Suicide Squad, the now Oscar-winning comic book movie about a bunch of bad guys kind of becoming good guys, is getting a sequel. And it is a big priority for Warner Bros. But before they can move ahead and really get things going, they need to have a story in place. And they are apparently on top of that. The studio is reportedly in negotiations to haveAdam Cozadwrite the script forSuicide Squad 2.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter,Adam Cozad, who is best known for writing last summer’sThe Legend of Tarzan, is in talks to pen theSuicide Squadsequel. SinceThe Legend of Tarzanwas also done for Warner Bros., it stands to reason they liked working with him, even though theTarzanreboot didn’t meet expectations at the box office ($356 million worldwide) and was largely panned by critics. As we have learned from previous entries in the DC Extended Universe, critical acclaim is not a requirement to move ahead with more of these movies. Taking that into account,Adam Cozadseems to fit the bill when it comes to finding the rightSuicide Squad 2 story.
His other writing credits includeJack Ryan: Shadow Recruitand the currently in-developmentUnderwater, which hasKristen Stewartattached to star. He also did some work on the Valiant Comics adaptationBloodshot.Jack Ryanwas met with a lukewarm reception, so based on the moviesAdam Cozadhas worked on that have actually been released, it is understandable if fans don’t get super excited about this news. But theSuicide Squad sequelis seemingly on the fast track and THR notes that the sequel is a “priority.” It isn’t necessarily hard to understand why.
The firstSuicide Squadhas enjoyed a tremendous amount of success seemingly in spite of the fact that it was incredibly divisive. It recently won the Oscar forHairstyling and Makeup, and that is just the latest accomplishment the movie has been able to claim.Suicide Squadalso crushed at the box office, bringing in a grand total of $745 million worldwide. The first movie in the DC Extended Universe to not feature Superman also managed to have a very successful soundtrack, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media in addition to being certified platinum for shipping over 1 million copies. All of that despite the fact thatSuicide Squadcurrently holds a measly 26 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
David Ayersomewhat famously only had six weeks to write the firstSuicide Squadscript before he had to get ready for production. At least in this case it seems likeCozadis going to have the time he needs to get the story right, which is what Warner Bros. wants before moving ahead with the rest of the creative team. A director hasn’t been hired, but it was recently reported that the studio was talking withMel Gibsonabout possibly coming on board. That is still possibly on the table, butDaniel Espinosa’s name has also been thrown around.
As forDavid Ayer, he is developing the Harley Quinn spin-offGotham City Sirenswith starMargot Robbieand he is attached to direct that. Warner Bros. doesn’t have a release date set forSuicide Squad 2but since the movie is a priority we can guess that it wouldn’t be dropping any later than 2019. We’ll have to see how everything shakes out but they have the first very important piece of the puzzle in place. Even if that puzzle piece isn’t overly encouraging or exciting on its own.
