Will ‘Face/Off 2’ Be Called ‘Face/Off 2’?
Paramount’s plans to revisit the 1997 action movie classic Face/Off got a whole lot more interesting when they hired Simon Barrett to write and Adam Wingard to direct it. The plot thickened when Wingard revealed they were not making a remake, but rather a sequel. Plus, their plan is to bring back the original characters. They’re making Face/Off 2.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet had a chance to talk to Barrett about his latest movie, Seance. We’ll have more with Barrett on Seance before the film opens May 21. First, Barrett shared his thoughts on what they should call Face/Off 2.
Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard want to call it Face/Off 2
Barrett said he and Wingard are pushing for a traditional Face/Off 2. A lot of modern sequels forgo numerals, Roman or otherwise. Some, like Halloween and Scream simply use the original title again.
“I think Adam and I are strongly in favor of the Face/Off 2 title,” Barrett said. “For us, the project was announced as ‘Face/Off, we’re just going to call it Face/Off again.’ I think we didn’t want to do that. I think whatever we call it, we want to make sure it’s something that feels like it could be on your shelf next to the original Face/Off in a way that makes sense.”
There are many title options available for ‘Face/Off 2’
The writer and director are not the final word on a movie’s title anymore. Barrett acknowledged that the studio, Paramount, and producer Neal Moritz would have their own ideas.
“Ultimately, I’m sure with a film of the size and scope of a Face/Off sequel, Neal Moritz will have input because he’s quite brilliant at this sort of thing,” Barrett said. “Paramount will have input and ultimately marketing departments will decide.”
Some of those ideas could include Face/Off with a subtitle.
“Whether that means they do the Independence Day thing and we end up making something called Face/Off: Retribution, which I would strongly discourage but seems to be the kind of thing that marketing departments like. I guess it worked for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and it works from time to time.”
Whatever they call it, it will still be a true sequel
Barrett understands the studio will call the film whatever is likely to generate the most interest. The important thing to him is that he and Wingard are making Face/Off 2
“Ultimately, I think Adam and I won’t have any real input on the title of this film,” Barrett said. “That’s why the marketing departments make the big dollars at these studios is they will test it. They will probably actually test it and find out what people want it to be called and I would put in my two cents for Face/Off 2 but maybe that’s just because I’m lazy.”
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