Well, apparently once was enough for Sandra Bullock: while talking with Entertainment Weekly about her upcoming sci-fi mind-bender “Gravity,” the Oscar-winning actress said that it was unlikely she would return for a sequel to her summer sleeper hit “The Heat.” “I know they say never say never, but right now, I can’t imagine it,” Bullock told EW. “I don’t want to ruin what Melissa and I had. If a miracle happens where [a script] shows up that really and truly outdid the first and provided an experience that was better than the first one, then I would look at it. But I’m not there.” But. Sandy. We love you.
It was reported in late April that a script for a sequel, again penned by Katie Dippold, was already being worked on, in case the movie met studio projections. Clearly, it did. It’s hard to imagine that the sequel was being written without Bullock in mind, considering her chemistry with costar Melissa McCarthy is what elevated the somewhat anemic screenplay to something that was occasionally quite funny. You could probably pair McCarthy next to any straight-laced actress and get similar results, but Bullock totally held her own and it would be a shame to see her go. (Director Paul Feig, for his part, seems to be all in.)
Of course, Bullock is particularly averse given her experience with truly awful sequels – 2005’s abysmal “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous” (Jesus) and, even sadder, 1997’s “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” both of which have gone down in the history books, at the very least, for being two of the worst fucking sequels of all time. “If you look back on my illustrious sequel work [laughs] nothing has proven successful,” Bullock said to EW. “A sequel is such a daunting thing, because you don’t want to lose the magic and the charm of the first one.”
Well, regardless of whether or not Bullock takes part, you can believe the studio will be moving forward with the sequel. “The Heat,” which is still in theaters, grossed more than $130 million so far. Not too shabby for an R-rated summer movie without superheroes, animated monsters, turbo-charged snails or giant robots.
