TriStar has closed a deal with The Jim Henson Co. to produce a new iteration and has hired Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman to pen the script. Lisa Henson of The Henson Co. will produce the project, which will be overseen at TriStar by Nicole Brown.
Q: People have been asking for a sequel for many years. Apparently, there is one in production. Is there any update on that?
Brian Henson: There isn't really an update. I can say we are still excited about it but the process moves very slowly and very carefully. We're still excited about the idea of a sequel, we are working on something but nothing that's close enough to say it's about to be in pre-production or anything like that.
Back in 2017 it was announced that Lisa Henson of the Jim Henson Company was plotting a sequel to the 1980’s fantasy cult hit, Labyrinth, and that Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe, The Girl in the Spider’s Web) was brought on to help develop the project as an upcoming directing vehicle. We haven’t heard much about it since then – just that David Bowie’s iconic Goblin King character wouldn’t be featured, but that the film would be a sequel and not a reboot.
While Fandango was chatting with Alvarez about his work on The Girl in the Spider’s Web, we asked him for an update on that Labyrinth project, and learned that not only is there a completed script, but that he had just met with Lisa Henson hours before our conversation.
“I was actually having lunch yesterday with Lisa Henson and we reconnected with that project,” Alvarez revealed. “We're very excited about it. It is basically a direct continuation of the first movie many years later, and I can't tell you much more about it... but we have a script, and we're very excited about it so we'll see where that goes. Like always, it takes time and effort to put those movies together because they're larger than life. But that's one of the projects that I'm very excited about.”
So does he feel good about it actually happening?
“You never know, and really right now, I'm just finishing with this film so I'm not even thinking about what I'm going to do next. But all I can tell you is that I had lunch with her yesterday and it was great.”
Yeah, the only reason I ever watched the original when it aired on TV was for Bowie. Funnily enough, whenever I've rewatched the film as an adult, he's never as hot as I remember. I was a pre-teen and all I remember was his eyes, hair, and all those crotch shots.
Listening to most often lately:
Taylor Swift ~ ~ "The Fate of Ophelia"
Taylor Swift ~ "Eldest Daughter"
Taylor Swift ~ "CANCELLED!"
Feels sort of pointless. A sequel is only worth it if Bowie (when he was still young and hot) had been in it, since his hotness is the main selling point of the original. A straight-up remake would make more sense.
Listening to most often lately:
Taylor Swift ~ ~ "The Fate of Ophelia"
Taylor Swift ~ "Eldest Daughter"
Taylor Swift ~ "CANCELLED!"
Skyler Shuler wrote:Long ago, they were talking about a Labyrinth sequel directed by Scott Derrickson of Doctor Strange fame. Not really sure where that is going. I have it on good authority that at D23 Expo this year, they are going to announce a Disney+ Labyrinth series. I don't know if it's going to be directed by Scott Derrickson; I just know it's a Labyrinth series for Disney+.
A straight-up remake would make more sense.