Netflix’s boldest cinematic investment at the moment appears to have paid off: the streaming service is in the early planning stages a back-to-back production of Red Notice 2, with the intention of starting production in early 2023, subject to negotiations and the schedules of its busy actors.
Will there be a Red Notice 2?
Netflix declined to comment, but insiders claimed the goal is to bring back the main trio and include additional characters to fill out a heist movie ensemble akin to the star-studded Ocean’s Eleven trilogies. Universal and Legendary won a large auction for a project that had Thurber and Johnson affiliations at the time, and Red Notice was bought in one of the biggest pitch package transactions of 2018. On Skyscraper, Uni and Legendary were linked up with that combo.
Netflix came in second place in that competition and stepped in at the last minute when Universal balked at a budget of $200 million or more, including celebrity pay. It was the most significant investment Netflix made in a film at the time since it valued franchise IP and actors. Netflix’s devotion to The Gray Man, a 007-style global thriller helmed by Avengers: Endgame’s Joe and Anthony Russo and starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, may have surpassed Red Notice.
Beau Flynn’s Flynn Pictures Co will produce with Johnson, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia under Seven Bucks Productions. Thurber is also developing under his Bad Version Productions, while Scott Sheldon of Flynn Picture Co will serve as executive producer.
Will Red Notice 2 Be Any Good?
Back-to-back shootings demonstrate trust in the IP and the creatives in Red Notice 2. After Peter Jackson shot the majority of The Lord of the Rings trilogy for New Line when it was considered a crazy risk for an unproven IP that became a billion-dollar Best Picture-winning franchise, James Cameron’s Avatar sequels, the Russo Brothers’ Marvel blockbusters Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, The Hunger Games, and Pirates of the Caribbean have all followed suit.
Interestingly, conventional theatrical distributors were the ones who made such investments. It wouldn’t be surprising if Red Notice 2 gravitated toward streaming services, which acquired the majority of big movie bundles in 2021.
