After spending a reported $200 million on what is essentially a buddy crime drama, Apple TV+ may have had second thoughts about a sequel to the film “Wolfs,” starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney.
In an interview published today at Collider with “Wolfs” writer/director Jon Watts, the filmmaker suggested that the mooted “Wolfs 2” sequel had been canceled.
“I don’t know what I’m directing next, and I don’t think there’s going to be a ‘Wolfs’ sequel,” he said while promoting his upcoming “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” series.
“Wolfs” was supposed to be a big splash Apple release, but the film kept shrinking over time. Six weeks before its release, AppleTV+ announced its decision to pivot from a wide release to a limited theatrical release on the same date, which turned into a small one-week run.
Clooney said he and Pitt gave back some of their hefty salaries to keep the limited release (both were reported to have been paid $35 million each for the film, though they denied these figures).
The reviews for the film were also lukewarm. It sits on Rotten Tomatoes with a low 66% score. Its audience score is a poor 51%, which could indicate that it underperformed on the streaming service.
But Apple was clearly thinking things were rosy ahead of time. A month before its release, the company announced its intention to make a “Wolfs 2.” However, after a string of misses, it was reported in August that Apple TV+ was rethinking its theatrical strategy. So perhaps they saw the writing was on the wall.
Watts’ comments don’t confirm that the sequel is canceled, but given the collective contextual facts, it absolutely does look like the original film will be the last time we see Pitt and Clooney as fixers working together.
