It looks like Guy Ritchie‘s prolific talents won’t see him team up with Jake Gyllenhaal‘s Rick Dalton after all. Deadline reports that Ritchie is no longer attached to direct Amazon MGM‘s “Road House 2” after the director backed out of the sequel yesterday. Neither Ritchie nor the studio gave a reason for his exit, but Amazon MGM will need to find a replacement fast if they aim to shoot the film this Fall.
Is Ritchie’s exit a surprise? Not really. While he may be an action director of sorts, Ritchie helming a sequel to the 2024 streaming hit felt a little off. “Road House 2” doesn’t feel like a Guy Ritchie film on paper, even if he’s worked with Gyllenhaal twice, on 2023’s “The Covenant” and the upcoming “In The Grey.” And Ritchie only has one sequel in his filmography, 2011’s “Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows,” the follow-up to the 2009 film Ritchie also directed. In other words, this wasn’t a perfect fit, and the fast-working Ritchie will find something else to work on in due time (probably the next season of his Paramount+ show “MobLand.”
But who goes behind the camera “Road House 2” now? It certainly won’t be Doug Liman, who directed the 2024 film and had beef with Amazon MGM over its release plans. Despite its lack of theatrical release, “Road House” was a huge hit on Prime Video, with some of the highest viewership numbers in Amazon MGM’s short history. Critics didn’t care for it, but its popularity, in no small part to Conor Macgregor‘s involvement and the cult status of the 1989 original, guaranteed a follow-up. Gyllenhaal returns as Dalton for the follow-up, but no other cast from the 2024 is also confirmed to come back.
Here’s what we do know about “Road House 2”: “Bad Boys: Ride Or Die” scribe Will Beall pens the script, with Charles Roven and Alex Gartner producing via Atlas Entertainment. Gyllenhaal’s banner Nine Stories Productions will also produce with Josh McLaughlin and Ivan Atkinson executive producing. Casting on the project remains underway, too, with rumors of Dave Bautista circling a major role.
So who will Amazon MGM pick as Ritchie’s replacement on “Road House 2”? Given the scant plot details, it’s hard to pick a notable name as the right choice. Or it could be a journeyman’s job if the studio wants an easy cash/attention grab. But there should be news about a new director before the summer ends, because the plans remain for the pic to shoot this Fall. As for Ritchie? Per usual, he has plenty in the pipeline: he’s filming “Wife & Dog” now, and the aforementioned “In The Grey” should get an official theatrical release date soon.
