Summary

• Wanted writer Michael Brandt reveals to MovieWeb that there is a script for a sequel.
• Brandt still hopes to see the script come to life as a proper sequel to the first film.
• Wanted centered on an office clerk turned assassin, and stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman.

In an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, writer Michael Brandt revealed details of his long-gestating comic book movie sequel to the 2008 Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy film, Wanted. Discussing the project, Brandt revealed that there is a script out there for Wanted 2, and that both he and director Timur Bekmambetov want to make it...but, unfortunately, they have different visions for what a follow-up should look like.

"We had an idea for a sequel. We pitched it, wrote it. And it seems like there was some real interest in the studio to make it. And then Timur, who directed the first one, absolutely was interested as well. But he had a kind of a different idea for what he wanted to do... And it's just one of those moments where somebody says the wrong thing in terms of our movie going forward, and the script that we'd written going forward. And he suggested some changes. And it kind of took the wind out of the sails at the studio. And then, the studio's turnover is 'fast and furious,' to borrow a phrase. And I think the sequel of Wanted just kind of got left behind as other things started going forward.”

However, while Wanted 2 has seemingly been “left behind” for now, Brandt went on to say that he would still love to see it get the greenlight and finally see “a proper sequel” to the first movie hit the big screen.

“So there's a script, I'd love to see it get made, and I really liked it. I thought it was a proper sequel to the first one. But so far, the momentum has been lost. I do get a call every now and then from some producer who says, 'Can we reinvigorate this thing? And I say, 'Yeah, here's the script.' And they say, 'Wow, we love the script.' And I say, 'Cool, call the studio.' And then it seems to die there for some reason."

Wanted Follows an Office Clerk Who Discovers That His Father Is an Assassin

Loosely based on the comic book miniseries of the same name by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones, Wanted was released in 2008, and centers around Wesley Gibson, played by James McAvoy, a frustrated account manager who discovers that he is the son of a professional assassin. His father was once part of a secret organization of assassins, the Fraternity, and Gibson is drawn into this mysterious, violent underworld, joining the secret society and battling his panic attacks and anxiety to learn the tools of the trade.

Wanted co-starred both Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman starring as fellow assassins Fox and Mr. Sloan. The final moments of the first movie left a possible sequel in a somewhat difficult position...with all the characters apart from McAvoy’s dead. While there had been rumors that Wanted 2 would somehow resurrect Jolie, Wanted co-writer Derek Haas later revealed that the plan was for the follow-up to be "Fox-less.”

Outside the world of Wanted, Brandt has been busy penning the story of Arthur the King, which stars Mark Wahlberg as the captain of an adventure racing team who befriends a wounded stray dog named Arthur, as well as working on the small screen shows Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med.