Upgrade is an acclaimed 2018 action movie by Leigh Whannell, and even though no one is asking for a sequel, the writer-director still daydreams about Upgrade 2.
Leigh Whannell cut his teeth in the horror genre, writing Saw and Insidious, and directing The Invisible Man, and Wolf Man, a fresh take on the iconic monster, which hits screens this week.
But in between his scary movies, Whannell wrote and directed Upgrade, a brilliant mix of action and sci-fi that starred Logan Marshall-Green as a mechanic who has an accident and wakes up with a chip inside his body that controls his movements.
The film was well-received, and currently carries a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%. But in spite of those stellar reviews, and an ending that suggested there was more story to tell, we’re yet to see a sequel.
Leigh Whannell says “no one is asking for Upgrade 2”
Upgrade was a modest hit in 2018, grossing $17 million from a $3 million budget, and at the time producer Jason Blum tweeted that he “had plans” for a follow-up.
Leigh Whannell also expressed interest in a sequel, either as a movie with a bigger budget, or via the TV series that was teased in 2020.
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We recently spoke to Leigh about how the death of the Dark Universe breathed life into his monster movies, and while we were chatting, the subject of Upgrade 2 arose.
Leigh Whannell: “I never say never [to sequels]. Even with something like Upgrade, which was not a huge box office success. No one is really clamoring for an Upgrade sequel. But even now, after all these years, I’ll find myself day-dreaming about ‘what would that sequel be?’
But to make that happen, Whannell needs Universal or Blumhouse Productions to bankroll the project, and Leigh admits that “at the moment, no one’s asking for Upgrade 2.”
Wolf Man is out this Friday, January 17, 2025. For more on the movie, here’s how a horror tragedy inspired The Wolf Man, plus why Leigh Whannell didn’t want his transformation to compete with American Werewolf in London.
While for more scary stuff, check out our list of the best horror movies releasing this year, while the following are more great movies out this month.
