Sniper: Assassin's End Director Kaare Andrews Addresses Whether A Sequel Is In The Cards - Exclusive
A Yakuza-trained assassin kills a foreign dignitary, and a special ops sniper is framed for the job. That's the focus of Sniper: Assassin's End, the latest installment of the Sniper franchise, which began all the way back in 1993 with Tom Berenger in the lead role of Thomas Beckett. Over the years, Chad Michael Collins has assumed the protagonist position — playing Thomas' son, Brandon Beckett – but Berenger does make an appearance in the latest installment as the sniper who started it all. This time around, they're up against a deadlier foe and a wider-ranging conspiracy that may finally prove to be too much for the hero.
Assassin's End the eighth Sniper movie, but it's the first one that comic book artist, writer, and filmmaker Kaare Andrews has directed. Looper had the chance to speak with Andrews about the film, which — without getting too much into spoilers – ends in a way that leaves the door open for a sequel. In an exclusive interview with Looper, Andrews talked about whether he'd come back to direct another Sniper flick, and what that final scene of Assassin's End really means for the future of the film series.
Kaare Andrews has always been fascinated by endings
In chatting with Andrews, it definitely sounded like he'd be up for returning for another Sniper installment. However, as of this writing, there are no confirmed plans for another Sniper movie. As Andrews put it, "I had so much fun directing the movie. You'll have to ask Sony what their actual plans are."
Regardless of whether or not a sequel to Sniper: Assassin's End materializes, Andrews wanted to end the film in a way that would expand the universe and open up the possibilities for more stories. If you keep up with his body of work, it's actually pretty par for the course with Andrews. As he told Looper, "I'm very interested in endings, whether they're of movies or comic books, that suggest a continuation — whether or not that continuation is actually made. [...] I wrote Iron Fist [comics] for a couple of years, and I tried to end it in a way where the reader could continue on with those characters in that story in their imagination. So even though I'm done, it's kind of like, 'Let that world live on.'"
That same principle is definitely on display in Sniper: Assassin's End. The movie carves out its own place within the franchise by introducing new characters who could definitely have more of a prominent role in later installments. But even if those fresh faces confined to a single film, audiences can at least enjoy imagining what adventures they may get into for the future.
"That's what I liked about their ending in Assassin's End," Andrews shared with Looper. "You'll have to see it to know what I'm talking about, but it ends in such a way that your mind can easily go to new places with new characters and kind of fill out the rest of that world yourself — whether or not that movie or those movies or whatever actually happens or not."
Sniper: Assassin's End is now available to watch on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital.