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Richard Linklater’s Faculty of Rock achieved business success, in contrast to his different impartial movies, making it a possible candidate for a sequel. A sequel titled Faculty of Rock 2: America Rocks was in improvement, but it surely stalled resulting from disagreements amongst Linklater, author Mike White, and Jack Black. Regardless of the failed sequel, Faculty of Rock’s recognition persists, with a stage musical adaptation and plans for a 20-year anniversary tribute involving the unique forged. A sequel is just not out of the realm of risk.
Though Richard Linklater is greatest identified for his work in impartial options like Slacker, Boyhood, and Dazed and Confused, he managed to achieve a wider viewers along with his 2003 household movie Faculty of Rock. Paired with a superb screenplay by future The White Lotus author Mike White and one in every of Jack Black’s most lovable performances, Faculty of Rock grew to become the one Linklater movie that managed to achieve past the arthouse crowd. The movie has since been thought to be a contemporary traditional and even impressed an acclaimed Broadway musical of the identical title. Nonetheless, Faculty of Rock was additionally almost the primary movie in a comedy franchise that featured the return of Black’s Dewey Finn.
What Occurred to ‘Faculty of Rock 2’?
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5 years after Faculty of Rock’s launch, Selection reported that Paramount Footage was transferring ahead with a possible Faculty of Rock sequel that may’ve featured Dewey taking a category of recent college students on a cross-country highway journey to be taught concerning the historical past of rock and roll. Mike White had penned a screenplay titled Faculty of Rock 2: America Rocks, which he deliberate to supply. Richard Linklater was as soon as once more set to direct, however there was no affirmation as to some other returning forged members. Though it’s seemingly that White would return as Ned Schneebly (the character Dewey impersonates), a brand new forged of youngsters meant that not one of the youthful characters from the primary movie would wish to make an look.
On the time, it made sense that each one three males could be desirous about creating a possible franchise. Though Black was coming off of a sequence of critically acclaimed dramatic performances in King Kong, The Vacation, and Margot on the Wedding ceremony, he hadn’t been as profitable along with his live-action comedies. Equally, Linklater had struck out with audiences along with his remake of The Unhealthy Information Bears and Quick Meals Nation. Each males wanted a significant hit, however they each ultimately discovered success with a sequence of initiatives they did within the quick aftermath.
2008 proved to be a transformative 12 months for Jack Black because of his function voicing the titular character in Dreamworks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda franchise, which continues to today. He could have been trying to entice a youthful viewers with a possible Faculty of Rock sequel, however the failure of family-friendly comedies like Gullivar’s Travels and Nacho Libre instructed that Black was higher fitted to R-rated fare. Though he by no means returned to play Dewey once more, Black did collaborate with Linklater as soon as extra for the 2011 black comedy Bernie, which earned him among the greatest opinions of his profession.
Though Richard Linklater tried to courtroom a mainstream viewers as soon as extra with Me and Orson Welles, he quickly returned to his impartial sensibilities. The success of Earlier than Midnight and Boyhood (each of which earned him Academy Award nominations) proved that Linklater labored higher when dealing with extra mature materials. Though he went on to direct the acclaimed comedies All people Desires Some and The place’d You Go, Bernadette?, neither movie was profitable on the extent of Faculty of Rock.
Will ‘Faculty of Rock 2’ Ever Occur?
Jack Black revealed in a 2012 interview with Web page Six that he had “tried actually laborious to get all of the items collectively” for Faculty of Rock 2: America Rocks, however that improvement of the sequel had sadly stalled. He said that he “would not need to do it” with out the involvement of each Linklater and White and that the trio “by no means all obtained collectively and noticed eye-to-eye on what the script could be.” Though he glumly famous that the sequel “was not meant to be, sadly,” he did trace to say “by no means say by no means” about its revival.
Faculty of Rock’s recognition skyrocketed in 2013 when Andrew Lloyd Webber purchased the rights to the movie with the intention to flip it right into a stage musical. The Faculty of Rock musical debuted in 2014 to rapturous opinions and adopted up its Broadway run with excursions within the U.Ok., Argentina, Eire, and Australia. Faculty of Rock was nominated for 4 Tony Awards, together with Finest Musical and Finest Actor in a Musical for Alex Brightman, who changed Black as Dewey.
Jack Black just lately said in an interview with Sirius XM that sequels to each Faculty of Rock and Tenacious D and the Decide of Future have been in improvement, but it surely does seem that he was joking. Nonetheless, it’s not like Faculty of Rock has been forgotten; Black intends to unite with the youthful forged members for a 20-year anniversary tribute to the primary movie’s cultural legacy. With youthful audiences now discovering the movie for the primary time, there’s extra purpose than ever for a sequel to maneuver ahead.
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Why ‘Faculty of Rock 2’ May Work
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Faculty of Rock is extra widespread than ever proper now, and so a sequel isn’t past the realm of risk. Richard Linklater has continued to be very profitable along with his most up-to-date movies, along with his new motion thriller Hit Man incomes rave opinions on the Venice Movie Competition. White has reworked into one of the vital essential writer-directors of the era because of his work on HBO’s groundbreaking anthology sequence The White Lotus, and Black’s vocal efficiency as Bowser on this 12 months’s The Tremendous Mario Brothers Film was totally pleasant. All three males are at a stage of their careers the place they’ve the liberty to do what they’re actually obsessed with; if that’s a Faculty of Rock sequel, then so be it!
Each comedy sequels and legacy sequels are troublesome, and nobody desires to see a Faculty of Rock continuation that falls flat on its face like Coming 2 America or 2015’s Trip. Nonetheless, Linklater has confirmed with the Earlier than trilogy that generally sequels work greatest in the event that they’re launched lengthy after their predecessor’s launch; the time between installments within the romantic movie saga allowed Linklater to develop extra mature storylines that includes Celeste (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke). Faculty of Rock doesn’t essentially want a sequel, however one which reunited Black, White, and Linklater for the primary time in 20 years would definitely be thrilling.