There's aren't as many mid-level budget movies being made these days, but one movie that did just fine in this category when it was released in 2016 was The Accountant, a character-driven drama about a military-trained accountant who deals with dangerous criminals and also has autism. Following the original film's success at the box office, we've learned that Warner Bros. is moving forward with a sequel, The Accountant 2.
The potential movie is still in the early stages, but new reports indicate that if another movie is made, Ben Affleck will be back playing Chris Wolff, the original movie's oddball protagonist. Director Gavin O'Connor and writer Bill Dubuque are also currently in talks to return for The Accountant 2. In addition, Lynette Howell Taylor and Mark Williams would be back to the produce the project, so much of the original team would remain in place.
The Accountant was on the surface an action thriller, but it was also surprisingly a movie about family and the ties that bind us. A twist near the end revealed Jon Bernthal had a more important role than it seemed early on. With that in mind, Deadline says that Jon Bernthal is expected to be asked back for round 2, presuming he has time to film the flick between his busy work over at Netflix playing Marvel's The Punisher in multiple shows.
If you haven't caught the film, yet, we're about to get into bigger spoilers. At the end of the flick, Bernthal's Braxton was tracking down The Accountant, only to find he was his brother, Chris. Namely, if Bernthal comes back, I'd like to see more from the two brothers, Chris and Braxton, and how their relationship could change and grow now that Braxton knows Chris has turned into an accountant-turned-assassin. It would also be interesting to see more from Justine, played by The Americans' Alison Wright, who turns out to be Chris' partner.
Warner Bros. doesn't have a firm plan set yet for The Accountant 2, but the news there is likely going to be a sequel shouldn't be a major surprise. The first movie was reportedly made on a $44 million budget and grossed over $86 million domestically, not to mention nearly $69 million in international markets. A sequel to the movie could have the potential to do even better financially, and now that Ben Affleck is no longer directing the Batman solo movie, he should have time around filming and doing press for Batman projects to make The Accountant 2. Got to keep Ben Affleck happy, and a sequel to the assassin movie could be just the ticket.
You can next catch Ben Affleck in Justice League, the next project in the DCEU universe. Affleck is also expected to star in the Untitled Batman solo movie. We'll let you know if The Accountant 2 officially moves forward and gets a release date on the books.
