A sequel to David F Sandberg’s debut feature has been in the plans for a decade now, but Lights Out 2 is finally showing signs of life. Lights Out, David F Sandberg’s 2013 short film, was so popular that the director was given the financing to turn it into feature film three years later. That ... Lights Out 2 finally moves forward with a new screenwriter
A sequel to David F Sandberg’s debut feature has been in the plans for a decade now, but Lights Out 2 is finally showing signs of life.
Lights Out, David F Sandberg’s 2013 short film, was so popular that the director was given the financing to turn it into feature film three years later.
That 2016 feature turned out to be quite the success: costing New Line Cinema less than $5m to make, it grossed a whopping $149m at the global box office.
Naturally, a sequel was soon announced, but since then, there’s not been any news about Lights Out 2. Until now, that is.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that New Line Cinema has hired Connor Osborn McIntyre to write a script for Lights Out 2. Sandberg, along with Lawrence Grey and Eric Heisserer (who wrote the first movie), will produce, but no word on who might direct.
The original film followed Teresa Palmer’s mother who comes across an entity that stalks her and her family in the darkness. The feature didn’t quite manage to capture the effectiveness of the short film, but it was an assured debut for Sandberg, who has since gone on to create an impressive career in Hollywood. The Swedish director has stuck mostly with horror with films like Annabelle: Creation and Until Dawn, but has also helmed the two Shazam! films.
McIntyre, meanwhile, is one of the buzziest screenwriters in Hollywood right now, despite the fact that none of the films he has written have made it to a screen big or small yet. He wrote the script for Animals, a thriller starring Ben Affleck, which is hitting Netflix some time this year, and Netflix is also working on another one of McIntyre’s scripts, American Midnight.
The Hollywood Reporter’s article doesn’t mention any kind of timeline for Lights Out 2 and it’ll likely still be a while before we see it on the big screen, but at least there are now signs of life.
We’ll keep you updated.
