The movie Naomi Watts will always regret never happening: “I would love that”
It doesn’t seem fair that Naomi Watts has more nominations for Golden Raspberries than she does for Oscars.
The phenomenal actor has been recognised by the Academy for her work in 21 Grams and The Impossible, but duds like Diana, Movie 43, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, and Shut In have really wrong her hand. Thankfully, most people don’t remember those stinkers, as they’re too busy focusing on the incredible work Watts has done over her career.
An obvious place to start would be Mulholland Drive, the fated collaboration with the great David Lynch that catapulted Watts to international stardom, which she admits saved her career during an otherwise bleak time. She collaborated with Lynch twice more on Inland Empire and Twin Peaks: The Return, and has also found success in Birdman, St Vincent, and Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong. Then there’s Eastern Promises.
Directed by David Cronenberg, this 2007 film stars Watts as Anya Ivanovna Khitrova, a British-Russian woman working in London as a midwife. When a teenage girl dies during childbirth, Anya decodes a Russian diary found with her to track down her family, but runs into trouble courtesy of a mafia heavy, played by frequent Cronenberg collaborator Viggo Mortensen. The film was a major success in its release year and, as it turns out, many people are still keen to see a continuation of the story. Unfortunately, according to one of its stars, that probably isn’t happening any time soon.
“I don’t think I’m hearing anything about a sequel,” Watts told a user on Reddit during an ‘Ask Me Anything’ hosted by the site, adding, “I would love that. I love David and I love Viggo. David is a fantastic director, and it was a great experience.”
In theory, there’s no reason why a sequel to Eastern Promises shouldn’t get made. It was lauded by critics upon its release, featuring in many year-end lists of great films. Mortensen’s performance was also heralded, earning him an Oscar nomination for ‘Best Actor’. Alas, he lost to Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood, which is fair enough. The only thing that might have held it back was its box office takings, which saw it make $56.1million off a $50m budget, disappointing a lot of investors. Awards and recognition are one thing, but if you can’t come up with the cold, hard cash, then you’re out the door.
Watts isn’t the only person involved in the film to have been asked about a sequel over the years. Vincent Cassel spoke about a potential follow-up in 2010, while producer Paul Webster all-but-confirmed the new film in an interview in 2012. Unfortunately, after years of inactivity, the project fell through completely. A script, written by original screenwriter Steven Knight, was adapted into a planned Jason Statham vehicle called Small Dark Look, but that hasn’t come out either. Whatever cosmic power is up there clearly doesn’t want this story getting out, no matter what it’s called.
As nice as it would be to get another story in the world of Easter Promises, the last few years have shown us that a sequel to a classic film isn’t always the best way to go. It’s probably for the best that we just leave the memories alone.
