The one sequel Jack Black is desperate to make: “It would get cancelled, but it would be worth it”
The number one driving force behind deciding which movies get sequels has nothing to do with the people who make them, but that’s not the only reason why Jack Black doesn’t sound too optimistic that he’ll ever get the chance to reprise the one role he’s desperate to play again.
The fate of every feature with eyes on launching a franchise lies almost entirely in the hands of the ticket-buying public, and if they choose not to vote with their wallets, then those additional instalments are never going to happen. However, tastes and attitudes also shift with time, which is another pivotal factor.
Black knows his way around a sequel or two, having notched The NeverEnding Story III as one of his earliest big screen credits. He’s voiced Po in Kung Fu Panda across film, television, and video games, stole scenes in Dwayne Johnson’s Jumanji follow-ups, and made a cameo appearance in Anchorman 2.
On the surface, an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Bafta-nominated blockbuster that starred a mind-blowing array of A-listers would be a shoo-in for sequels, but things get a touch trickier when it comes to examining the legacy of Tropic Thunder through a modern lens.
Robert Downey Jr earned an Oscar nod for his portrayal of Kirk Lazarus, a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude, but nobody is going to give the green light to a major production that requires a white actor to wear blackface in the 2020s. If people unaware of Tropic Thunder saw clips of the star in action without context, then widespread offence could – and has – ensued.
Conversely, the character exists to mock the entitlement and arrogance of thespians who think they can play whoever they want without recrimination, so it’s more than being offensive just for the sake of it. A touchy subject without a doubt, so despite Black’s determination to prove otherwise, Tropic Thunder 2 is about as long as long shots get.
“Every time I see Ben Stiller, I am like, ‘Dude, come on’. Arctic Lightning; that’s the sequel to Tropic Thunder,” he told JOE. “You go opposites. It was such a fun movie to do, but it was hard. My god, if you could get that group of people together again, forget about it. It would get cancelled, but it would be worth it.”
Other than Tom Cruise’s bizarre obsession with dusting off Les Grossman whenever he can, there hasn’t been any movement on a Tropic Thunder sequel. Downey Jr and Stiller have no regrets over the decisions they made, but neither are they entirely sure audiences would be quite as receptive almost two decades after the first one. It’s wishful thinking on Black’s part, with the film destined to be remembered as a one-and-done.
