Shane Black Is Still Interested In Making The Nice Guys 2

The Nice Guys

As a writer and director, Shane Black has been responsible for some incredibly popular films, from Lethal Weapon to Iron Man 3. However, in his career, he's also made movies that were less well received. One movie, that was a hit with critics, though not with audiences, was The Nice Guys, a buddy comedy with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe set in the 1970s and dealing with the Southern California porn industry (seriously, how was this movie not a hit again?). While the audience didn't really respond to the film, Shane Black would love to make a sequel, though he admits such a thing is fairly unlikely.

In a heartbeat, if someone would pay for it. We had all kinds of ideas. The problem is it didn't do that well at the box office. I imagine it will break even, which is not a formula for reacquiring two very expensive movie stars and proceeding with a sequel.

While the Rotten Tomatoes review aggregator has The Nice Guys sitting at an impressive 92% positive rating, the film only grossed about $62 million around the world on a reported production budget of about $50 million, all things considered, the two lead actors probably accounted for most of that budget. When additional costs like marketing are added into that, one has to assume the theatrical release probably lost money. It's possible, even likely, that the film was able to pick up some revenue on the Blu-ray and Digital front, but either way, this was no blockbuster. Not every movie needs to make a billion dollars, but at the end of the day, making movies is a business and if people don't make money on a project they're unlikely to take a risk on a sequel.

Needless to say, a sequel to The Nice Guys is something that most of us here at CinemaBlend would love to see. Our review gave the movie five stars, and while I didn't write it, I agree wholeheartedly. The Nice Guys was a breath of fresh air into the "buddy cop" genre by the guy who helped define the concept with the original Lethal Weapon. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe had perfect chemistry and it would be awesome to see them together again.

While a sequel does seem like a long shot, producer Joel Silver thought one was unlikely for the same reasons Shane Black highlights to Fandango, maybe it's not impossible. Sometimes a large enough audience finds a movie later in life that a sequel becomes a possibility. It could certainly happen here. Perhaps if enough people ask for a sequel we could get one.

Let's start the process here. Would you like to see a Nice Guys 2 happen? Let us know in the poll down below.

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Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.

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