that a "little more time will be spent on getting it right." Another source the site talked to said the Spierig Brothers were off the project as of last year.
Likely put the uncertainty down to indecision over whether the property is worth further development, from a financial standpoint.
Now a couple of licensing notes for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek sequel. One is that Hasbro will be helping Paramount make a boatload of cash on the film, as the company has picked up the Trek license and will make "a variety of products" based on Star Trek. One of them will be the Lego-like 'KRE-O" toys; those are vaguely appropriate in that the title of the toy line sounds like something that could be a Trek alien species. They're pictured below. [Collider]
And then Namco will be the company to release a Trek game early next year, paving the way for the sequel release. The game has been in development for some time, so this isn't a quickie offering. Does the Namco license mean that the next incarnation of SoulCalibur will feature Trek characters in the same way that SoulCalibur IV had Star Wars fighters? Let's hope not… [THR]
Finally, Chris Pine had a few things to say about Trek 2 villain and the current reigning Sherlock Holmes, Benedict Cumberbatch. He told MTV,
Benedict has got this intensity about him, and he's obviously extremely intelligent and articulate. His vocal quality is something else. He obviously is, unlike many of us, like, an actually trained actor. He actually studied for it.
That training is apparent to anyone who's seen the BBC Sherlock, and is likely a good part of what helped him land a gig voicing (and playing) Smaug the dragon for Peter Jackson's Hobbit films. The real question, though, is: when the hell will Andrew Scott, aka the show's Moriarty, start being cast left and right? The answer is probably "just after the second season is broadcast in the States," which happens in a couple months.
- 'Star Trek 2′: Shooting Begins in LA, Plus: Damon Lindelof, Bruce Greenwood, and Benedict Cumberbatch Talk
- Benedict Cumberbatch Nabs a Lead Role in the 'Star Trek' Sequel
- Seq
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