Director Timur Bekmabetov is looking to get Angie back on the franchise

Jun 16, 2009 13:05 GMT  ·  By
Director Timur Bekmabetov says Angelina Jolie will probably return for “Wanted 2”
   Director Timur Bekmabetov says Angelina Jolie will probably return for “Wanted 2”

Although Angelina Jolie’s character on last year’s grand action movie “Wanted” left viewers with what may be described as a bitter taste in their mouth – both because of the way she left the story and, according to many, on account of Jolie’s acting – director and producer Timur Bekmabetov wants Angie back. Empire Online can reveal that the Russian director has already expressed his intent in this sense, and has reportedly approached the star with an offer.

Talk of a “Wanted 2” began ever since before the release of the first movie, because of the fact that it was loosely based on a comics book, which allowed the story and the characters to lend themselves to being stretched over several other parts, it has been said. Now, Bekmabetov, who has officially become the first Russian director to pull off such a big-budget production with an almost all-Russian crew (from makeup to special effects), confirms that this is truly the case. Not only that, but he wants to bring back Angelina for it.

It is not yet known how the director plans to bring Jolie’s Fox back to life – other than speculate on the obvious alternative of making the second film a prequel – but production is reportedly scheduled to start as early as next month in several international locations in the US, Russia and India, as Empire Online reports. Bekmabetov is also considering bringing other characters back as well, as he recently revealed to the media. “As for the character played by Kostya Khabenskiy, we’ll think about it. We might possibly resurrect him as well.” the director said.

As fans might notice, Bekmabetov makes no mention of James McAvoy, who played the geeky looking but unexpectedly swift killer Wesley in the first installment. Should he not be a part of the sequel, several movie-oriented publications point out – then chances for Bekmabetov to take this and make it into a prequel are very high, as he would probably explore more the inner workings of secret cabal Fox / Angelina Jolie was also a part of.

While this might seem like good news for Angelina and action movie fans, the reality is far from that. Moviegoers who sat through the first “Wanted” – which was an undeniable hit at the box-office by all counts – say that, no matter how entertaining and ultimately mindlessly fun, this is too shallow and useless a movie to warrant a sequel. Dedicated forums are filled with cries of discontent and pleas that director Bekmabetov will probably never read or hear of to kill the “franchise” right now and not continue with it. Should you happen to fall into this category too or not, keep an eye on this space for more details on this.