The Misfits: Will There Be A Sequel?
The beginning of June 2021 brought in a new heist film for action film fans. "The Misfits," released on June 11th, was directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert Henny and Kurt Wimmer ("Salt," "Total Recall"). The film marks Harlin's 25th as a director, with his other credits including 1990's "Die Hard 2," 1995's "Cutthroat Island," and 2014's "The Legend of Hercules."
"The Misfits" stars a former James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, as Richard Pace, an international thief. While on the run from the FBI after escaping prison, Richard gets caught up with The Misfits, a group of vigilantes who convince Richard to join them on their next heist. Together, they plan to infiltrate a high security prison to steal the millions that are kept underneath the facility. A businessman named Schultz (Tim Roth) owns the money and uses it to fund terrorist groups. Meanwhile, Richard has his own agenda against Schultz, who had something to do with Richard's imprisonment. The supporting cast includes Rami Jaber, Jamie Chung, Mike Angelo, and Nick Cannon, all of whom play Misfits members.
Those eager to check out the film are likely already wondering if a sequel might be in the works. Here's what we know so far.
It's unclear if The Misfits will receive a sequel
As of now, there has been no talk of a sequel for "The Misfits." Of course, seeing as the film just came out, it's too soon to tell if this heist film is being considered for franchise opportunities or not. The two biggest factors for a potential sequel are the critical response and the commercial response, — with much more weight on the latter. However, because the film hasn't been out long enough to look at the box office numbers, we'll need to look to the reviews for an early indication.
To put it nicely, the reviews for "The Misfits" are not good. It currently has an abysmal 17% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Times wrote, "Equally insulting to Arabic dialects and the Muslim Brotherhood, 'The Misfits' is inarguably awful, its grandiose muddle of a plot unimproved by bored camels and barely clothed women." Many also pointed out that Brosnan is the sole highlight of the film, with Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com writing, "No one involved has any idea what to do with Brosnan, burying his playful performance in a film that's almost impressively soulless."
It's also worth noting that director Harlin has helmed sequels before — "Die Hard 2," "Exorcist: The Beginning," and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4"— but none of the original films he's directed have received sequels. With four Razzie Award nominations for Worst Director, he doesn't exactly have the best track record (via IMDb).
Still, money talks, so if "The Misfits" performs incredibly well at the box office, it could very well receive a sequel despite everything listed above. We'll have a better idea of franchise potential after the industry reports this weekend's box office numbers.