After the polarizing movie that was Don’t Breathe 2, it seems that no one is rushing to continue the franchise created by Alien: Romulus’ director Fede Álvarez and his frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues. Don’t Breathe 3 has just received an optimistic but still disappointing update from franchise star Stephen Lang. The actor, also known for his role in the Avatar franchise, said that he’d like to give closure to his character’s arc with “a script that really works,” but that’s it. Don’t Breathe 3 is not coming any time soon, for now.
Lang spoke to The Direct while promoting his current TV show, the biblical series House of David. The actor was quick to respond to the idea of Don’t Breathe 3, and although he sounds optimistic and willing to reprise the character, it doesn’t sound as if there’s a script in development:
“It’s lying there right now. We’ll have to see where it goes. You know, as Charles Dickens wrote, ‘Barkis is willing,’ I’d love to do it. I’d like to finish the old buzzard off, but we’ll have to see where it goes.
The thing is having a script that really works, making a script that ties it all up. And if we get that, then I have no doubt we’ll do it because both films were very successful.”
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Both Don’t Breathe movies had very decent box office performances, with the first one making over $157 million and the second one $53 million. The critical reception of 2016’s Don’t Breathe was great, and it still holds an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Meanwhile, the 2021 sequel was not as successful with critics, and it sits at 43% on the review aggregator, although that score is probably a product of the backfire that the film received after the trailer revealed its very controversial plot.
After the Backlash of ‘Don’t Breathe 2,’ a Third Film Doesn’t Sound Like a Great Idea
2016 saw the release of a great home-invasion thriller that offered a relentless rendition of the subgenre while bending a few rules to enhance the unforgettable experience. The open-ended final minutes meant that there could be a sequel, but the same premise could not be recycled. There had to be some changes.
And there were changes, alright. When Don’t Breathe 2 was announced, audiences could not imagine that writers Álvarez and Sayagues would try to flip the morality of the villain and basically make a hero out of him. The early reactions, especially after the first trailer was released, were loud and negative. Norman Nordstrom, a.k.a. The Blind Man, was a horrible monster whose agenda went beyond defense. In the first movie, he was revealed to be a kidnapper trying to impregnate one of his victims because she was involved in his daughter’s death. Regardless of what invaders did to him and his rights to defend his integrity and household, he was a major villain. Just like one of the robbers said, “Just ’cause he’s blind don’t mean he’s a saint, bro.”
Don’t Breathe 2 had a good box office run, and it wasn’t actually a bad movie. Lang was great in the film, as usual, and the action pieces were effective. The problem is that it was impossible to forget the sins of Nordstrom’s past. The film portrayed him as an antihero whose new mission was not to defend himself, but to retrieve his daughter. However, it was impossible to see him as a redeemed villain.
A third film could work with a good script. But the risk is too high. The backlash would be somewhat automatic, and audiences today can exercise some power over the success of a movie. No filmmaker would want to face angry and unpredictable fans on social media, and Don’t Breathe 3 is the perfect fuel to a fire that’s still burning from everyone’s perspective.
Source: The Direct
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
