Fox Isn’t Happy with Max Landis’ ‘Chronicle’ Sequel

A sequel to superpowered found-footage film Chronicle has been in the works since the film became a hit earlier this year, but John Landis, the acclaimed director and father of Chronicle writer Max Landis, said in a recent interview that there are some creative differences between his son and 20th Century Fox.  

After the surprise success of Josh Trank's first film, Fox hired the screenwriter back for a sequel, but it seems their hopes for a repeat are a little too literal for Landis. His father told Indiewire about the riff between him and the studio:

"[Max] wrote a sequel, and it’s amazing, and the studio read it and said, ‘We want ‘Chronicle’ again!’ And he said, ‘No, this is the sequel, it’s the evolution, and they said ‘No, we want that movie again!’ So it’s difficult, we’re dealing with a difficult business."

It should be no shock by now that studios prefer familiarity over originality. Fox is obviously trying to stick with what they know is bankable rather than take a risk on something new. Of course, they're ignoring the fact that part of what made Chronicle so successful in the first place was the way it took a fresh take on both found footage and superhero films.

It's still early days, however. There's still no director attached to the project, and Trank appears unlikely to return considering he's now busy with Fox's Fantastic Four reboot, not to mention potential adaptations of Red Star and Shadow of the Colossus, and maybeeven that long-gestating Venom spinoff. Since Chronicle isn't really a brand-name property yet, Fox may want to hurry the sequel to get it in theaters while audiences still have it fresh in their minds, but (perhaps unforunately for Landis), there's certainly still time for re-writes.