Last summer’s Lucy surprised Hollywood as one of the biggest sleeper hits in recent cinematic memory. The film easily topped Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Hercules on opening weekend. It also positioned leading lady Scarlett Johansson as a box-office force capable of carrying her own tentpole film. The movie’s story and execution was shaky from a scientific standpoint, but Johansson kicked some gangster tush. In the end, Lucy grossed $458.9 million around the globe.
When Lucy was conceived, the screenwriters must not have seen a sequel coming. No one imagined such financial success from a modestly budgeted ($40 million) movie. If you’ve seen the film, you know that it ended in such a way that a sequel wouldn’t make sense, especially if producers want to bring back Johansson. Her character, an unwilling drug-mule turned god-like creature, clearly has better things to do in the future. Even director Luc Besson conceded the unlikelihood of a sequel, saying “I don’t see how we can do one. It’s not made for that.”
Hollywood loves dollar signs, though, so they will find a way to make a follow-up work. At the CineEurope convention, EuropaCorp revealed Lucy 2 in their slate of projects undergoing development. They gave no indication of whether Johansson will return for the sequel. The first film didn’t make sense, and her return in the story would make even less sense. Does it even matter? Audiences love to see Johansson get physical and take down bad guys. That’s what she does best.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
