Two of this year’s Oscar winning films were sequels. And only two Oscar-nominated films are officially slated for sequels. But only one film fits both of these truths. The Bourne Ultimatum, which was a bit of an upset in its winning of three Academy Awards, including the shocker of Best Editing (which Christopher Rouse certainly deserved), will definitely be getting a follow-up, if this Variety article from Friday is correct (via Cinematical and Empire). The possibility of a fourth Bourne installment has been floating around for awhile now, despite the fact that Ultimatum so nicely tied up the series’ storyline and despite implications from Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass that continuing the franchise is unnecessary. But considering Ultimatum was a box office hit, and a critical favorite (it was one of the best mainstream films of the year) and has now won three Oscars, it seems like a no-brainer that Universal should want to keep Jason Bourne running.
The same can’t be said for that other Oscar-winning sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Although director Shekhar Kapur has said he wants Elizabeth to be a trilogy, it’s unlikely that the third film will be greenlit anytime soon. Of course, the plan is to revisit the story after another decade and things could well be different in ten years. Even if it weren’t likely to be a box office or critical success, it could be worth making just for the Oscar glory. I know that Alexandra Byrne wasn’t the first costume designer to receive Oscar nominations for work on two different films in the same series (Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor were both nominated for two LOTR films), but if she suited Cate up again for a third film, she might be the first to have that honor of making it three. Meanwhile, Cate could also be the first actor or actress to be nominated three times for playing the same character.
As for the rest of this year’s nominees and winners, only Transformers has a sequel definitely in the works. Interestingly enough, the film that surprised everyone by beating Transformers in the visual effects category, The Golden Compass, will probably never see a follow-up, despite original intentions for it to kick-start a franchise, because it was deemed a relative failure at the box office. Other possible contenders for receiving sequels in the future include Ratatouille, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Enchanted, all of which were released by Disney, a studio that has trouble leaving its hits alone. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fox was at least contemplating how to make a Juno sequel, though I doubt that could ever be a serious idea.
Also the better films, those that wouldn’t be dreamed of being sequel-worthy even by their fans, such as No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, shouldn’t be discounted entirely. After all, we ended up with weak follow-ups to Best Picture winners/nominees Chinatown, The Sting and Terms of Endearment, not to mention a few each to Rocky and Jaws. I’m not saying that the further adventures of either Anton Chigurh or Daniel Plainview are actually likely, but you never can tell what Hollywood will do. I do predict, however, that Universal will make a more apparent announcement about Bourne IV now that the blogs are latching onto the news and now that Ultimatum won some more prestige. It might be more appropriate, though, in these times, to give Damon a couple decades rest before revisiting the character, a la Indiana Jones/John McClane/Rambo/etc.
If you had to pick a 2008 Oscar winner or nominee to deservedly receive a sequel, which would it be?
