Spider-Man Director Reveals Why His Apple TV+ Sequel Was Cancelled (and the Reason Might Surprise You)

Spider-Man Director Reveals Why His Apple TV+ Sequel Was Cancelled (and the Reason Might Surprise You)

As a cinephile with over three decades of film-watching under my belt, I must say that the saga of Jon Watts and Apple TV+’s “Wolfs” has left me more than a little bewildered. The film, starring the dynamic duo of Brad Pitt and George Clooney, was a captivating piece of cinema, making it all the more perplexing to learn that the sequel has been scrapped due to creative differences between Watts and the streaming giant.


Following the successful and critically acclaimed trilogy of Spider-Man films, director Jon Watts ventured into unique and self-penned territory with Wolfs. Initially intended as a launchpad for a new franchise, even concluding on a suspenseful cliffhanger, a franchise was indeed planned. However, contrary to expectations, it has been confirmed that this won’t be the case, and Watts has now shared some insights into the reasons behind this decision.

As reported by Deadline, it was actually Watts himself who decided against a sequel, not Apple. This unexpected move comes despite the movie’s success among viewers, reaching the highest viewership for any feature film on Apple TV+ to date. The cause? A straightforward issue of trust.

What Exactly Happened?

Initially, Watts believed that the movie “Wolfs” would have a broad theater release. However, Apple only provided the film with a narrow window on the big screen, showing it on a limited number of screens before making it exclusively available for streaming on their platform. This decision was made concurrently with the announcement of the sequels, suggesting that those associated with the movie were taken aback by this turn of events.

Watts stated that he presented Apple with the first version of “Wolves” earlier this year. They were thrilled about it and promptly hired him to begin work on a sequel. However, their sudden change from a planned wide release to a streaming one came as an unexpected surprise, with no prior discussion or explanation. Watts wasn’t informed until only a few days before they made the announcement public. He was taken aback and asked them not to mention his sequel work in their press release. Despite his request, they went ahead and included it, apparently to give a positive spin to their transition to streaming…He chose not to comment further as he was proud of the film and didn’t want to stir up any unnecessary negative attention.

Later, Watts clarified that he had refunded the money received for writing the sequel and decided against it due to losing trust in Apple as a collaborative partner.

Unlike Doug Liman’s struggles over Amazon’s decision about “Road House,” he aimed to have a broad cinema release, but Amazon opted to make it an exclusive for their streaming platform instead. What sets this apart is that Liman and Gyllenhaal were informed of the change early on, while Watts was not. Despite ongoing discussions to possibly collaborate again on a follow-up project, it’s likely that Watts won’t be part of it. However, he expressed enjoyment working with the cast, especially Brad, George, Amy, Austin, Poorna, and Zlatko, suggesting there might be future collaborations on another project destined for the big screen.

Wolfs is now available to stream with an Apple TV+ subscription

Read More

2024-11-24 02:39