The director of Wolves has opened up about why Brad Pitt and George Clooney won’t be reuniting anytime soon for a sequel to Apple TV+’s hit film.
Jon Watts revealed that it was his decision—not Apple’s—to pull the plug on the star-studded sequel, which had become the most-watched film ever released on the streaming platform.
‘The truth is that Apple didn’t cancel the Wolves sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner,’ Watts told Deadline on Saturday.
The drama, according to Watts, began when Apple unexpectedly changed the film’s release strategy, switching from a full theatrical release to a limited run before quickly moving the $200M movie to streaming—something Watts described as a ‘total surprise.’
‘I was completely shocked and asked them to please not include the news that I was writing a sequel,’ he continued. ‘They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to create a positive spin on their streaming pivot.’
Fed up with the situation, Watts said he ‘quietly returned the money’ Apple had given him for the sequel.
Jon Watts, the director of Wolves, has opened up about why Brad Pitt and George Clooney won’t be reuniting anytime soon for a sequel to Apple TV+’s hit film; (seen in 2021)
Jon Watts revealed that it was his decision—not Apple’s—to pull the plug on the star-studded sequel, which had become the most-watched film ever released on the streaming platform
‘I didn’t want to talk about it because I was proud of the film and didn’t want to generate any unnecessary negative press,’ he added.
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‘I loved working with Brad and George (and Amy and Austin and Poorna and Zlatko) and would happily do it again. But the truth is that Apple didn’t cancel the Wolfs sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner.’
Three months ago the film had been optioned for a sequel weeks before making its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival
It was revealed by THR In August that Wolfs director/screenwriter Watts had scored a new deal with Apple to helm a sequel to the upcoming action-comedy.
At the time, Deadline confirmed that Pitt and Clooney will reprise their roles for the follow-up project.
As part of the the big announcement, it was also revealed that Wolfs will premiere on Apple TV+ on September 27 following a limited one-week theatrical release through Sony.
Wolfs was originally meant to transition from a wide theatrical release before debuting on Apple TV+ but those plans had changed.
Pitt and Clooney were reportedly paid $35 million each to act in the caper film, and had insisted on a release in cinemas.
‘The truth is that Apple didn’t cancel the Wolves sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner,’ Watts told Deadline on Saturday
The drama, according to Watts, began when Apple unexpectedly changed the film’s release strategy, switching from a full theatrical release to a limited run before quickly moving the $200M movie to streaming—something Watts described as a ‘total surprise’; (seen in September)
But makers Apple had a change of heart and the film, which insiders say cost up to $200 million all in, is now only being released in cinemas in the US for one week.
In all other territories it will go straight to streaming, making it easily the most expensive TV film ever made.
Apple’s change of heart follows a run of expensive films made by the streamer – including Napoleon, Killers of the Flower Moon and Argylle – all flopping at the cinema.
Clooney denied that their fees were as high as $35 million, saying the true figure was ‘many many millions below’ that amount.
But he added that it was a ‘bummer’ the way it had worked out.
He said: ‘We would have liked that, we wanted that, and Brad and I gave some of our salary back to do that. We have had some bumps along the way, and that happens.
‘It’s a bummer, of course it’s a bummer, but a lot of people are going to see the film and we are getting a release in a few hundred theatres. It would have been nice to get a wider release.’
He said that the economics of streaming are still being ‘figured out’ but added: ‘We are figuring it out. We need Apple and Amazon and they need Sony or Warners who have been doing it for 100 years.’
Upon release of the original film, the buddy-cop feature had been eviscerated by critics, who have branded it a one-star ‘messy’ dud and an ‘unbearable comedy.’
Wolfs follows the two Ocean’s Eleven co-stars as they are forced to begrudgingly work together to ‘fix’ a problem that arises when a tough-on-crime DA wakes up with a dead 20-something with whom she was having a one-night stand.
But critics say the movie — which had a record-breaking budget for any streaming film — falls flat, with IGN’s Siddhant Adlakha slamming it as a ‘slick student film from a rich teen who’s subsisted on a media diet of early Guy Ritchie.’
The Guardian’s Xan Brooks also wrote that the ‘joke might be on’ director Jon Watts, who made a fortune off of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man trilogy, ‘because what he’s made is basically the film of the meme in which two Spideys point at each other.’
Pitt and Clooney were reportedly paid $35 million each to act in the caper film, and had insisted on a release in cinemas but it ultimately was released on the AppleTV+ streaming service; the two are seen arriving for the Venice Film Festival premiere in September
And The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin called the film ‘messy.’
He wrote: ‘George Clooney recently complained that Quentin Tarantino doesn’t consider him a movie star. If he makes more films like this, Clooney will soon prove Tarantino right.’
Adlakha writes that the problems with the film, which debuted in Venice Sunday night, ‘arise early and frequently.’
He and the other critics say Watts seemed to have banked on Clooney’s and Pitt’s star-status to make it a box office hit, with a lackluster plot and a ‘half-baked script with little humor or heart.’