Director Paul Feig is game to make a follow-up to his hit summer comedy “The Heat,” but it sounds like he needs to work on his pitch to his leading lady.
“I’m not doing a sequel to ‘The Heat,’” Sandra Bullock told TheWrap at the Tuesday premiere of her new film “Gravity.” “I’ve done two sequels. They were horrible. What Melissa [McCarthy] and I had was beautiful. We might do another film together. I think we should do a silent film together.”
The two sequels that Bullock labeled turkeys were “Speed 2: Cruise Control” and “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous,” neither one of them likely to join the Criterion Collection, so it’s easy to see why the Oscar winner is gun shy.
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Despite Bullock’s reservations, it sounds as though Feig and Twentieth Century Fox, the studio behind the first film, are powering ahead with plans for another adventure. The director said that Katie Dippold, the screenwriter behind the comedy hit, has already finished a first draft of a possible sequel that met his expectations.
However, he told TheWrap at the “Gravity” premiere that he couldn’t imagine the film without Bullock or her co-star Melissa McCarthy.
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“It would be very hard,” Feig said. “They’re so great together. Their chemistry is so awesome. I would be very sad if I didn’t have both of them back.”
Despite premiering in the heart of the summer against films like “Man of Steel” and “Despicable Me 2,” the R-rated buddy cop comedy racked up nearly $225 million worldwide. Feig thinks he knows why “The Heat” was able to break out of the pack.
“People wanted to have fun this summer and they wanted to see strong women being funny,” Feig said. “It’s really breaking down the Hollywood prejudice about putting women in lead roles. After ‘Bridesmaids’ and then this, I feel like we’re really breaking down the wall. Look, movies starring women and funny women can make money, so lets make more.”
Next up for Feig is a reunion with McCarthy in “Susan Cooper,” which he described as a female James Bond film.
Bullock has her own plans to team with McCarthy again, even if they don’t involve suiting up for “The Heat 2.” The actress told TheWrap that she enjoys organizing gatherings with her son Louis and McCarthy’s daughters Vivian and Georgette.
“We do well with our playdates,” Bullock said. “We’re going to keep doing sequels to our playdates.”